Ruth Bennett

Who is Ruth Bennett?

Ruth Bennett is a former chair of the Libertarian Party of Washington and Libertarian Party of Colorado. She is the current Vice-Chair of Outright Libertarians.

In 2000, Bennett was the Libertarian nominee for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Washington. She campaigned on the platform of abolishing the position of Lieutenant Governor and earned 7.81% of the vote. This qualified the Libertarian Party for ballot access in the next election.

In 2004 Bennett campaigned for the office of Washington State Governor. Her campaign heavily emphasized gay rights, specifically the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state of Washington. Many Washingtonians, including the chair of the Republican Party and the Republican and Democratic gubernatorial campaigns, attribute the race's being so close to her candidacy, as it is believed to have attracted many gay and liberal voters who might otherwise have voted Democratic, and fiscal conservatives to whom the Libertarian Party appeals. She received 63,465 votes, whereas the Democrat beat the Republican in the final recount by a mere 129 votes.

In 2008 Bennett ran for the state House of Representatives. in Washington's 37th legislative district. She was opposed by incumbent Democrat Eric Pettigrew. Bennett lost the election in a landslide, receiving only about 10% of the votes. She ran to show the futility of the Top-TwoFforward primary, pointing out that a newer party candidate could only get on the General Election ballot in districts that are dominated by one older party. Since the 37th District was so heavily Democrat,there were no Republican nominees in the General Election.