Friday, September 18, 2009

Bexley's Irvine to run as Libertarian in OH-12

Ex-mayoral candidate, congressional intern, film director, and comedian Travis Irvine has announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives as a Libertarian. He will presumably be taking on incumbent Pat Tiberi and Democratic challenger Paula Brooks.

Make no mistake, if Travis is still an active candidate at this time next year, he'll get some votes. He can come across as a bit of a goofball, but he's whip-smart and got a good feel for populist appeal. In 2008, Steven Linnabary rode a horrible (I called it "amusingly befuddled" at the time) debate performance and the Libertarian endorsement to 2.97% of the vote in OH-12. I'd start the over/under on Irvine at 4.58%, the vote share he took in the 8-way Bexley Mayoral race.

If this race is as close as the DCCC seems to think it can be, %5 will be a pretty big deal.