LITTLE ROCK Frank Gilbert, constable of DeKalb Township in Grant County and former mayor of Tull, announced Thursday he will seek the Libertarian Partys nomination for governor.

Gilbert is the only member of the Libertarian Party currently holding elected office in Arkansas. He has also served as Grant County coroner and president of the Bauxite Education Association.

A graduate of Van Buren High School, Gilbert served in the Navy as Journalist 2nd Class from 1968 to 1972. He attended Ouachita Baptist University and has been employed for the past 20 years by alarm company Guard Tronic, for which he manages a region that includes Fort Smith and Little Rock. He is also minister of Universal Life Church.

Gilbert said in a news release he wants Arkansans to know there is an alternative to the dominant two-party system.

I want to help the Libertarian Party make changes for the better, he said. I have been scouring the state of Arkansas looking for like-minded, Libertarian-leaning folks who are as tired as I am of the mess we are in politically.

On Tuesday the Libertarian Party of Arkansas submitted more than 16,000 signatures to the secretary of states office in an effort to qualify for the 2014 ballot. The party needs 10,000 verified signatures of Arkansas voters to secure ballot access.

Former Congressman Mike Ross is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. Republican candidates are former Congressman and deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Asa Hutchinson, state Rep. Debra Hobbs and businessman Curtis Coleman.

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Libertarian announces for governor