Libertarian Ed Thompson Spends $20, Wins Mayoral Election
My friend Ed Thompson was just elected mayor of Tomah, Wisconsin for the second time. Here’s the news release:
Charismatic Libertarian Ed Thompson won Tuesday’s mayoral election by nearly a two-to-one margin over incumbent Chuck Ludeking.
Speaking from his Tomah supper club, the Teepee, Thompson said he found about 50 dusty yard signs in a storage shed, leftovers from his previous campaign for mayor in 2000. He also dug up four highway signs from his Wisconsin gubernatorial campaign of 2002.
Thompson spent $10 for black and white paint to make appropriate changes to the highway signs. He said, “I paid my handyman, Terry Waddell, another $10 to clean up and paint the signs.”
Thompson referred to his frugal $20 campaign as a metaphor for how government should be run. In his previous term as mayor he cut city expenses by 13% while improving services to the community.
Thompson says that large expenditures should be decided in referendum by the people, not by a handful of city council members. “The people have been left out of the political process at all levels,” he said. “I want to change that.”
He went on to say, “We’re going to change government at the grassroots level. I want to show that libertarian values are American values, that we, the people, don’t want government bureaucracies meddling in our private lives.”
Thompson also serves as Vice-Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin.
His 2002 Libertarian gubernatorial campaign made 3rd party history in Wisconsin when he got 10.5% of the vote with only about 2% of the total money spent on that election.
Thompson quipped, “Maybe I should run for governor again some day, but it would probably take more than 20 bucks, maybe more like a couple hundred.”
April 1st, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Go Ed! If only he could have convinced his brother to endorse Ron Paul instead of McCain.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:01 pm
I suspect this is building towards a Congressional or State Senate campaign.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Great job Ed!!
Ed embodies everything that is right about libertarianism—knowledge, personality, being genuine and valuing personal liberty.
If we had 15,000 Ed Thompsons in the LP we’d be the majority party in the country right now.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Isn’t that Tommy Thompson’s brother?
April 1st, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Yes, hence why I commented on Tommy’s McCain endorsement.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:01 am
A guy who polled 1% endorsing Ron Paul was not going to help. Actually I can’t think of any endorsements that actually helped anyone.
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:35 am
Hey, the Ghandi endorsement helped the Campagna surge
Haha…
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:57 am
LOL, Nice!
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:34 pm
The Charlie Christ endorsement DEFINETLY helped McCain.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
more info on Ed Thompson:
www.edthompson.com
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
A Remarkable Man-Trailer
Ed Thompson had been a boxer, professional poker player, tavern owner, construction worker, and salesman, but unlike his older brother, Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, Ed hated politics. When his Monroe County supper club was raided for illegal gambling activities, Ed faced 8 years in prison and a $40,000 fine for paying an undercover agent $5 from a penny video poker machine. He was outraged. For the first time in his life Ed got involved in politics—and he got even. That’s only the beginning.
Ed Thompson’s story is about the determination of a not-so-ordinary guy who refuses to bow to injustice, battling for both himself and others against the forces of a powerful political machine. You can’t help but like him. Ed is gregarious, witty, shrewd, lovable and compassionate—and he’s one heck of a fighter.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8580756442630573878&q=ed+thompson+remarkable+man&total=3&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
The Libertarian Alternative – Ed Thompson
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1950101503201066375&q=ed+thompson&total=618&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
April 2nd, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Ed got 48.5 votes per dollar spent.
That means Ed needs about $1.3 million to be elected president of the United States.
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:27 pm
James, I like your arithmetic!
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:57 am
Congrats to Ed Thompson. He’s a very popular man in Tomah and west-central Wisconsin.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:58 am
Also from my region of Wisconsin, a Ron Paul supporter got elected to the La Crosse County board on a write-in vote.