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Wes Benedict
Wes Benedict (Libertarian Party) ran for election to the Williamson County Commissioners Court to represent Precinct 3 in Texas. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Benedict completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Benedict grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Texas in 1991 and his master's degree from the University of Michigan in 1998. His professional experience includes working as an engineer, small businessman, and political consultant. He is the former national executive director of the Libertarian Party.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Municipal elections in Williamson County, Texas (2024)
General election
General election for Williamson County Commissioners Court Precinct 3
Incumbent Valerie Covey defeated Wes Benedict in the general election for Williamson County Commissioners Court Precinct 3 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Valerie Covey (R) | 76.8 | 51,415 | |
 | Wes Benedict (L)  | 23.2 | 15,562 | |
| Total votes: 66,977 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Williamson County Commissioners Court Precinct 3
Incumbent Valerie Covey defeated Mitch Slaymaker in the Republican primary for Williamson County Commissioners Court Precinct 3 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Valerie Covey | 73.7 | 13,443 | |
| Mitch Slaymaker | 26.3 | 4,793 | ||
| Total votes: 18,236 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Libertarian convention
Libertarian convention for Williamson County Commissioners Court Precinct 3
Wes Benedict advanced from the Libertarian convention for Williamson County Commissioners Court Precinct 3 on March 16, 2024.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Wes Benedict (L) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Benedict in this election.
2022
See also: Municipal elections in Williamson County, Texas (2022)
General election
General election for Williamson County Judge
Incumbent Bill Gravell defeated Blane Conklin and Wes Benedict in the general election for Williamson County Judge on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Bill Gravell (R) | 49.3 | 108,778 |
 | Blane Conklin (D) | 46.8 | 103,180 | |
| Wes Benedict (L) | 3.9 | 8,614 | |
| Total votes: 220,572 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Williamson County Judge
Blane Conklin advanced from the Democratic primary for Williamson County Judge on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Blane Conklin | 100.0 | 22,470 |
| Total votes: 22,470 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Williamson County Judge
Incumbent Bill Gravell defeated Ryan Gallagher in the Republican primary for Williamson County Judge on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bill Gravell | 57.2 | 24,035 |
| Ryan Gallagher | 42.8 | 18,013 | ||
| Total votes: 42,048 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Libertarian convention
Libertarian convention for Williamson County Judge
Wes Benedict advanced from the Libertarian convention for Williamson County Judge on March 12, 2022.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Wes Benedict (L) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2020
See also: United States Senate election in Texas, 2020
United States Senate election in Texas, 2020 (March 3 Republican primary)
United States Senate election in Texas, 2020 (March 3 Democratic primary)
General election
General election for U.S. Senate Texas
Incumbent John Cornyn defeated Mary Jennings Hegar, Kerry McKennon, David B. Collins, and Ricardo Turullols-Bonilla in the general election for U.S. Senate Texas on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | John Cornyn (R) | 53.5 | 5,962,983 |
 | Mary Jennings Hegar (D) | 43.9 | 4,888,764 | |
 | Kerry McKennon (L) | 1.9 | 209,722 | |
 | David B. Collins (G) | 0.7 | 81,893 | |
 | Ricardo Turullols-Bonilla (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 678 | |
| Total votes: 11,144,040 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Arjun Srinivasan (Independent)
- Cedric Jefferson (People Over Politics Party)
- James Brumley (The Human Rights Party)
- Tim Smith (Independent)
Democratic primary runoff election
Democratic primary runoff for U.S. Senate Texas
Mary Jennings Hegar defeated Royce West in the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. Senate Texas on July 14, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mary Jennings Hegar | 52.2 | 502,516 |
 | Royce West | 47.8 | 459,457 | |
| Total votes: 961,973 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Texas
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Texas on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mary Jennings Hegar | 22.3 | 417,160 |
| ✔ | | Royce West | 14.7 | 274,074 |
 | Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez | 13.2 | 246,659 | |
 | Annie Garcia | 10.3 | 191,900 | |
 | Amanda Edwards | 10.1 | 189,624 | |
 | Chris Bell | 8.5 | 159,751 | |
 | Sema Hernandez | 7.4 | 137,892 | |
 | Michael Cooper | 4.9 | 92,463 | |
 | Victor Harris | 3.2 | 59,710 | |
 | Adrian Ocegueda | 2.2 | 41,566 | |
 | Jack Daniel Foster Jr. | 1.7 | 31,718 | |
 | D.R. Hunter | 1.4 | 26,902 | |
| Total votes: 1,869,419 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- John Love III (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. Senate Texas
Incumbent John Cornyn defeated Dwayne Stovall, Mark Yancey, John Castro, and Virgil Bierschwale in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Texas on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Cornyn | 76.0 | 1,470,669 |
 | Dwayne Stovall | 11.9 | 231,104 | |
 | Mark Yancey | 6.5 | 124,864 | |
 | John Castro | 4.5 | 86,916 | |
 | Virgil Bierschwale | 1.1 | 20,494 | |
| Total votes: 1,934,047 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Green convention
Green convention for U.S. Senate Texas
David B. Collins advanced from the Green convention for U.S. Senate Texas on April 18, 2020.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | David B. Collins (G) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Libertarian convention
Libertarian convention for U.S. Senate Texas
Kerry McKennon advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. Senate Texas on August 3, 2020.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Kerry McKennon (L) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Wes Benedict completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Benedict's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- Cut taxes and spending.
- Stop subsidizing new businesses to relocate to Williamson County.
- Stop arresting peaceful marijuana users and focus on real crimes.
Major Rudy Giuliani attacked Ron Paul and demanded Paul retract his statements. But Paul stood firm.
Paul's opponents and the media immediately started piling on attacks against Ron Paul and claimed his campaign was dead.
It wasn't dead. In fact, so many Americans were so inspired by Ron Paul's commitment to the truth that his campaign donations and popularity skyrocketed. Ron Paul proved that standing on principle works, and it's especially important when it's unpopular.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2022
Wes Benedict completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Benedict's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- Cut taxes and spending.
- Stop subsidizing new businesses to relocate to Williamson County.
- Stop arresting peaceful marijuana users and focus on real crimes.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2020
Wes Benedict completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Benedict's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Wes Benedict will support legislation to end the wars and bring our troops home. He proposes cutting spending across the board by 25% to balance the budget and will legalize marijuana.
Instead of asking what new program or law is needed in response to every problem, Wes asks, "What laws are causing the problem?"
Libertarians believe you should be able to do whatever you want as long as you aren't infringing on the equal rights of others. Conflict in our society is caused by people trying to force their opinions onto others. Libertarians oppose using force to change people. It's okay to try to persuade others to change, but it's not okay to use government force. Live and let live.
Wes Benedict has a Mechanical Engineering Degree from University of Texas and an MBA from University of Michigan.
- End the wars.
- Downsize government 25% by 2024.
- Legalize marijuana.
On economic issues: for free markets, free trade, for cutting taxes and spending.
On civil liberties: end the war on drugs, legalize marijuana, end the Patriot Act and stop government spying on Americans, end discrimination against people based on their race, religion or sexual orientation.
Major Rudy Giuliani attacked Ron Paul and demanded Paul retract his statements. But Paul stood firm.
Paul's opponents and the media immediately started piling on attacks against Ron Paul and claimed his campaign was dead.
It wasn't dead. In fact, so many Americans were so inspired by Ron Paul's commitment to the truth that his campaign donations and popularity skyrocketed. Ron Paul proved that standing on principle works, and it's especially important when it's unpopular.
I couldn't find a book that introduced the libertarian philosophy and also gave lots of information about the Libertarian Party from an insider's perspective. So, I wrote the book myself!
These chapter titles really sum up the contents well.
Introduction - How I found the Libertarian Party
PART I THE PHILOSOPHICAL SIDE
1 Don't hit people and don't take their stuff
2 What is a Libertarian?
3 Libertarians on 25 issues
4 What does a libertarian government look like?
5 Are libertarians too extreme?
6 Republican hypocrites
7 Democratic hypocrites
8 How many Libertarians are there?
9 The Libertarian Party Platform
PART II THE PRACTICAL SIDE
10 The World's Smallest Political Quiz
11 History of the Libertarian Party
12 How the Libertarian Party is organized
13 How I won my first county chairman position!
14 Turning around the dysfunctional Texas Libertarian Party
15 Why run for office as a Libertarian?
16 Life cycle of a Libertarian campaign
17 How to donate and volunteer
18 Are Libertarians wasting their votes?
19 The libertarian movement outside the Libertarian Party
20 Famous libertarians
21 Libertarian infighting
22 Libertarian PACs: where millionaires should donate
It's easy to say things like "government is too big," but politicians almost never propose large, specific cuts. Even Libertarians often speak in vague or generalized ways about cutting government. As a member of Congress, I'll need to propose bills with specific details, and I want to give some details now.
Cutting government spending by 25% across the board will immediately spur economic growth and will make most Americans better off.
In 2019, the federal government spent $4.5 trillion while raising only $3.5 trillion in taxes, for a deficit of $1 trillion. At $4.5 trillion, federal spending is 22% of the total US GDP. To balance the budget without raising taxes, we have to cut federal spending immediately by almost 25%.
Republicans and Democrats usually promise not to cut Social Security, Medicare, and military spending, but those make up 67% of the total budget. Often, they'll make noise about little silly-sounding projects, like crawfish research, but they never address the other 99.9% of the budget.
I'm calling for across-the-board spending cuts of 25%, and that includes Social Security, Medicare, Armed Forces, and all other categories.
To cut Social Security spending by at least 25%, I'd raise the retirement age from 67 to 72, and reduce the benefits paid to current and future retirees by 10%.
To cut Medicare by 25%, I'd raise the eligibility age from 65 to 72, increase deductibles, and eliminate or reduce coverage for some procedures.
To achieve 25% cuts in Medicaid spending, I would lower the income cutoff level, scale back some of the services covered, and tighten the qualifications for disability.
We can cut our military spending by at least 25% and still maintain plenty of military capability to keep us safe.
The U.S. Senate, in cooperation with the House, have the power to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they have failed, whether controlled by Republicans or Democrats, and whether President Bush, President Obama, or President Trump was in office.
The U.S. Senate, in cooperation with the House, have the power to end the war on drugs, legalize marijuana, and release non-violent drug offenders from prison, but they have failed.
Republicans sometimes talk about cutting spending, but they always chicken out. Even most Republican voters are completely fed up with their elected officials. They hate their own leadership. Libertarian leadership will help educate and remind Republicans how free markets help everyone and will hopefully give some Republican Senators and Representatives some courage to cut government spending.
Democrats use to be anti-war until President Obama was elected. Then they turned into war supporters. I don't think most Democratic Senators are especially pro-war. I just think they are cowards-scared of being called "soft on terrorism," and not smart enough to articulate how invading other countries and killing hundreds of thousands of people causes more terrorism than it prevents. Plus, killing hundreds of thousands of people is evil and a monumental waste of taxpayer funds. They've spent $6 trillion on these foolish wars--$18,000 per American-flushed down the toilet.
Libertarian leadership will give Democratic Senators and Representatives the proverbial slap across the face they need to wake them up, knock some sense into them, and to remind them how costly, evil, and counterproductive war is. War should be a last option, not the standard tool.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Williamson County Commissioners Court Precinct 3 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 14, 2020.
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