Libertarian Ray Netherwood eyes Trey Radel’s Florida seat, ‘I see both sides’
Trey Radel may have brought more disgrace to Congress, but a Libertarian candidate in Florida is turning heads with his brash message appealing to both sides of the political aisle. Ray Netherwood is in a wide open race for Florida District 19 seat.
“Porcupines are generally docile, and leave people alone unless provoked,” Netherwood said in a new Newsroom interview. “And I think that’s us. In the Libertarian Party there’s a rule that… the government doesn’t have a role in telling people what to do or how to live their lives.”
“I say to Democrats, do you want a Republican to win, or do you want half a Democrat? And it’s the same on the other side. Do you want a whole Democrat to win or do you want half a Republican?” Netherwood says.
The latest poll shows Republican Curt Clawson at 25%, just ahead of Netherwood 13% and Democrat April Freeman with 12%.
Clawson survived a destructive GOP primary where $10 million or more was spent for candidates to smear one another over who would be the “most conservative.”
Netherwood refers to himself as a ‘limited government libertarian’ looking for the federal government to stay out of most governing: education, immigration or regulating drugs, alcohol and food.
“To me, any time you have a comprehensive bill, like a comprehensive immigration act, you wind up with all sorts of unintended consequences. And it’s the unintended consequences that end up derailing programs, opening up fraud,” he said. “The government does great with small tweaks… We don’t do so well with massive programs.”