LANSING, MI - When the candidates for governor take the stage for two debates in October, you won't see Bill Gelineau, the Libertarian candidate for governor.

"I guess there was a time 20 years ago when I felt like, 'Yeah, I understand why they're keeping us out,'" Gelineau said in an interview. But, he said, "... we're an army now."

Michigan Libertarians elevated their party status after the 2016 election, when Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson collected 172,136 votes. Michigan's threshold for parties to be considered major parties is at least 5 percent of the total number of votes cast in the most recent Secretary of State race, which was 154,040 in 2014.

Because of their newfound classification by the state, they joined the Republican and Democratic parties in holding a primary for the first time in August.

But it doesn't mean they will be represented on the debate stage, a fact that is irksome to Gelineau.

The debates Republican Bill Schuette and Democrat Gretchen Whitmer will participate in determining which candidates to invite based on recent polling. A common threshold is that a candidate must be polling 10 percent to be invited to participate, and a recent poll from WDIV and the Detroit News put Gelineau at 2.3 percent.

But he isn't daunted, saying his campaign's internal polling looks much different.

Finding libertarianism in college

Gelineau grew up in Riverview, in the downriver area near Detroit. His parents were both union Democrats, but going to college at Wayne State University expanded his world view and turned him into a Libertarian.

At the time, he remembers there weren't very many other Libertarians. When he told people about his political leanings, "I used to have to explain what that meant and pronounce it for them again," he said.

He made his career as an entrepreneur, starting a lawn care business and restaurant before he got into the title insurance business. He's a father and grandfather living with his wife, Donna, in West Michigan.

And in this campaign, he's fighting for recognition for another way of thinking.

"At its core, I believe that the idea that we have a two-party system is flawed. And honestly, I criticize the media for not talking about that enough," Gelineau said.

But he sees Libertarians as being ahead on several big issues. He remembers bringing up gerrymandering during a run for state house years ago and how boring the subject seemed to people. Now it's a national talking point and the subject of a ballot initiative in Michigan.

Focused on policy

In general, Gelineau sees Republicans and Democrats as entrenched with interest groups.

"Too many policies, I think, are supporting big business and big labor versus ordinary folks," Gelineau said.

His policy positions include eliminating the state's Michigan Strategic Fund, which manages business incentives, and reducing the prison population. If the proposal to legalize recreational marijuana passes, he plans to pardon everybody convicted of drug crime who didn't also commit a violent crime.

"We've got what I think is a very biased system that has really harmed particular communities, particularly communities of color," he said.

Some of the people who have already served long periods of time deserve a second chance, he said.

And while he points to policy areas where Libertarians have been ahead of a popular issue - marijuana legalization, for instance - he's also made some controversial proposals.

On Medicaid, while Whitmer and Schuette focus on the future of the state's Healthy Michigan plan, he is proposing to pay women on government assistance to delay having children until they are at least 23. His plan would give women who enrolled in the program at 15 or 16 $27,000 in installments leading up to their 23rd birthdays.

It's a proposal that's drawn conversation and some criticism.

Preparing for the election

Heading into November, Gelineau is focused on building a grassroots campaign.

Travis Wolf, 37, of Hazel Park, is supporting Gelineau. He is one of the Libertarians drawn into the movement by Gary Johnson's candidacy in 2016, the surge that put the Libertarian Party in league with Republicans and Democrats.

He's considered himself a Libertarian since his early 20s, but in 2016 officially joined the party and got on some mailing lists. He tried his hand at canvassing for the first time, knocking doors in his neighborhood and telling people about Johnson.

Now, he's supporting Gelineau.

"He's a long-shot to win, obviously, but I think it's good just to get out there and to have people see it on the ballot and see that there is a third choice," Wolf said.

He wasn't political before he found the Libertarian Party and everything kind of clicked. Now he likes to talk with people about the party's ideas.

"You might be a Libertarian and not know it. And I think that's what we're trying to get out, here," he said.

He'd like to see Gelineau included in debates so more people would know about him as an option.

Going into the final stretch of the campaign, Gelineau said his campaign doesn't have the infrastructure of the Republican or Democratic parties, but he does have an army of dedicated volunteers.

He's raised $56,315 for his campaign through Aug. 27, according to his most recent campaign finance filing with the state. It's not the millions Schuette and Whitmer have raised, but it's more than third-party candidates have traditionally raised.

And Gelineau is printing off lots of signs, many of which people are paying for.

"Our production has really ramped, and I think it speaks to the fact that there's a yearning for this alternative voice," he said.

His pitch to voters is that he can work with anyone, Republican or Democrat, and he brings new ideas.

"I do care. There's nothing phony here, it's who I am," Gelineau said.