Ron Paul backer announces Minn. Senate bid as Independence Party candidate

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Feb 7, 2014

A Roseville resident who backed former Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul's campaign for president in 2012 plans to run for the Independence Party's nomination for U.S. Senate.

Hannah Nicollet is the first person to step forward as an IP candidate to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Franken.

Nicollet, 39, got her start in politics as a teenager, volunteering for Ross Perot's presidential campaign in 1992. Since then, she has backed candidates representing the Independence Party, the Libertarian Party and the Republican Party. But she emphasized that she isn't a big backer of the three parties.

"Once you swear allegiance to one party, they may put somebody in charge who is suddenly bought off by special interests, and then your allegiance goes in that direction," she said. "I'm never willing to do that so I always base it on individuals."

Most recently, Nicollet has been inspired by Paul, who sought the Republican nomination for president in 2012 and attracted libertarians and some tea party supporters to his campaign.

Nicollet said she decided to run for the U.S. Senate as a member of the Independence Party because it fits her philosophy of being fiscally conservative and socially liberal. She said she made the decision to run in December after becoming frustrated with the data collection practices of the National Security Agency, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the size of the federal debt.

"The debt puts us in a very precarious situation nationally," she said. "National Security, if you want to talk about national security, our debt is a threat to it. The biggest threat, I would say."

If elected, Nicollet said she would aim to reduce the federal deficit by cutting foreign aid, cutting defense spending and eliminating subsidies to business.

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Ron Paul backer announces Minn. Senate bid as Independence Party candidate