'Go Big Or Go Home': PA Libertarian Candidate For U.S. Senate

PENNSBURG, PA — Most of the talk around the upcoming U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania has been around Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz.

But others have also thrown their hat in the mix, and one of them is a general contractor from Montgomery County.

Erik Gerhardt is the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party's nominee for the Senate seat soon to be vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey.

On Thursday, Gerhardt spoke with Patch about his candidacy, goals for elective office and his roots in Montgomery County.

Gerhardt, a 37-year-old Pennsylvania native who currently resides in Pennsburg in northwestern Montgomery County and runs a general contracting firm specializing in residential construction, said he decided to run for the U.S. Senate seat because of his belief in more people getting involved in politics to try and make a difference in their communities.

He mulled running for president in 2020, and while some with the state Libertarian Party suggested he focus his efforts on more local or races, he decided to bring out the big guns.

"I'm more of a go-big-or-go-home kind of person, and I saw more opportunity at the Senate seat," Gerhardt said by phone.

Gerhardt has lived all over Montgomery County for his entire life. He graduated from Souderton Area High School and attended North Montco Technical Career Center.

He said he won the Libertarian Party nomination during the nominating contest back in March in Williamsport nearly unanimously.

Gerhardt has been a member of the state party since mid-2019.

As a small business owner himself, Gerhardt said one thing that is important to him is the idea of lowering taxes on the little guys and providing entrepreneurs with initiatives so they can have a "leg up to start their business, grow their business, and build equity so that they can succeed."

He also has his sights set on improving the education system for youngsters. While he doesn't have children himself, he has been involved with the Boy Scouts, and understands the importance of a good education for young people.

"I've seen how good leaders and good education can really shape and mold how people live out the rest of their lives and how our education system is failing the kids today," he said.

Gerhardt said his ultimate goal is to offer parental choice when it comes to education, something he believes will give children the opportunity to better flourish in the classroom.

Other policy issues include ensuring that marijuana becomes fully legalized at the federal level and seeing to it that the United States rolls back what has become its trademark interventionist foreign policy.

Gerhardt said he considers himself to be a "non-aggressionist" when it comes to getting involved with matters overseas.

He said it would be better to focus more efforts domestically, where there are "so many issues."

As for deciding to run for the open U.S. Senate seat, Gerhardt said it's important for average citizens to realize they have the power and ability to become directly involved in their own democracy.

"I'm a little guy. I want the little guys to see that they can do great things," he said. "You just have to put in the effort and try."

As for running on a third-party ticket, Gerhardt said he, and many other folks out there, have become disenchanted with the big two political parties, since they often seem as though they're more out for themselves than the actual constituents they represent.

"The two parties have consolidated so much power for themselves so that they can make the rules ... but it's hurting the American people," he said.

The big two parties monopolizing and controlling all positions of government is extremely problematic, he said, and often change will only come through doing things differently, in this case, making third-party voices heard more often.

"Their opinions and their voices just get buried in the mud," he said of folks who identify with a party other than Democrat or Republican.

Gerhardt also said it is unfair that the Democrats and Republicans "keep changing the rules and setting the bar higher and higher" for third parties, whose candidates must collect many more signatures than Democratic and Republican candidates in order to appear on election ballots.

It's an unfair playing field, and it has been done purposely to keep people with other voices from trying to entire races, he said.

"It's all just to keep the little guys down," he said. "In a democracy, everybody's voice is supposed to be heard."

Gerhardt said he uses the term "democracy" very loosely to describe modern day America, since the country appears to have become more of an oligarchy or even autocracy at this point, where the rich and the powerful seem to be more in control than ever before.

Thinking in terms of Democrat-and-Republican-only has hurt, and not helped, our nation, he said.

"We keep flip-flopping back and forth between the old ways of one side and the old ways of the other side," he said.

Anyone interested in learning more about Gerhardt and his candidacy can visit his official campaign website here.