Third Candidate in Special Election

A Splinter On The Right in Battle Of Marion

Another break for Democrats in the Senate District 18 special election: Jon Tack of Hiawatha has filed as a candidate for the right wing Constitution Party.

Tack pulled just under 1 percent, both in Linn County and district-wide, in the 2010 2nd Congressional District election.

The Constitution Party stated life in the mid-90s as the US Taxpayers Party. The bullet-point platform includes:

Life: For all human beings, from conception to natural death

Family: One husband and one wife with their children as divinely instituted

Property: Each individual's right to own and steward personal property without government burden

States' Rights: Everything not specifically delegated by the Constitution to the federal government, nor prohibited by the Constitution to the states, is reserved to the states or to the people.

Clearly this is going to bite into Republican Cindy Golding's base more than that of Democrat Liz Mathis. But does a one percenter matter? Look at the 2009 Battle Of Fairfield, the state House special election where Democrat Curt Hanson won with under 50 percent, as two tea partyish candidates slivered just a hair off of the Republican vote.