Every election cycle, the press calls the Libertarian Party the "third party." It's meant to sound neutral. It isn't. It's a label that tells voters we're a protest vote, a spoiler, a curiosity — before they've read a single word about our candidates.
Here's what Missouri law says. Missouri recognizes exactly three established political parties: the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and the Libertarian Party of Missouri. Not two parties plus a footnote — three. Under state law, a party earns established status when its statewide candidates clear 2% of the vote, and the Libertarian Party of Missouri has held that status continuously since 1992. Thirty-four years. In 2024, we were the only party outside the big two officially recognized by
the state.
So when coverage of my race for state Senate District 30 frames it as a two-person contest, that's not reporting — that's editing the ballot for the reader. Non-proportional, horse-race coverage misleads voters into believing they have two choices when they have three. A voter who never hears the Libertarian candidate's name can't vote for him. The press doesn't just cover elections; it shapes them. And right now it's shaping this one by pretending one of the three legally recognized parties doesn't exist.
The "third party" stigma also carries an implication: that Libertarians can't win. The record says otherwise. Missouri Libertarians hold elected office today — a Wright City alderman, a Lincoln County fire board member, and others before them. And in head-to-head races against Republicans and Democrats, Libertarian candidates routinely earn more than 20% of the vote. I know, because I did it myself: In 2016, running for Greene County Commission against a longtime incumbent, I earned 21.6% — more than one-in-five voters — with a fraction of the money.
Which brings me to the money. My opponents raise thousands from PACs and special interests. Libertarian candidates don't — nobody's buying us, because there's nothing to buy. We're not for sale. And here's the part the fundraising headlines never mention: Even in two-way races, the candidate who raised the most PAC and special-interest money still loses when the people vote the other way. Money doesn't cast ballots. Endorsements don't pull levers. Votes win elections, not dollars.
That's not a slogan. It's the whole theory of this campaign, and it's why a Libertarian earning 20-plus percent against two funded machines isn't a spoiler — it's a signal. Voters are hungry for a candidate who answers to them instead of donors.
So here's my ask, and it's a modest one: Cover all three candidates. Say our names. Print our positions. Let the voters decide with full information instead of a pre-sorted menu of two. Missouri law already treats us as equals on the ballot. It's time the coverage caught up.
Cecil Ince is the Libertarian candidate for Missouri state Senate District 30, and chair of the Libertarian Party of Greene County.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Stop calling Libertarians the 'third party' | Opinion
