Michigan’s Libertarian Party gubernatorial candidate has chosen who he wants as lieutenant governor.
Nominee Bill Gelineau asked Angelique Chaiser Thomas to be his running mate earlier this week.
Thomas previously worked as a business woman in Auburn Hills, co-founding a business called Manufacturing and Design Electronics. Before that, she worked as a lawyer practicing criminal defense and family law.
Thomas accepted Gelineau’s offer to run as lieutenant governor immediately.
“I think before [Gelineau] called me, he and I…had spoken in person for 15 minutes,” she says. “But do we know all our values are aligned and we’re aligned on all the issues? Absolutely.”
Due to the high number of votes cast for the libertarian candidate in the 2016 presidential election, this was the first year the Libertarian Party qualified to hold a primary. Thomas says the party has the momentum to make a difference in this election--she just hopes voters are ready for a third party option.
“I'm just hoping that they don't feel under the gun, that if they don't vote for one of the major parties the other one might win,” she says. “I think we have to get over that hump as a state and as a nation or we're going to continue polarizing.”
Thomas has been a libertarian since about 1997.
“Our opinion is if the government can do the basics, it's basic responsibilities right, then it can start focusing on increasing its size,” she says. “But let's get down to government's basic responsibilities and prove that the government can even do that right.”
Thomas says she wants to focus on issues like infrastructure, criminal justice reform, and legalizing marijuana.
The nomination for Lieutenant Governor needs to be confirmed by delegates at the party convention this weekend.
