In the nation’s first state primary election of 2018, pro-liberty Texas Republican Mayes Middleton defeated incumbent Wayne Faircloth, R-Galveston, to become the Republican candidate for State Rep. of District 23. This victory took place a little over a month after Young Americans for Liberty announced its newest campaign, Operation Win at the Door.
Young Americans for Liberty’s get-out-the-vote grassroots efforts were instrumental in Middleton’s 14-point landslide win. The organization plans to endorse a total of 30 state representative candidates for the November midterm elections. Young Americans for Liberty is committed to endorsing viable candidates who promise to lower taxes and fight for civil and individual liberties, the Bill of Rights (particularly the First, Second, and Fourth Amendments), and smaller government.
In a phone interview with Red Alert Politics, Young Americans for Liberty President Cliff Maloney Jr. explained they were able to have so much success in Texas’s 23rd District.
“There are a lot of fake limited government folks in the state of Texas. We set out to find somebody who was young, who believed in the principles of liberty and the Constitution, and who will actually cut government,” Maloney said.
Middleton, 36, from Wallisville, Texas, is an eloquently-speaking conservative Republican and small-businessman who campaigned on providing property tax relief with eventual abolition, restoring the Second Amendment right to bear arms, advocating for free market reforms, defending religious liberties, protecting the right to life, holding the government to high ethical standards and transparency, enforcing immigration laws while securing the border, giving back to the community, and forcing fiscal responsibility. With solid conservative principles and a perfect 100 percent score on the Young Americans for Liberty’s “liberty survey,” Middleton was “everything [Young Americans for Liberty] was looking for.”
A big reason Maloney focused Young Americans for Liberty’s efforts in Texas’s 23rd District was to show that Operation Win at the Door is capable of winning challenging races against credible opponents. Middleton’s pro-liberty campaign was in sharp contrast with his opponent’s – an entrenched “establishment Republican” who often voted for big government and cronyism. A team of grassroots activists coupled with Maloney’s leadership delivered a resounding victory for liberty in Texas – a state many pundits describe as a blue-trending state.
“We need to have a tactic that, when executed, has low campaign costs, high winning percentage, and one that is able to tangibly measure the results,” Maloney explained. “We sent 14 activists in, they knocked for roughly 3 weeks, they knocked on over 25,000 doors, and we beat the incumbent by 14 points.”
“The goal for 2018 is to do 30 races. I really want to prove the concept that knocking on doors – and going directly to the voter – is a way that we can start to build a bench of liberty elected officials across the United States.”
Given the initial success from the Texas primary election, Maloney has reason to believe this tactic “is one YAL should be scaling” to other races nationwide in 2019 and 2020.
In light of the recent shootings in Las Vegas, Nev., and Parkland, Fla., gun control is now among the most important issues – if not the most important issue – on the ballot this November. While Young Americans for Liberty is committed to endorsing Second Amendment advocates, Maloney suggests there is only so much government can do, and that stronger communities may solve this problem more effectively than legislation.
“YAL is a huge supporter of the Bill of Rights and a huge supporter of the Second Amendment,” Maloney clarified. “There are problems that D.C. can solve, and there are problems that D.C. can’t solve. I would argue that most of the time they cannot solve the problems, and the whole gun debate is one of those. Government can’t solve this problem. This is something where we the people have to come together and work to build a more civil society. The government is not able to legislate morality, or for people to be good people. Let’s come together as a community and figure this out.”
Maloney also denies the “blue wave” of trending Democratic growth in Texas that is mentioned often in mainstream media, noting that “Ted Cruz had more votes in his primary than all the other Democrat Senate candidates combined.” Additionally, Young Americans for Liberty is focused on educating all voters with the concepts of liberty, freedom, and the Constitution instead of pandering with any given political party. In fact, Maloney did not rule out endorsing a Democratic candidate.
“I’m not here to defend the Republican Party. I’ll back anybody – I don’t care what party they’re in – as long as they support the principles of liberty and they’re viable. That’s all I care about.”
Maloney understands the importance of having millennial activists campaign for liberty and freedom as millennials are becoming one of the largest voting blocks in American politics.
“40 percent of the electorate in 2020 will be millennials,” Maloney said. “The youth leaders of today become the national leaders of tomorrow, and the ideas that are transpired on college campuses today are going to be in the national spotlight down the road.”
Young Americans for Liberty is reaching more college students every year with one simple question: “What is the role of government?” With a presidential election largely about “his hair” or “her emails,” Maloney believes more young voters need to be educated on the principles of liberty and the role of government. It is through this civil discourse, healthy exchange of ideas, and diversity of thought that solutions can be formed.
“If people, especially millennials, consider the question ‘what is the role of government?’ we can have honest discussions. It’s not emotion-based, it’s not identity politics, it’s a real conversation.”
With more than 5,400 state representative races this November, Young Americans for Liberty hopes to build the foundation of what could soon be a growing bench of right-leaning libertarian and conservative-type candidates who fight for civil liberties and freedom. The group is laser-focused on state representative seats in 2018, however, Young Americans for Liberty could “start building blocks of people in certain states so it can start its own liberty caucuses across the United States” in 2019 or 2020. Operation Win at the Door has already proved to be a winning strategy – and one that should certainly not be overlooked in the near future as they continue the fight to #MakeLibertyWin.
