The Concord Monitor reports:

Libertarian-turned-Dem says he's for real - 21-year-old runs for state representative, By Eric Moskowitz, Concord Monitor, August 5, 2006

Jim C. Perry, a member of the Free State Project, once chained himself to a post on the side of a highway in his native Massachusetts, to urge others to "cut the chains of statism" and move to New Hampshire. After Perry, 21, moved to New Hampshire in 2004, he demonstrated his beliefs in small government and individual liberties by strapping a pistol to his waist and heading for a Borders bookstore, where he ceremoniously shredded a Massachusetts state income-tax form.

Although Perry has served as a board member of the New Hampshire Libertarian Party, he is running for the state House of Representatives this year as a Democrat.

Perry said he still favors small government and individual liberties. But he has broken from the Libertarian Party, he said, because he disagrees with those who want to eliminate government outright. He was also frustrated by a growing number of "so-called" Libertarian Party members who don't adhere to the social liberalism that drew Perry to the party in the first place, he said.

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Perry, who is gay, said he wants to help Democratic lawmakers protect and extend civil liberties in New Hampshire. Perry's marriage is recognized by his Quaker faith but not New Hampshire law. Perry said he was motivated to run for the Legislature - and to do so as a Democrat - after watching Senate Republicans defeat a bill to prevent New Hampshire from accepting "Real ID," the federal act mandating that states comply with national identification standards and share resident information with other states.

"The Republicans in the Senate basically shafted the people of the state of New Hampshire," Perry said. Perry said he wants to extend privacy rights and civil liberties, not abolish government. He said he has outgrown some of his adolescent and teenage views, and he believes the state must ensure public safety and extend certain social services that the private sector can't adequately provide. He insists that he is a Democrat - one influenced by Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine. "Government is best which governs least," he said. Like Democratic Gov. John Lynch, Perry said, he opposes a sales or income tax.

Democratic incumbents who face a primary with Perry aren't sure if he's on their side, though, especially since this year New Hampshire Libertarian Party Chairman John Babiarz called for members to seek election as Republicans or Democrats. Protesting the difficulty of getting Libertarians on the ballot, Babiarz himself is running for Democratic state representative from Grafton; his wife is seeking election to the Senate as a Republican.

Perry previously served as a candidate recruiter for the Libertarian Party. "People are getting sick of the two-party system, and we're the only viable alternative,"Perry told the Monitor in September.

That was then, Perry said. "I am no longer affiliated with the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire,"he said yesterday. Babiarz said he supports Perry's candidacy and believes Perry is a bona fide Democrat. "I think Jim believes in social justice, and there's a lot of overlap between the Democrats and the Libertarian Party on those issues. And I think Jim is working it the best way he can to achieve social justice," Babiarz said. Technically, Babiarz said, Perry is a Democrat: "If you look at the Democratic national party charter, section 8, article 1 says that anybody who calls himself as Democrat is a Democrat," he said. Perry said he is part of the Democratic Freedom Caucus, a libertarian strain within the Democratic Party.

"The Democratic Party is a big-tent organization," Perry said. "It's there for people from all different political philosophies." Perry is working toward a bachelor's degree from Granite State College; his husband is on active duty with the Navy. (In web postings, Perry keeps his husband's name private, because of the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.) Perry owns a small business selling flags, and he enjoys studying the supernatural. Although he once listed his occupation as "paranormal researcher" on a web forum devoted to zombies, ghosts are merely a hobby, he said. Other hobbies he listed on the forum include parapsychology and backpacking.

In May, Perry approached Concord Rep. John DeJoie, a member of the House Democratic leadership, to tell him about his interest in running for the Legislature. DeJoie and Rob Werner, chairman of the Merrimack County Democrats, met with Perry in the State House cafeteria to discuss his candidacy, DeJoie said. "It was hard to get a read on the kid," he said. "He seemed like a kid who was really trying to find his way, but then the more you uncover about him, the more it looks like - I don't know. Was he giving us the straight story? I don't know."

DeJoie said Perry's account of his Libertarian-Democratic switch was less than convincing. "There are some pieces that just don't fit of how he got from where he said he came from to where he is now," he said. Perry and DeJoie are running in the same district, Merrimack County 11, which covers East Concord, Concord Heights and most of downtown Concord. All five incumbents - Republican Rep. Jim MacKay and Democrats DeJoie, Candace Bouchard, Tara Reardon and Bob Williams - are running for re-election. Five Republicans are running in the district, so there will be no Republican primary. Six Democrats are running, so the candidates must compete in a Sept. 12 primary to narrow the field to five for the Nov. 7 general election.

The four Democratic incumbents and Perry are joined in the primary field by Josue Roman, a residence-hall director at New Hampshire Technical Institute. The incumbents know little about Roman but do not have reason to question his Democratic leanings, DeJoie said. Roman could not be reached for comment yesterday. As for Perry, "it's not up to me to decide if he's a Democrat or not,"DeJoie said. The incumbents "are going to be focusing on who we are, and where we'd like to see the district go, and what we've done. I would hope that Jim would let the voters know who he truly is as well, and not hide behind any particular banner, so that voters can make their own decision." Perry said he's open about his views. "The Democrats of Merrimack 11 will get a chance to say whether they like what I have to say, or whether or not my quote, Democratic credentials, end quote, match up to what they hope for," he said.