Libertarian candidate looking to shake up senate race

Indianapolis, Ind. – could a modest third party campaign impact a multimillion dollar showdown for Indiana’s hotly contested U.S. Senate seat?

While incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly and Republican challenger Mike Braun battle it out quite publicly, a third contender is silently inserting herself into the equation.

“If you don’t like who’s running, if you don’t like the way your community is growing and evolving, it’s up to you to step up and do something about it,” said Libertarian nominee Lucy Brenton.

The Fishers native is stepping up for the second time and doing so significantly fewer resources than her opponents.

Despite the disparities in fundraising, Brenton says it’s possible to connect directly with voters through platforms like Facebook.

“You can amount an effective campaign through social media using very little money,” said Brenton.

In 2016, Brenton raised only about $3000 dollars but she still won 5.5 percent of the vote or nearly 150 thousand ballots.

That means she spent just about five cents per voter.

Money aside, early polls are predicting the race between Donnelly and Braun could be decided by two points.

So the third party movement Brenton is pushing could lead to a major upset.

“The only person that owns your vote is you so for anyone to say that you’re taking a vote from one or another is simply false,” she said. “It’s your vote to cast to whomever you wish.”

Brenton got more votes in 2016 than the Libertarian Party’s Presidential nominee Gary Johnson.

She says back then she only had about three to four full time staff on her campaign.

She’s looking to triple the amount and have a full staff by August.