The Libertarian candidate on the ballot for Governor this year is none other than our own Tracey Quint. She is no stranger to libertarians here as she has played an active role in the Libertarian Party of South Dakota since 2017. First serving as our Communications Director and now as Sioux River Regional Coordinator. Her running mate/Lt Governor candidate is Ashley Strand, who resides in Rapid City ( more about her in the future).
We wanted to let everyone know all about her and her background as well as highlight a few of the issues she cares about.
Tracey grew up the daughter of an Air Force Veteran. Raised in the Midwest, she gained an early appreciation for ideals of hard work and individual freedoms cherished in this area. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication and Photography from Morningside College in Sioux City, IA, and a Master of Arts degree in Communication Studies from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. As a lifetime resident of the Midwest, Tracey has lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota since 2016.
Looking for better political choices, she started becoming interested in the Libertarian Party around the time of the 2012 election. Since then, she has worked diligently to support Libertarian candidates on both the local and national level.
Tracey didn’t plan on making a big run for office, but when the opportunity arose, she knew she had to seize it. “What our system needs is non-lifetime politicians to be involved in politics,” said Quint. “We can’t hope our system will change from the outside. Someone needs to change things from the inside. Who better to try than me?”
While there are a lot of issues she plans to tackle while in office, there are a few that are extremely important to her.
Implementing the Will of the People:
We’ve seen it happen multiple times in the past decade; the people of South Dakota vote on something, and the government fights back or overturns it. I believe this sets a very dangerous precedent. The people know what they want and are intelligent enough to make those decisions for themselves. They don’t need the government second guessing them.
Keep the Government Out of Medicine:
The government should never be making medical decisions for anyone. Whether it’s abortion rights or control over our insurance or health system, the lines should never intersect. Once government gains control over something that large, it will be extremely hard to separate it. There are other steps we can take to make health care more affordable without having to hand our control over our medical decisions to the government.
Reducing Incarceration:
We have jails and prisons full of people in for drug charges and other nonviolent violations. When we clog up the prison system, it makes it harder to get violent criminals off the street. If we are going to have a police force, they should be doing what they were created to do; serve and protect the citizens.
If you want to know more about Tracey or any of the other Libertarian candidates running for office in South Dakota, continue to follow the Libertarian Party of South Dakota’s Website lpsouthdakota.org
You can also follow Tracey’s campaign page on Facebook here.
