IN SOUTH DAKOTA’S Senate race, voting irregularities on the Oglala Sioux Indian reservation have made some Republicans wonder whether Democratic senator Tim Johnson’s 524 vote victory over Representative John Thune was legitimate. Voter fraud, they speculate, sent South Dakota’s junior senator back to Washington for another six years. But while this accusation could have merit, another factor undoubtedly helped Johnson’s cause: Libertarian candidate Kurt Evans managed to garner 3,000 votes from South Dakota’s tiny electorate (just 234,435 people voted in the race).
Libertarians also tipped the balance in favor of Democrats in some of the nation’s excruciatingly close gubernatorial races this year. In Wisconsin, Democrat Jim Doyle can thank Libertarian Ed Thompson (brother of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson) for his victory. Thompson took in 185,000 votes, while Doyle’s margin over incumbent Republican Scott McCallum was 68,000 votes.
