Murray Sabrin, a former Libertarian gubernatorial candidate turned “Ron Paul Republican” candidate for U.S. Senate in New Jersey, finished a distant third tonight in the GOP primary.
Sabrin, despite raising well over a half-million dollars to fund his campaign, is polling at only 14%… far behind former Congressman Dick Zimmer (46%) and State Senator Joe Pennacchio (40%).
Impressively, Sabrin managed to raised in excess of $30,000 during the final day of the campaign. Since there will be no general election campaign, it’s not clear if that money is going to be directed to expenses that were already incurred or if it will be returned or used for another purpose.
UPDATE: Lew Rockwell on Murray…
Murray, congratulations on a hard-fought election. You poured your heart and soul into this campaign, and gave us all an example of how a real man dedicates himself to important work against overwhelming odds.
13 responses so far ↓
1 G.E. // Jun 3, 2008 at 11:40 pm
That sucks.
2 Trent Hill // Jun 4, 2008 at 12:16 am
Its incredible. Ron Paul scored a mere 5% in the NJ primary–but Marray scored 17%.
3 inDglass // Jun 4, 2008 at 12:18 am
Why did he wait until the last day to raise that money? Maybe he did have some outstanding debt.
Other than that, it looks like Sabrin ran an excellent campaign. I hope we see more alternative candidates being this competitive the rest of 2008.
4 Fred Church Ortiz // Jun 4, 2008 at 12:24 am
We’ll be seeing more of Sabrin, I’m sure.
5 G.E. // Jun 4, 2008 at 12:25 am
I hope he comes back to the LP and becomes a little more libertarian, too.
6 Spence // Jun 4, 2008 at 2:35 am
Just shows you that intelligence is unpopular.
7 George Donnelly // Jun 4, 2008 at 8:59 am
More evidence that Libertarians in the GOP is an ultimately failed idea.
8 RedPhillips // Jun 4, 2008 at 9:38 am
Sabrin was a solid candidate. The problem is that GOP primary voters have not yet been sold on the non-interventionist message. We have much work to do.
9 Gene Trosper // Jun 4, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Let us work to bring Murray back into the LP. Republicans don’t want him, so why bother staying with them???
I think the entire “Ron Paul Revolution” will not end up transforming the GOP. They have too much invested in state power and the perks that come with it, to even consider returning to a limited government philosophy.
10 MattSwartz // Jun 4, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I think the entire “Ron Paul Revolution†will not end up transforming the GOP. They have too much invested in state power and the perks that come with it, to even consider returning to a limited government philosophy.
Gene, you could be right or you may be wrong, but my guess is that things will ultimately fall between those two extremes. Each state is different, and the Ron Paul/small government message resonates better in some areas than others. I think that after the 2010 midterm, we will see a House of Representatives that has been influenced by Ron Paul.
11 G.E. // Jun 4, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I think libertarians would have a better time working within th Democratic Party than the GOP. At least the Democrats have historical figures we can point to — Jefferson, Jackson (imperfect), and Cleveland. Ron Paul is the only Ron Paul Republican of any note. Taft was imperfect and Howard H. Buffett is unknown.
12 MattSwartz // Jun 4, 2008 at 3:23 pm
The popular democratic narrative starts with FDR.
If given the choice between keeping their gravy train coaliton (which is broader, if not bigger than the GOP’s) or sitting there while newcomers remind them of their history in a way that contradicts their present-day ideas, I suspect that they’ll choose the latter, at least in most districts.
13 darolew // Jun 4, 2008 at 6:50 pm
“I think libertarians would have a better time working within th[e] Democratic Party than the GOP.”
Well, there is the Democratic Liberty Caucus, but it’s hardly as libertarian as its GOP counterpart (and neither of them are really that libertarian…)
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