Libertarian senate candidate Andy Horning views politics and elections much differently than most politicians and voters. But, he argues, he views them in the way the founders of the United States did.
Horning doesn’t see the two major U.S. political parties as etched into the country’s foundation, but rather a system that lost its way. And in losing its way, he argues, the country suffers.
“Mankind is disposed to suffer as long as evils are sufferable,” Horning said, quoting Thomas Jefferson. “We will put up with an awful lot before we will change our dumb habits. And let's be frank here. The two-party system is a dumb habit.”
He doesn’t view the foundation as static, citing several elected Libertarians in elected office. The Libertarian Party’s website lists seven Libertarians holding elected office in Indiana — all in local or county-level positions. There are more than 300 in elected office nationally.
Horning's background has not a lot to do with politics. He has a clinical background and works part-time in cardio diagnostic testing. So, why did he enter politics?
“If you know you're going to be an underdog, you must be doing it for some kind of reason,” Horning said.
His reason was being on “the wrong side of government.”
Horning and his wife lived in Indianapolis in the 1990s in a neighborhood with what he described as having rich people along with very poor people. He said he watched rich residents use governmental leverage to help evict poor people and micromanage the community.
“I was watching how they were repairing sidewalks up in places where these people were very wealthy,” he said. “But they were not repairing sidewalks where we really needed them very badly.”
He said large cities, usually run by Democratic politicians, carry what he described as some of the ugliest aspects of politics. Horning now lives in the countryside in the unincorporated community of Freedom, Indiana, among pileated woodpeckers, foxes and great horned owls.
Horning ran to represent Indiana’s 7th congressional district as a Republican in 2004 but lost by a 10% margin to incumbent Democrat Julia Carson. He claimed, without evidence, that he would have won “if only living people were counted.” The district, representing parts of Indianapolis, has voted reliably Democratic since 2002.
As senator, Horning would have large influence over national policy. Still, he believes many of those powers should be left up to the states.
That includes abortion, which he is personally against but believes should remain as state policy. His policies also require a shrinking of the federal government, notably over regulation of the economy.
His issues with politics aren’t only hyperlocal or state-focused — he is running to represent Indiana’s interests in America’s national and international affairs. And he’s not happy with the government’s present state.
“It’s corrupt and they’re doing terrible things worldwide,” he said.
Horning would like to see the U.S. pivot toward an isolationist route, discontinuing military funding abroad to instead spend money on domestic issues. He said he’s concerned that the United States’ current dominant role in the world, and what he calls aggression, could lead to World War III.
But his harshest criticisms are largely over monetary policy. He frequently cites the U.S. government taking its currency off the gold standard in the 1970s, which had previously tied the dollar to the value of gold. Horning argues that move, and the entire Federal Reserve itself, are unconstitutional.
Horning will face an uphill battle by not running under the two main parties, though Libertarians saw success in the 2020 gubernatorial election.
“It's frustrating that people think that elections are about parties and candidates,” Horning said. “They're not, they're about voters. And voters are the ones who were stuck on the two-party system that our founders warned us against.”
