Wisconsin’s Libertarian Candidate for Governor to Accept Bitcoin Donations to Fund Campaign Despite Reservations from State Ethics Commission

This year’s Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race is poised to go crypto that is provided the Libertarian candidate for the state’s top job have his way, this despite the state Ethics Commission’s assertion that doing so pose a “serious challenge” to state election law.

The Libertarian party’s candidate in Wisconsin is Phil Anderson who is also the Chairman of the party in the Midwestern state with a population of about 6 million.

According to a report carried by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel yesterday, Anderson plans to accept campaign finance donations in Bitcoin (BTC).

Just few months ago, the Libertarian Party approached the State Ethics Commission for its opinion on the legality of accepting cryptocurrency donations for the financing of elections.

The commission deferred issuing a legal opinion in the matter and chose instead to refer the matter to the state legislature, indicating that “allowing cryptocurrency donations presents a serious challenge to the commission’s ability to ensure compliance with state law.”

Despite the State Ethics Commission’s opposition to accepting election funding in cryptos, Anderson say he and his party will go ahead and accept campaign contributions in Bitcoin. He still believes that doing so does not violate state campaign finance laws as the disagreement is as a result of the interpretation of the law.

Asked by the Sentinel what he will do if the Ethics commission takes the matter to court, Anderson responded that he and his party will “push all the way back.”

The candidate for governor further told the Sentinel that “We will not allow the lack of appropriate interpretation of the current statute [to] affect the First Amendment rights of those who want to show support and contribute. I have no faith in the Assembly to handle this fairly nor expeditiously.”

The Libertarian Party of Wisconsin is affiliated with the The Libertarian Party (LP), a US political party that champions civil liberties, non-interventionism, laissez-faire capitalism and the reduction in the size of local, state and federal governments. The party was formally launched in 1973 to counter the Democrats and Republican parties, the two dominant parties in the US.