Brian Holtz: A Third Party Politician and Activist
By Zoe Holtz
The year was 2004 and Brian Holtz was running for Congress against incumbent Democrat Anna Eshoo. He needed a way to set himself apart from the rest and so he decided to pay people not to vote for him. A bit of an unconventional approach, registered voters could win two dollars (which later increased to five) when declaring they would not vote for him. The only requirements were to mail him a correctly completed quiz on his campaign positions and be a registered voter. Brian was betting that if you accurately knew what he stood for, you would end up voting for him instead of wanting his money.
This bet paid out when he received 5% of the vote, which was a record for the Californian Libertarian Party in his district, which normally would receive 3 or 4% of the vote. Brian knew it would be near impossible to win the election, but that’s not what his expected goal was.
Why Run for Office as a Third Party?
Brian wanted to increase awareness of Libertarian political ideology. He wanted voters to see another name on the ballot than just the typical two party candidates, and he wanted the voters to be able to see his website. He also wanted voters to see third parties as viable options as a protest to the political duopoly. Third party voters can also just stick to what matches their political ideology most closely and they shouldn’t feel like they’re wasting a vote by sticking to their beliefs. Brian says “Voting third party shows the establishment that they are going to need to change to earn these votes.” By contacting local news stations with a press release, he managed to achieve more publicity than he ever expected for his I’ll Bet $5 You’ll Vote For Me campaign strategy. He was featured on KTVU, which was the highest rated morning news program in the local bay area. He also got thirty seconds of national media attention from Fox news. He didn’t even know how Fox caught wind of his stunt since he hadn’t contacted them, but a friend saw it on air and told Brian about it, much to his surprise! Brian ran for congress as the libertarian ticket member a total of three times during the years of 2004, 2006 and 2008.
What Difference Can A Single Person Make Within A Political Party?
Brain didn’t just run for office though, in fact most of his effort was spent within the Libertarian Party to transform it. Brian admits that he didn’t join the party for years because the people just seemed “kooky and embarrassing.” However he decided to take the plunge and get involved by attending local and national meetings, eventually purchasing a lifetime membership in 2000. Brain says that “As a more moderate libertarian, I think it’s especially important to be involved with the party because if people like me stick around then the party is less alienating to the mainstream and to other moderate libertarians.”
Brian was able to make a pivotal and long lasting change within the party in 2008. The platform had a bunch of holes in it because in 2006, delegates had voted to delete many planks of the platform. Brian says “the old platform was incredibly long, detailed and radical when what this party really needed is something that is principled and simple.” The radical side of the Libertarian Party was dead set on restoring the old platform and so the reformers had to come up with something to propose to fill the gaps. Brian knew it would be incredibly difficult to create something new from scratch that the Libertarians would be willing to accept.
Brian took it upon himself to read through all previous versions of the platform. He made an outline of what the platform should cover and then compiled pieces from the old platforms to fit his outline. “I knew that creating a platform stitched together with recycled language from previous versions would give it the legitimacy it needed to compete with the 2004 platform restoration proposal.” The Libertarians looking to reform the platform were fans of Brian’s proposal but the big question was if the delegates would vote for it over the old version.
Brian wasn’t too worried because the convention rule was that delegates would vote plank by plank after each side had read aloud their proposed plank. “I knew we were going to win because the radicals were rushing to finish reading their long proposal which sounded convoluted, boring and angry.” The 2008 platform for the National Liberterian Party that Brian fathered has managed to stand the test of time and is still the official Libertarian Party platform, and has even been adopted as the California Libertarian Party platform.
Brian thinks the key to making a difference is a combination of showing up and putting in the hard work when you see an opportunity. “The person who does the hard work first creates an environment where it’s easy to follow their lead, so if you do the hard work first it can be exactly the way you want and people are going to follow because it’s close enough to what they want.”
How Is Brian Involved With His Community?
Brian is not one to pass up opportunities, so when he saw that his local water board had an open position, he ran unopposed and walked on. He has since won every election, even the ones where someone else was gunning for his spot.
Brian has seen the do-ocracy in action during a recent water board legislative task. Rather than adopt the regulations for water conservation proposed by the county, Brian wrote up his own version. No one else was willing to put in the work to do just that, but he was. He knew his water board members would be on board with his proposal but he wasn’t sure if the city council would approve. He was surprised that others on the city council were on board, given that it was less restrictive than the Santa Clara County version. He thinks that the lessons he learned from this experience were that you can find political allies where you don’t expect, which gives even more reason to put yourself out there even when you don’t think that people will be on your side. “Just because you think they won’t agree with you, that doesn’t give you an excuse to not try.” Brian also thinks this example further highlights his belief that those who put the hard work in, especially when no one else will, will get to see themselves leading.
Brian took this position to lead by example. He believes that there is no best strategy for Libertarians to make a political difference. Libertarians put their energy into achieving ideological purity, influencing other parties from within, electing a Libertarian presidency or electing Libertarians to smaller positions. Brian also works with his smaller, local Santa Clara County Liberterian Party, serving different positions, hosting meetings, voting and donating.
He can also be seen advertising for the Libertarian party in his iconic custom designed libertarian polo shirts and advertising on his vehicle with his custom libertarian bumper stickers. His house also proudly presents many political signs next to the street advertising candidates he endorses and his political party.
He also operates a small Zazzle store offering Libertarian merchandise with messages that focus on freedom, tolerance and free markets.
Brian thinks there are many ways to make a difference, big and small. Don’t let all the small ways to make a difference pass you by while you wait for the perfect big opportunity. Find your beliefs and do the hard work in all the little ways to make as much change as you possibly can. Show up and do the work, the rest will (hopefully) follow.
Bibliography
I bet you’ll vote for me details
https://marketliberal.org/Bet.html
Brian with money Image Source
https://marketliberal.org/Announcement20041031.html
Clip about Brian on Fox news
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zPS-i0Qo4I
Local news clip about Brian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDlP-0Mkt38
Libertarian Party National Platform
Brian in Blue Shirt Image Source
https://ca.lp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/20210421_The-Beacon-May-2021_HTML.html
Brian’s Zazzle Store