Austin Petersen isn’t your typical candidate for United States Senate, and that’s why he believes he can win. He’s a pro-life, pro-constitution, and pro-MAGA Republican with a libertarian lean.

He’s also just 37 years old and has a strong following of millennials from across the country.

“Ron Paul once famously said that tyranny is an old idea, and freedom is a young idea,” Petersen said in a wide-ranging interview with Red Alert Politics. “On July 4, 1776, Thomas Jefferson was 33 years old. James Madison was 25 years old. And Alexander Hamilton was 21 years old. Young people founded this country, and young people will restore it.”

Petersen says he is running to be Missouri’s next U.S. Senator because he loves the country, and believes that his third-party background, including a run for president in 2016 with the Libertarian Party, gives him a unique advantage over other candidates.

“The reason why I think that I have crossover appeal is that I’m fiscally conservative, but socially — it’s none of the government’s damn business,” Petersen said. “Not only can my platform be appealing to conservative Republicans who want to protect the 2nd Amendment, religious liberty, and cut taxes, but I will also have a platform that’s appealing to independents and some Democrats by advancing criminal justice reform.”

Petersen even garnered some attention from Fox News. The conservative network recently said only two Republican candidates have a real opportunity to beat incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., out of the 10 who are running: one of them is Petersen while the other is Missouri’s current Attorney General Josh Hawley.

“Josh Hawley campaigned on the promise to Missouri voters that he was going to stay and do his job and not run for higher office. … Six months into the first year of his first term, he broke that promise. The reason why is because [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.] came to him and offered him the ring of power. He could not resist that temptation,” Petersen explained. “I’m campaigning not because I want to take power, but because I want to take the ring and throw it into the fires of Mount Doom!”

Petersen promises to be no-strings-attached in his dealing in Washington should he win.

“The $1.3 trillion omnibus bill was crafted in secret by four people, and those four people were Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell. If Josh Hawley was in the Senate, then he would owe everything, his election, his career, to the one person who demanded that the members of congress vote for that bill,” said Petersen. “If you want a candidate who doesn't have any strings attached to the establishment, then I’m the one candidate who doesn't owe them anything and can do what I pledge to do, which is to cut spending.”

He added, “On the campaign trail, sometimes I joke that I want to take over government to leave everyone alone.”