Metal Soundman + Libertarian Candidate Disrupts Colorado Election

Prior to a few days ago, Richard Ward was – among other things – a happy-go-lucky soundman for local metal band Driven by Turmoil. However, he’s now receiving plenty of news coverage for his unorthodox, unexpected and surprisingly successful bid as a 2022 Libertarian candidate in the race for Colorado’s 8th District House seat.

As reported by host Kyle Clark on his show, Next with Kyle Clark, last Friday (Nov. 11), Ward’s (mistakenly credited as Dan Ward in Clark's coverage) involvement came out of nowhere, and he’s “played a far larger role than anyone expected, including him.” Why? Because he’s earned nearly 4% of the vote (according to the Associate Press), which – as Clark tweeted on Nov. 11 – means that he’s “being blamed for Republicans’ loss in CO-8” and that he “vastly outperformed Colorado’s other Libertarian candidates [who averaged 1.9%].”

The Denver Post confirmed on Thursday, Nov. 10 that Democratic state Rep. Yadira Caraveo “will become Colorado’s first Latina congressional representative after her Republican opponent, state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, conceded the 8^th Congressional District context Wednesday evening [Nov. 9], ending a race that had been locked in a virtual tie since polls closely nearly 24 hours early.”

In Clark’s segment, he included a clip from Mandy Connell Podcast in which she asserted that Ward accomplished this feat with “no campaign website, no social media. He has no phone number, he has no email address. He has no picture on any website.”

To her point, Clark confirmed, neither Ward nor his campaign manager – Patty McMahon – can explain his success. “We took zero funds from anybody. We didn’t even take it from our own party,” she commented. Plus, Clark added, the Libertarian Party of Colorado “have no idea how a guy who campaigned only through concerts did so well.”

Specifically, Driven by Turmoil frontman Rodney Rivera stated, they “just kept playing Dan’s unofficial campaign anthem [“Shut the F**k Up”] at shows and asking people to vote for him.”

Who says that metal and politics can’t mix?!

You can see the full clip from Next with Kyle Clark – as well as listen to Driven by Turmoil’s “Shut the F**k Up” —below.