AL House of Representatives District 45

Kari Mitchell Whitaker

I’m Kari Mitchell Whitaker, a lifelong resident of Dunnavant Valley (in District 45), and I’m asking for your vote as State House Representative.

I want to run for office because I believe that government — as envisioned by our founders — should be simple, unobtrusive, and (where necessary) effective. I trust people to make their own decisions about what is best for themselves and their families. The less the government meddles in our private lives and affairs, the better. I believe our current government has become far too powerful, cumbersome, divisive, and corrupt — and I want to change that.

Since I am fed up with the way the Republicans and Democrats have been running things, I decided to run as a Libertarian candidate. Many people inherently agree with Libertarian principles and don’t even realize it — ideas like limited government, personal freedom and privacy, and individual responsibility.

I don’t aspire to be a career politician, and I won’t try to sell you simplistic solutions to the complex problems we face. The current two-party system has led to too much divisiveness. We must work hard to find common ground, sensible compromise, and to foster a sense of cooperative human connection. It is my belief that our country is unique in the world — we must preserve and protect the democratic principles and classical liberal ideas upon which it was founded.

I am a small business owner, wife, and mother. I am an active member of my church. In my free time you’ll find me hiking, gardening, reading, foraging wild foods, SCUBA diving, playing role-playing games, and practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Kari Mitchell Whitaker

Issues

No More Taxes
You work hard for every single dollar you earn, and those dollars belong in your pocket. In times of economic uncertainty, every citizen must learn how to live within a budget, and our government should be able to do the same. With sky-rocketing fuel prices and record-breaking inflation, I would work to immediately repeal Kay Ivey’s misguided gas tax and to eliminate sales tax on basic necessities, such as groceries and medicine. I will never, ever support any new taxes on the people of Alabama.
Term Limits
Enough is enough. We have to stop politicians from occupying office for decades and doing little to nothing for the people of Alabama. Representatives should be limited to a maximum of two terms. Public office should be where dedicated people go to work hard to solve difficult problems — not where lazy people go to relax and gather wealth.
Education
We are fortunate to have highly-ranked school systems in much of our district, but there is still too much power in the hands of administrators and not enough with parents who pay the taxes and entrust their children’s minds to these systems. In too many cases, administrators and association members forget that the priority is educating children in the fundamentals of academics. When schools fall short, parents need the ability to choose a school system that better reflects their children’s educational needs. I support funding families — rather than systems alone — to ensure parental choice is protected and school systems are incentivized to meet the expectations of the people.
Economic Freedom
I support free markets and peaceful, voluntary exchange of goods and services. As such, I oppose the Alabama privilege tax, licensing fees, and all governmental restrictions that favor large corporations and hinder small businesses.
Medical Freedom
Every adult should have autonomy over their own bodies. This includes being empowered to choose whether or not you get vaccinated, what sort of chemicals or plants you ingest, and how you spend your money for medical treatments.
Decriminalize Cannabis
The disastrous war on drugs has done nothing to stop drug addiction or drug crime. It has only fueled a dangerous underground market and overfilled prisons with the most economically-disadvantaged of our citizens. We have also seen the government fail miserably in their definition of “good” drugs and “bad” drugs. Drugs with FDA approval led us into a crippling opioid addiction crisis, while some Schedule 1 drugs such as cannabis and LSD are now proving to be beneficial and life-changing in clinical trials. Grown adults in a free society should have the right to choose what chemicals they ingest. Responsible consumption of certain chemicals should not constitute a crime.
Gun Owner RIghts
“...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
With great freedom comes great responsibility. In this country, hundreds of thousands of law-abiding gun owners prove every day that it is indeed possible to possess and use guns responsibly. This great power of the people to protect themselves from criminal infringement should never be jeopardized. While it is a challenging and complex issue, we must work carefully to protect these rights while also cautiously preventing high-risk individuals and known criminals from obtaining weapons easily.
Environment
While I strongly support protecting businesses from too much government regulation, there is no greater asset to protect than our natural environment. The effects of pollution harm all of our citizens, whether it happens quickly or over the course of many years. As a hiker, diver, and wild-food forager, I have seen first-hand the devastating effects pollution can have on our natural habitat. We have a responsibility to our future generations to protect the integrity of our air, water, and soil. Alabama has been called the “Amazon of North America”. We are abundant in natural resources, and we should do everything we can to protect them. This is a difficult and complex issue which deserves deep and serious thought — not poster-board slogans and lazy thinking.
Right to Life
To echo the Libertarian party’s platform, I recognize there can be good faith arguments on both sides of the abortion debate. While this issue is by far one of the most complex and heart-wrenching, I stand by my belief that protecting innocent life is one of the most fundamental principles of a civilized society. I value the lives of the unborn, but agree we need to do more to support women who find themselves in the agonizing situation of an unplanned pregnancy. According to the Non-Aggression Principle (NAP) espoused by Libertarians, no one has the right to take away the life of another human being — and I believe this extends to unborn children.
Personal Relationships
The government has no authority whatsoever to define or deny the bonds between two consenting adults. I think the government should get out of the marriage business altogether. That being said, the government must grant equal protections and privileges to all family units, regardless of sexual orientation.
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