Third parties run for MSU Board of Trustees

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Joe Rosenquist describes himself as an ordinary Michiganian.

But unlike most Michigan residents, Rosenquist’s name will be on every ballot in the state on Nov. 4 as part of the MSU Board of Trustees election.

The board is made up of eight elected officials who serve eight-year terms. Rosenquist is running as a Libertarian, one of five third-party candidates vying for a position on the board.

“I’m just a basic, average, ordinary Michigan resident,” the MSU alumnus said. “I bring a basic private-sector type of experience to a situation where they don’t have that kind of outlook.”

When MSU students head to the polls, they’ll see nine Board of Trustees candidates’ names staring back at them, only four of which are Republicans and Democrats. Third-party candidates from the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan, the Libertarian Party and Green Party make up more than half of the candidates running.

Robert Gale and Crystal Van Sickle are running as U.S. Taxpayers candidates, while Rosenquist and David Brown make up the Libertarian ticket. Therese Marie Storm will represent the Green Party on the ballot.

Although third-party candidates outnumber the Republicans and Democrats, they face an uphill battle. From finances to name recognition, Van Sickle said third-party candidates experience a number of challenges when running in an election.

“The major challenge for third-party candidates is being included when there are debates or meet the candidate forums,” she said. “The Democrats and Republicans want you to believe that there are only two parties to choose from. Cost is another challenge since all third parties do not have the financial backing that the national parties do.”

Although Van Sickle admitted there are challenges to being a third-party candidate, she said third-party candidates are an integral part of the election process.

“This gets back to teaching individuals to critically think and do the research on each candidate before casting their vote,” she said. “The selection should never be ‘the lesser of two evils.’”

Democratic board candidate Dianne Byrum said she realizes being a major-party candidate has its advantages.

“It’s very difficult to get any kind of identification that far down on the ballot,” she said. “There’s a lot of drop-off from the top of the ticket to the bottom of the ticket. They face the same challenges a major-party candidate would face only probably by a multiplied effect.”

Candidates who want to run as a third-party candidate must be selected at the party’s convention the same way Democrats and Republicans are nominated at the parties’ state conventions. Storm, Gale and Brown were unavailable for comment.

Rosenquist said although there are challenges in being elected, just being on the ballot is important to the party.

“Part of it is just to say, ‘Hey, we exist,’” he said. “Publicity is one thing. And to tell people, ‘Hey, you got a choice.’ If people are really mad at both of the major parties, it does give people a choice.”

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