Millsboro man enters presidential race as write-in candidate

Tired with a two-party system that doesn’t give voters any good options, Millsboro resident Edward Shlikas has entered the race for president of the United States as a write-in candidate.

Shlikas officially filed his write-in candidacy paperwork Jan. 18 with the Delaware Department of Elections.

“I’m doing this because I do not believe Republicans and Democrats represent most of the citizens in the United States,” said Shlikas. “They’ve been bought and paid for, and I’m just trying to give voters another opportunity.”

Shlikas, 54, is a horticulturalist by trade. He said he has a whole list of reasons why he’s running, but there are four main reasons:

• He’s concerned that both Democrats and Republican are being paid off by American Israel Public Affairs Committee – AIPAC – and, because of that, neither are making decisions related to Israel and Palestine that are in the best interest of the country’s tax payers

• He’s concerned with the big brother state that’s taken over the country, specifically with the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration. He said these agencies are a violation of First and Fourth Amendment rights, that they should all be abolished, and that the Department of Defense, with strict oversight, should take over some of the security measures

• He would like to see the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank abolished and a return to the gold standard. The federal reserve intentionally destroyed the financial lives of most Americans to prop up bankers and insurance companies, he said

• He said he doesn’t believe the wealthy have been paying their fair share of taxes for at least the past 50 years. He would raise taxes on the wealthy substantially and close tax loopholes that allow wealthy people to hide their money.

At this point, Shlikas said his campaign is primarily being done through social media, specifically X, formerly Twitter.

“I’ve had to start from scratch. It’s been slowly building organically,” said Shlikas.

Shlikas is one of four people who have declared themselves as write-in candidates in Delaware. The other three are Shondra Irving of Pearland, Texas; Brent Peterson of Cross Lanes, W.Va.; and Andre Ramon McNeil Sr. of St. Louis, Mo.

Following the passage of legislation earlier in March, the Delaware Department of Elections announced the April 2 presidential primary election will not be held because neither Republican nor Democratic primaries are contested. The general election takes place Tuesday, Nov. 5. For more voting information, go to the DOE website at  elections.delaware.gov or call 1-302-739-4277.