Talk Show Host, Author Launches Libertarian Senate Bid

The 2014 New Hampshire Senate race is becoming one of the most-watched political races in the nation and now that race just got a bit more interesting.

Gardner Goldsmith, an author and radio talk show host, has jumped into the race as a Libertarian candidate, hoping to face-off against Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and whoever the Republican nominee will be after the Sept. 9 primary.

The New Hampshire native released his first in a series of YouTube videos explaining why he was running and to garner support for a signature petition drive to gain access to the ballot, which requires 3,000 certified signatures, 1,500 for each Congressional district, according to the Secretary of State.

Goldsmith, whose nickname is “El Grande,” said he was in the race “to express the ideas of freedom” and move beyond a campaign but, instead, “to get ideas out … the fundamental principles that unfortunately seem to be lost on many contemporary politicians.” He said, in the past, most people in New Hampshire understood these principles, especially that the purpose of government was to preserve the rights of individuals. However, Goldsmith said, government was the now entity that was taking away from the individual and telling people how to live their lives.

“I wouldn’t do that,” he said. “I’m here to leave my neighbor alone and express the principles that that Founders of this country believed in.”

Goldsmith has written both short and long form fiction and recently published "Live Free or Die," a collection of essays about liberty in New Hampshire. He was voted Libertarian of the Year in 2006 and has hosted programs on WGIR in Manchester, WTPL The Pulse in Bow, and WNTK out of New London. 

For more information, visit Gard4Senate.com.

Former Sens. Scott Brown and Bob Smith, former state Sen. Jim Rubens, conservative activist Karen Testerman, and columnist Andy Martin are all vying for the Republican nomination. 

Check out all the New Hampshire Patch 2014 campaign stories in our Elections section.