The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Much has been happening in party politics as of late. The Arizona Republicans reelected Kelli Ward who narrowly defeated Sergio Arellano. Closer to home, Shelley Kais now heads up the Pima County Republicans, and Dru Heaton was elected to lead the Pima County Libertarians. Pima County Democrats had their election in December.
I know that we Libertarians are not taken seriously or considered newsworthy by many, but the party has been around since the early 1970s, and has permanent ballot status in the state of Arizona. I say “we” because I have been a registered Libertarian since 1980.
I thought it might be interesting to put down the popcorn and tune out the war between Republicans and Democrats for a moment and see what a local Libertarian had to say. So, I contacted Heaton and arranged to meet her for coffee and an informal interview. The interview quickly morphed into a couple of Libertarians conversing.
I asked how she came to be a Libertarian. She said that she was an independent, but recognized the Libertarian Party as the party of principle, and principles such as “live and let live,” “freedom of choice,” “individual freedom and responsibility” seemed natural to her.
I asked if she had any specific plans for Tucson and Pima County. Being newly elected, she is wisely starting with raising awareness of Libertarian principles through a variety of messaging avenues, then building from there. She has already issued some press releases.
Heaton said she is working with other activists in the party toward that end, saying, “One of the reasons people do not know what the Libertarian message is is that Libertarians are not speaking it often enough or loudly enough. That is something we are trying to change.”
Here is a sample from one of her press releases: “I know this will come as a shock to some, but science is not truth. Science is not an appeal to authority. Science is the process of testing a hypothesis. Science is not consensus. No advancement in science or civilization has been made without challenging consensus.”
We talked about the merits of running candidates in local elections. There was a time when the local party believed that electing Libertarians was the way to go. Having been involved in a couple of those efforts, I can say that that ain’t happening in Tucson, though running candidates does offer people an alternative to the two major parties and provides an opportunity to offer Libertarian perspectives on local issues.
We both made the observation that the structure of Tucson elections makes it extremely difficult to elect Republicans, much less Libertarians. The Tucson City Council elections, for example, involve primary elections by ward, but the general election is citywide.
In that way, the Democrats tend to win all the City Council races since they have a significant registration advantage citywide which helps Democrats win in otherwise Republican wards.
Heaton, who has lived in Tucson since 1997, told me about attending a Libertarian meeting at which a guy said that we Libertarians like to smoke pot. Heaton disagreed saying, “I’m a Libertarian, and I have never had any form of drugs, and I don’t drink alcohol or coffee. What we have in common, the one thing we should absolutely agree on, is that we don’t want the government running our lives.”
I pointed out that arguing with each other is what we Libertarians do best. That resulted in the biggest mutual laugh of the day.
I think that Dru Heaton possesses the smarts, knowledge, energy and humility to be an asset to the Pima County Libertarians, and to our community in whatever else she may pursue.
