Jeremy “Spike” Cohen
From WGEM-TV, the NBC affiliate in western Illinois, on July 21, 2020:
The Libertarian Party of Illinois submitted its petitions today for several candidates vying for statewide and national office. This could be a historic election for the party, given the opportunity for candidates to have a much lower number of petitions needed to make it onto the ballot due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Members say they will continue to fight for ballot access reforms to abolish the two party political system. They argue 2020 is the perfect time to change leadership in Springfield and Washington D.C.
“Everything that we’re seeing across the country and right here in Illinois is the direct result of Republicans and Democrats having exclusive control,” said Spike Cohen, Libertarian candidate for Vice President. “We seek to end that to topple the power and give you your power back. That’s what every single one of us is here fighting for.” Cohen hopes to make those changes with Presidential candidate Jo Jorgensen.
The Libertarians have roughly 50 candidates running for office across Illinois. They hope to get enough support in November to meet the five percent threshold and become an official political party in the state.
“The number of candidates we had filing today should be a message to the General Assembly, to the State Board of Elections and to Gov. JB Pritzker that, given a level playing field with Democrats and Republicans, Libertarians will run for office. In November, we’ll prove Libertarians can be competitive in these statewide elections and can win given those same opportunities the two other parties possess,” Illinois Libertarian Party Chairman Steve Suess said.
