As you vote in the June 2 primary, make sure to check out all the candidates. Because\u00a0of the undemocratic top-two system, the Green, Peace & Freedom, Libertarian and No Party Preference candidates will be frozen out in the Nov. 3 general election.<\/p>\n
I talked with two outsider candidates running for Congress. Libertarian Derrick Michael Reid<\/a> is listed on the ballot for the 47th Congressional District as a \u201cMilitary Geopolitical Commentator.\u201d He\u2019s an engineer who spent 10 years in aerospace\/defense and as an attorney for 25 years specializing in patent litigation and prosecution. Opponents include Democratic incumbent Rep. Dave Min, four Republicans and three others.<\/p>\n Like many Libertarians, he was boiling over with proposals. He said his plan is to win a seat in Congress this year, then be elected president in 2028.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m the guy who is capable of eliminating the income tax, the national debt, the Federal Reserve Board and federal socialism,\u201d Reid said. \u201cAnd unless it is done soon, we will end up in a great depression. The main concern is the exponentiating national debt.\u201d<\/p>\n As I was writing this, the running U.S. National Debt Clock<\/a> just pushed over $39.2 trillion, rising at a $1.67 trillion annual clip. Republicans and Democrats keep promising to cut the debt, but to no avail.<\/p>\n On Social Security and Medicare, he promised, \u201cWe will not stiff grandma.\u201d His plan is to transfer social services to the states. To pay for a shrunken federal government, he would tax the states themselves. That would provide competition among the states on how best to raise the revenue for the federal levy.<\/p>\n The main benefit would be getting rid of the federal income tax. He said, \u201cPeople are tired of the IRS engaging in a colonoscopy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n On foreign policy, unlike most libertarians he favors the current war with Iran. But he objected that President Donald Trump did not first get approval from Congress, \u201ca straight-up violation of the Constitution.\u201d Second, \u201cI\u2019m a military scientist. And it became obvious that the war was not sufficiently war-gamed.\u201d<\/p>\n A quite different candidate is Nina Linh<\/a>, listed on the ballot<\/a> as \u201cBusinesswoman\/Nonprofit Executive,\u201d and running in the 40th Congressional District as No Party Preference.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are absolutely exhausted,\u201d Linh said, explaining why she\u2019s running. \u201cAnd I\u2019m exhausted. But I\u2019m just not one to sit on the sidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n When former Democratic Rep. Mike Honda<\/a> asked her to run as a Democrat, she first said no. But at the end of 2024, \u201cI was at an inflection point in my life, and I said, You know, let me consider it.\u201d She first ran as a Democrat. But she became disillusioned with the party because of the Proposition 50<\/a> redistricting initiative it pushed into law last November, \u201cbecause I do not believe in gerrymandering.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Reid, she called for reducing the debt. She said, \u201cComing from business, it\u2019s so, so, so critical to understand money management and how you balance the federal budget.\u201d<\/p>\n And she criticized President Trump\u2019s Iran War. \u201cNumber one, I don\u2019t believe there was an imminent danger from Iran\u201d attacking the United States, she said. \u201cI believe it is a war of choice and there is no exit strategy. My concern is that it will end up being a war of attrition.\u201d<\/p>\n Linh\u2019s two main opponents are incumbent Republican Reps. Ken Calvert and Young Kim, whose support for the war I criticized in a recent column<\/a>. They were jammed into one district due to the Prop. 50 initiative Linh criticized. Also running are five Democrats.<\/p>\n