John Turpish
Libertarian | Georgia
Candidate Profile
Moderate
BIOGRAPHY
Name
John Turpish
Party
Libertarian
Election Year
2024
Election
Special HD125 and SD30
Race
State Rep., Dist. 125
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
University of Central Florida, Orlando, BS, 2008
WORK & MILITARY
Candidate did not provide
AFFILIATIONS
Candidate did not provide
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Candidate did not provide
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
PSC, 2018
ENDORSEMENTS
OTHER (1)
Libertarian Party of Georgia
REPORTED BY CANDIDATE (1)
Libertarian Party of Georgia
OTHER INFORMATION
Candidate participated in Columbia County Republican debate on January 23, 2024. Rapid-fire questions begin at 01:15:28 and quickly presents candidate's views on a range of issues from abortion to the border.
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Under what circumstances should an elective abortion be allowed?
Rape/incest or before 21 weeks. I remain open to persuasion on this point, but changing these laws is not a priority of mine either way.
Chemical abortion drugs should meet essential safety standards (such as in-person consultation with a medical doctor) and require reporting to gather evidence on reactions and outcomes.
Neutral
I would seek advice of medical professionals on appropriate precautions, however: 1) Any pharmaceutical restriction needs to be balanced against the degree it bolsters black markets. 2) Any medical reporting must be designed with privacy as a primary concern, not just scrubbing PII immediately, but also obfuscating issues of place and time.
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive taxpayer funds from federal, state, or local governments (including Title X grants).
Strongly Agree
I support 'aid in dying' laws which legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Agree
The rules around informed and expressed consent from a patient capable of providing such consent would need to be very strict, as these sorts of things can get ugly fast if the lawmakers aren't careful.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Under what circumstances can government close churches?
Never. If it was justified, that means clergy/members are committing violent crimes, and we could simply arrest them instead.
Individuals and businesses should be required to provide services even if it would violate their moral and/or religious beliefs.
Disagree
Unless they work for the government or a company with government contracts or special privileges like a state-granted monopoly. In those case, they can choose to quit or be neutrally accommodating.
NATIONAL SECURITY
The Chinese Communist Party poses serious military, cyber security, intellectual property, and global economic threats to the United States.
Disagree
Not IP, and economic threat shouldn't be a categorization government uses. Also, let's remember they're a much bigger threat to China than they are to us.
Is the United States' relationship with Israel important, and if so why?
It's in a volatile and dangerous part of the world, which is the main reason this entanglement is fraught. Of course I support free trade with the private sector of Israel.
HEALTHCARE
What most closely matches your view on healthcare: A) Healthcare for all should be guaranteed and funded by the government with no private healthcare option. (includes "universal healthcare," "medicare for all," etc.) B) Healthcare insurance funded by the government should be available for all who want it, along with private healthcare options. C) Medicaid and Medicare should remain available, but no other taxpayer-funded programs are necessary. D) Taxpayer funded health care should be abolished in all forms, and Medicaid and Medicare should be defunded.
D It's very important how such a transition is done, though. It should be a very slow, careful phasing out over multiple generations.
Under what circumstances (if any) should a government, school, or employer be allowed to require vaccinations?
The person agreed to such requirements in their contract. Note: most private employers reserve the ability to fire people for any reason at all. Public schools are a gray area, another motivation for educational freedom.
ECONOMY
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Strongly Agree
What is your position on the minimum wage?
Against. It's not the state's place to prohibit voluntary private contracts that are not overtly coercive. It's also a bad idea to try to define what is or is not employment.
Should environmental and social issues, like ESG (environmental, social, and governance) ratings, be used as criteria in deciding where to invest public monies?
No
Public monies should not be invested in equities or fixed income, as it always means choosing winners and losers.
IMMIGRATION
The U.S. should do more to physically secure the southern border.
Neutral
If it was paired with immigration reform that made the legal process sane, easier, and cheaper, perhaps. Then the 'security' would be focused on a smaller number of people who rejected an easier process and therefore are more likely to be dangerous.
EDUCATION
The state should fund education by allowing dollars to follow the child through programs which protect parents' freedom to choose their child's school – public, private, or homeschool.
Strongly Agree
And let's be careful not to overly regulate the educational approach. We don't want private schools that are so under the thumb of the state they become de facto government schools by another name.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
I support redirecting funds from police departments to community programs.
Agree
We currently have too many police, and they have been tasked with far too many jobs. In many cases it would be better to have those community programs funded voluntarily instead of siphoning through the state, though.
2ND AMENDMENT
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
De-militarizing the police would help safety. People convicted of actually violent crimes using a gun should not be permitted to possess one, as is already the case.
Should teachers be allowed to carry guns at school?
Yes
It should be up to the school's owners to determine this policy, and up to parents to take these things into account when deciding how to educate their children.
ABOUT YOU
Have you ever been penalized for sexual misconduct in either civil or criminal court? If so, please explain.
No
Have you ever been convicted of a felony? If so, please explain.
No
What do you think is the general purpose of government?
Protecting the natural rights of its people from other aggressors. For example, enforcing laws against murder, rape, kidnapping, arson, theft, fraud, etc..
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Choose not to answer
libertarian I don't think it's fair to call myself moderate, though I don't fall neatly into a one-dimensional right/left spectrum.
VALUES
Children are the most vulnerable members of society and must be protected from abuse, including gender ideology, grooming, and bodily mutilation.
Disagree
I reject the notion than an "ideology" is abuse. Let's not provide the government expansive and abuse-prone excuse to interfere in parenting.
Parents should have the right to make decisions for their minor children.
Strongly Agree
Taxpayer funds should be used to provide gender transition services.
Disagree
Marriage is a God-ordained, sacred and legal union of one man and one woman. No government has the authority to alter this definition.
Neutral
No government has the authority to attempt to define the word in any way. It's offensive that they call their legal status by this name. Outside of family court the state has no business even asking whether you're married. The legal status should be open-ended. It's not our place to dictate others' personal relationships and contracts.
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I believe that each individual human was created in God's beautiful image, that each and every one of us has intrinsic value, and that we were granted free will - including the ability to reject God - for reasons that are not for me to question. I believe that the state should be as neutral as possible on such matters, and that my neighbors who would vehemently disagree with me have a right to equal representation by the state and should feel comfortable taking a metaphorical seat at the table.
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Neutral
We do need a method to prevent double voting, and this is one.
States should join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact which makes the Electoral College irrelevant.
Disagree
An America-wide first-past-the-post popular vote would be a terrible idea, as FPTP is a terrible idea and would be exacerbated here. Existing proposals I've seen here fail to fix the voting method. Further, any such compact must include agreement on who is permitted to vote and the methods used for authenticating a voter, to prevent gaming one's own state's influence. This also seems overlooked.
EQUALITY
Is racism a threat to domestic security in the United States? Why or why not?
Anything that can cloud judgement of security forces about individual threats could be a concern. However, it's worth noting that bigotry is endemic to every country in the world, and not all countries have poor security.
I agree with Critical Race Theory (CRT) which asserts that the institutions in the United States are fundamentally racist.
Disagree
Some are, but the CRT crowd's argument is unconvincing at best. It's certainly true that many policy positions originally were racist, but that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone supporting those policies today is necessarily a racist. For example, a non-racist in 2024 could nonetheless support minimum wage, marriage licenses, and gun control even though those policies are historically racist.
Biological males should not be allowed to participate in women's sports or occupy biological women's spaces whether it be bathrooms, locker rooms, sorority houses, women's shelters, or prison.
Neutral
Private spaces - and sports should be entirely private - should determine their own rules. I remain open to persuasion on the matter of prisons.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Which comes closest to your view? (Select all that apply) A) Stricter environmental laws and regulations cost too many jobs and hurt the economy. B) Stricter environmental laws and regulations are worth the cost. C) Stricter environmental laws undermine U.S. energy independence and deter development of reliable electricity sources. D) Climate change is real and requires urgent policy action.
A & D Governments are frequently the worst offenders on carbon emissions and are not incentivized to (and rarely capable of) enforcing productive solutions. Any supposedly related law must be approached with the utmost skepticism.
What do you believe is the most reliable energy source that will supply the growing demand for electricity?
Nuclear (fission) Consumers should be able to choose, and we should encourage an energy mix that takes advantage of various sources' benefits, like site solar's resilience in disasters. But realistically nuclear would provide the bulk of power.
