Editor’s note: This is the last of three stories about the race for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District. For more coverage of this year’s election, go to www.greeleytribune.com/elections.

Bruce Griffith isn’t a career politician, nor does he really want to be one.

He’s an engineer, who said he would take time off from his career to serve Coloradans in the 4th Congressional District, which includes all of Weld County and much of eastern Colorado. He is running as a long-shot Libertarian against incumbent Republican Ken Buck and Democratic challenger Bob Seay.

It is his first time running for a position in public office, and he said his top three priorities if elected would be to fix the imbalance of trade, the federal deficit and Social Security.

“I need to be a voice in the process that tries to change the reasons why people vote for candidates,” he said. “What if there is no majority leader (in Congress)? The whole point is you elect a small number of Libertarians and the world changes. That’s my vision.”

Still, Griffith isn’t likely to win.

Kyle Saunders, a political science professor at Colorado State University, said the U.S. political system puts third parties at a disadvantage. Votes toward these parties – such as the Libertarians or the Green Party – are often described as “protest votes” by voters who are unhappy with their traditional choices.

And it’s especially difficult for third parties to gain traction, he said, in a safe district like the 4th, where a large majority of voters are registered Republicans.

According to the Colorado Secretary of State, there are 4,357 registered Libertarians in the 4th Congressional District, out of 444,616 active voters. There are 186,773 registered Republicans in the district.

“Even the Democrats – the other major party – have a hard time mounting a viable campaign (in the 4th District),” Saunders said. “The Libertarians don’t have much of a party organization. So it’s even less possible for a minor party candidate in a safe congressional district to have a chance to even affect the outcome.”

Griffith said he understands these odds, but he hopes voters will look deeper to find out what he has to offer. He said the Libertarian party prides itself on being fiscally responsible and socially accepting and can be attractive to voters who are fed up with the traditional parties.

“When Libertarians talk about cutting the budget, they mean cutting the budget,” he said. “Socially accepting means what happens in your bedroom is your business, not the government’s. We want the federal government out of people’s lives.”

Although Griffith acknowledged he doesn’t have the same experience a career politician might have, he said he has complimentary experience.

He spent a good portion of his career as a government contractor in facilities on military bases. He also has private-sector business experience, working in large companies, and start-ups, he said.

“What I bring personally is a way of looking at things differently,” he said. “I’ve done that in my career.”