Aside from being the ideal liberty advocate, U.S. Senate Candidate Austin Petersen should be taken seriously as a true competitor. And entrepreneurs like ourselves should take note.

Petersen's return to politics, after running for the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination in 2016 (Gary Johnson was selected as the nominee), comes at a time where even Republican lawmakers can't be trusted to make the best possible decisions to support our civil liberties and--most importantly--our market-oriented society.

Petersen's Platform on Regulation and Government Spending

Petersen's entire platform is focused on one thing: limiting government as much as possible. According to his campaign website, the main issues that Petersen champions include healthcare, jobs, spending, and taxes.

Even though he has taken a very principled stance on criminal justice reform and foreign policy, Petersen's intentions on alleviating governmental burdens on the citizens of Missouri—and the United States—serve as the most important issues.

For one, he wishes for a "clean" repeal of the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) and a cut to the invasive regulatory regime that stemmed in the seven years since President Barack Obama's benchmark healthcare reform was implemented.

In addition to reigning in the healthcare regulations, other regulations that prevent market entry, job growth and market share growth, and add unneeded cost to businesses, are also on Petersen's hit list of policies to try and repeal.

Petersen's tax reform plan is also ambitious—and heartwarming to say the least. If elected, Petersen promises to reform the tax code to a degree that only requires a 15 percent across-the-board flat tax for personal, corporate, capital gains, and all other forms of taxes levied on the American people.

Other issues that Petersen champions include taking a hard stance against the federal government's irresponsible budgetary climate and wants to work to return Washington to fiscal sanity by diverting the need to innovate and create economic growth with the private sector--as it should be in the first place.

A 'Republican' Politician

So, why vote or contribute to Petersen? For one, the former card-carrying Libertarian is now running on a Republican ticket in his home state of Missouri. And, given the nature of the two-party dominated system, Petersen is a serious candidate to bring real change to Washington D.C.

Incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill is faced with a very strong challenger. However, the only issues that can possibly arise are whether or not the 2018 Republican primary will be a very crowded race. Nevertheless, the current state of the race is still "anyone's game" because of how early we are in the midterm cycle.

Despite any concerns, consider the fact that Petersen—if elected—would be joining the ranks of other high-profile libertarian Republicans like Rand Paul.

In His Own Words

In an op-ed for the Kansas City Star, Petersen described his candidacy and campaign—in one of his first media spots as a Republican politician—as a solution to the same old, same old.

"I want to give Missourians — and indeed all Americans — the kind of government that is worthy of them," Petersen wrote. "...Ultimately, I’m running because I have a passion for liberty."

This is just the beginning of Petersen's campaign. We'll continue to cover his candidacy and interview him on the issues, as well as other candidates in campaigns across the U.S. who are passionate, liberty-minded defenders of the free market and property rights.

Share your thoughts on Petersen in the comments, and let us know about other candidates we should feature on Capitalism.com.

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