Dalton is a city of about 33,000 residents located in Northern Georgia. David Pennington, the mayor of Dalton, has just endorsed Libertarian Andrew Hunt for governor.

This endorsement is significant both because Pennington is a Republican mayor of a fair sized city, and because Pennington was Governor Nathan Deal’s primary challenger for re-nomination earlier this year. Pennington waged a long-shot campaign against the Governor, finishing second among three candidates and winning nearly 100,000 votes. That translate to about 17% of the vote in that contest.

“People say you waste your vote when you vote for a third-party candidate,” Pennington said. “I believe you waste your vote when you vote for someone who does not share your ideals or beliefs.”

The Libertarian Hunt has polled as high as 9% in the race for governor, and in a close contest it appears likely that he will force the two major party candidates into a run-off.