Credit: Jeremy Detter/RECORD PHOTO

Barbara Howe, Libertarian candidate for Governor in North Carolina, runs through Newton on Wednesday night. Howe plans on running a 5k in each of the 100 counties in North Carolina. Catawba County was number 81.

NEWTON Barbara Howe really is running for governor.

The Libertarian candidate is running a solo 5-kilometer race in all 100 North Carolina counties to call attention to her candidacy and the Libertarian political philosophy. Wednesday morning, she ran in Taylorsville. That evening, she put on her running shoes in Newton. The Newton 5K was her 81st since her campaign began.

Howe, from Wingate, knows winning the governors mansion is the longest of shots, but shes determined to keep the message of liberty out there.

Libertarians endorse minimal government. The Republicans and the Democrats have their differences, but they still stand for big government, Howe said. They are variations of the same flavor.

Most of the time, Howe runs alone. Sometimes, somebody shes met will join her. She had company when she ran in Lenoir on Tuesday. But she meets people during her jaunts and chats with local folks afterward.

I always go to a caf or a restaurant in each county. I listen and I talk. But mostly I listen, she said.

Im learning that people in North Carolina are basically the same. They want to work, enjoy their free time and be left alone. That as in be left alone by government on all levels. This country was founded on freedom, responsibility and self-reliance, Howe said. We Libertarians dont want to tell people how to run their lives.

As one that advocates the government that governs least governs best, she has strong opinions on government entitlements and other programs. For example, Howe says everyone who has paid into Social Security should get their benefits as promised.

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Libertarian candidate running – literally – in all 100 counties