Jonathan Dine was at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia when his Facebook page mysteriously lit up with activity. It wasn’t until he returned home to Kansas City, some hour and a half away, that he figured out why. An interview had just aired in which Rep. Todd Akin, the Republican challenger to Senator Claire McCaskill, had made his now-infamous “legitimate rape” comment. And disaffected Missourians were checking out Dine, a Libertarian candidate who is the only other name on the ballot with Akin and McCaskill, in droves.

In the wake of Akin’s implosion, polls have shown that voters, especially Republicans, are blown away and seeking an alternative. Thirteen percent of Missouri Republicans, according to the Rasmussen poll, favor “some other candidate” when asked about the two major party candidates. On top of that, another 7 percent are undecided. Dine, who also ran for Missouri Senator in 2010 and took about 3 percent of the vote, considers these voters to be his potential share of the electorate. That idea isn’t so far-fetched. New York Times blogger Nate Silver recently mused that Dine’s ballot presence could lure away Republicans who are turned off by Todd Akin but still can’t stomach the thought of voting McCaskill. Dine may have an opportunity to make a real showing come November and doom Akin’s candidacy. In fact, with 18 percent of Missouri independents undecided or leaning toward “some other candidate,” he could endanger McCaskill.

And considering Dine’s background, that’s a little wild.

I met the 32-year-old at a strip mall Caribou Coffee across from Impact Fitness, where he works full-time as a personal trainer. (Recently, he showed off his bench press chops in a videotaped competition with a PoliticIt.com reporter, completing 13 reps with 225 lbs in less than a minute.) Jacked, clean-shaven, and sporting crisp slacks and a black polo shirt—it is no surprise when he says he is originally from San Diego—he was surprisingly mild and soft-spoken.

His politics are unelaborate, down-the-ticket Libertarianism. “We still want to government to protect you from force and fraud,” he said, “But we want people to be free to marry who they want, be free to experiment with their own consciousness.” Ron Paul is too socially conservative for his taste, a dinosaur.