Libertarian party vice presidential candidate wants to be ‘disruptor’ in November election

Mike ter Maat, vice presidential candidate for the Libertarian party, doesn't see his campaign as a spoiler, but an opportunity for disenfranchised voters. (Kennedy Thomason/Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY – Although the Libertarian vice presidential candidate is not banking on a win, he is looking to be a “disruptor” to November’s election.

Mike ter Maat was picked to serve on the Libertarian presidential ticket in May, alongside Chase Oliver. They will face presumptive candidates former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

He spoke with voters Tuesday night in Oklahoma City at a meet-and-greet.

“I don’t think it’s impossible for us to win the White House,” ter Maat said. “But we recognize it’s a long shot.”

Key points of the pair’s platform include reshaping foreign policy by stopping aid, ending the Federal Reserve System and relinquishing government intervention into American lives as much as possible.

Ter Maat was a professional economist for 25 years before serving 11 years as a police officer.

He said his experience makes him qualified to tackle criminal justice reform and stop the war on drugs, which he said isn’t aligned with American values.

Ter Maat previously ran an unsuccessful congressional campaign, garnering less than 1% of the vote in Florida’s 20th district. Oliver has also run two unsuccessful congressional campaigns. In 2022, he caused a runoff in Georgia between Sen. Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker, ter Maat said.

The Libertarian party has nominated a presidential candidate pair every election since 1972, according to ballotpedia.org. After turmoil at the Libertarian party’s convention, Oliver and ter Maat were elected to be the face of the party in November’s election.

Ter Maat said he doesn’t view his candidacy as a spoiler.

“But the real objective is to no longer allow the Republican and Democratic parties to just completely knee jerk, disregard our campaign, our philosophies, our candidates, our party, because that’s the way it works now,” ter Maat said.

But that’s not the way Seth McKee, a political science professor at Oklahoma State University, sees it.

“Most of the time, if they do play much of a role, it is ‘spoiler,’ meaning they have no prayer of winning, but they can be pivotal in swinging the vote to one of the major candidates,” McKee said.

McKee said third party candidates have the ability to get disenfranchised voters, who wouldn’t otherwise vote, out to the polls.

This effect is less likely to have weight in Oklahoma, he said, which had all 77 counties vote for Trump in 2016 and 2020.

Registered Libertarians in Oklahoma make up less than 1% of voters, according to a January voter registration report .

McKee said registering with a third party is a “double-edged sword.”

“It’s a signal that they’re upset with the two parties, but they’re less likely to participate because they’re upset with the two parties, so they undermine their own clout and influence by not being as participatory,” McKee said.

For Chris Powell, state chair for the Libertarian party, the party’s messaging needs to improve.

Democrats are “becoming an endangered species in rural areas,” he said, which the party can capitalize on to reach those voters.

“It just takes catching lightning in a bottle, a little bit, and people getting energized and getting on board,” Powell said. “This election, as bad as the top of the ticket is for the two establishment parties, could be the catalyst for that.”

Being a spoiler is not something David Greer is worried about.

The first elected Libertarian official in Oklahoma, Greer serves on the Dougherty City Council. Doughtery has 199 citizens, according to the 2020 census.

Greer said he recognizes the smaller role the party currently plays, but that it holds an advantage with its candidate selection.

“With elections like this, where the establishment parties aren’t putting up good candidates because they don’t have to, I think we’re gonna get more looks our way and appear more appealing,” Greer said.

After Thursday’s presidential debate on CNN, ter Maat said he thinks his and Oliver’s odds are better heading into November.

Although surprised by the nation’s reaction to the debate , he said Biden’s behavior is what he has observed for months.

As voters weigh their options, ter Maat said self-reflection is important.

“You should vote for values in a candidate, in a ticket, that align with your own, and you should not be sending the signal to other parties and candidates that they’re on the right track if you don’t feel that they are.”

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