In rural Ohio, Paulding County and surrounding communities in northwest Ohio have historically voted directly along the Republican Party line. But Christopher Elder, a bisexual Libertarian running to represent the state’s 82nd District in the House of Representatives, believes party loyalty has caused voter apathy that his midterm campaign may alleviate.
Accepting his bisexuality helped the 26-year-old candidate see the world in shades of gray rather than black and white.
“The whole message of being yourself in the LGBTQ+ community is to be yourself in your own way,” he said. “I can be bisexual in my own way. I don’t have to look for labels. What I want from my community is that if they’re conservative, they don’t have to be anti-gay, they don’t have to be anti-people. They can be conservative in their own way, they can be liberal in their own way.”
Background
Elder was born in Defiance, Ohio, but spent most of his childhood until high school in southern Tennessee. Although he moved frequently, he had lived in the village of Paulding for eight years.
For much of his adult life, he has voted for conservative candidates, many of them in the Republican Party.
But after a low stint at Bowling Green State University, he began to come to terms with his bisexuality. He faced an identity crisis and “slowly moved away” from conservatism. After reading a book that asked Christians to practice loving people who are different from themselves, he thought about how he should love his sexuality even though it is not seen as “normal” in his community.
He added that he had some concerns about whether he would have to adapt to the expectations of others, e.g. wear make-up. A non-binary friend explained to Elder that coming out was a different experience for everyone and he “didn’t owe it to anyone.”
He said the idea resonated deeply with Elder. The college boy whom his friends later called “MAGA Christopher” discovered how Republican values were at odds with his own.
“I couldn’t stand supporting Trump anymore,” Elder said. “Republicans at their roots no longer seem very pro-national.”
He began to enter “democratic circles” where he found “lots of like-minded people”, but he became frustrated with the two-party system.
“There’s always one person to hate, no matter what side you’re on, and I really want to see another group of people – or multiple groups of people – that can come,” he said. “This way we can better manage our country.”
Currently, he works with children with behavioral problems at the alternative school Marsh Foundationand is studying social work at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.
He was inspired to run for office by an Ohio Statehouse Democrat with a similar background, Rep. Crystal Lett (R-Columbus), about an article he was writing for the university newspaper. Lett told Elder she ran because she was fed up with how the state rejected aid for families with developmental disabilities.
This sparked Elder’s desire to try running for office.
“I thought about this for a long and difficult time,” Elder said. “I just thought, well, why the hell not? There aren’t many people in my industry who advocate for children and other families, so here we go.”
“Another Way”
Participating in a third-party election may seem a long way off, but Elder said his district is uniquely positioned to defeat the mainstream parties.
In the 2012 U.S. House race in Ohio, the Libertarian candidate received 4.6% of the total vote. Nearly 400 Libertarian voters were from Paulding County out of 9,344 ballots cast.
According to them, the National Libertarian Party believes that people should face minimal intervention from the government platform. Party renowned legalizing marriage equality in 2015 and believes that individuals have the right to access any form of health care they want, including gender-affirming care.
“A good bit saw a different path,” he said.
In talking to voters, Elder learned that many of them were disappointed with the choices they made in the election. He also discovered that ruby-red Paulding County has more supporters than he expected on some LGBTQ+ rights issues in Ohio, such as pushing for a nondiscrimination law.
He said Republican voters in his district are more accepting of LGBTQ+ people than others might imagine. Both red and blue voters appear to hold libertarian ideals.
He said that if elected, he could employ these overlapping positions to pass policies that aid the average person.
“We’re here for the people,” Elder said. “I want to listen to you, even if I disagree with you, so I think I can use some of the connections that I have with Republicans and Democrats to find a middle ground.”
Elder wants to show that Ohio has more options than just blue and red, and wants to support policies that encourage purple. He supports ranked voting, which he believes helps select candidates from different parties and backgrounds because voters don’t have to choose just one option.
Ranked-choice voting, he said, would give voters a greater say in the process and reduce polarization.
“They don’t have to define themselves by party politics,” Elder said. 🔥
START ACTION
- To learn more about Christopher Elder’s campaign, visit his campaign website Here.
- To register to vote or check your eligibility to vote in Ohio, click here.
