March 01, 2012 01:07 AM UTC

Hans Romer (Libertarian) Running for HD 29 Again

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• by: JeffcoWgirl

With incumbent Robert Ramirez’s commitment to the HD-29 race as uncertain as his reputation on the right, an alternative for conservative voters could be a spoiler for the Republican. SoS filings show that just such an alternative exists in the form of one Hans Romer, a Libertarian who received 584 votes for the same seat in 2002. That’s under 3% (not great even for a Libertarian), but it’s also more than the margin separating the D and R candidates that year.

It’s not easy to find information on Romer, who has no campaign website, no public Facebook page, and no easily discoverable Twitter account, but I pieced together what I could, after the jump:

1) He’s polite!

In a letter to the editor of the Westword, Romer thanks Denver’s alternative weekly for covering stories about alternative-party candidates, including Libertarians. He also mentions “not accepting money from big companies,” although I’ve seen very few big companies lining up begging to donate to Libertarian campaigns.

2) Socialized education makes people support him.

This Libertarian doesn’t exactly SAY that Romer opposes public education, but “Free Colorado” DOES say that he’s proud to support Romer (in 2002) because Romer’s opponents support socialized education.

HD 29

Through mailers sent to my house, I’ve learned that the Republican (Bob Briggs) and the Democrat (Debbie Benefield) in House District 29 both support socialized education. They are both quite proud of it. That is one reason why I will be quite proud to vote for Libertarian Hans Romer for the position.

3) Libertarians have low standards for award-winners…

Okay, that’s not a fact about Romer, but he did get some recognition in 2000 for doing one of these things:

3 or more published letters to the editor

3 or more speeches

3 or more Operation Politically Homeless (OPH) booths

It’s not clear which, but I’m guessing from #1 that he wrote letters.

4) He showed up on Election Night 2002

There’s a photo from E-night here.

5) He’s willing to geek out for his party.

Romer appears to have attended Starfest 2001 to recruit Libertarians.

6) He’s not afraid of a parade

Check out Hans parading in Boulder with Lady Liberty.

Libertarian candidates usually draw mostly protest votes, but given the Tea Party’s current level of activity, combined with apathy and dissatisfaction in many young voters, an active campaign could actually drum up support. The absence of any Web presence might indicate that Romer intends to “occupy the ballot” rather than campaigning comprehensively, but there’s plenty of time left in 2012 for him to prove that assumption wrong — and if he knocks U/I/R doors and manages to fundraise enough for a mailing or two, this “Clever Hans” could become one of the most interesting possible spoilers in Colorado legislative races this year.