“Not only did we have a primary for governor for the first time since 1970 … we actually had a competitive primary, and that’s never happened,” Gelineau said. “The reality is, we’re not the same party we were four years ago. We’re a major party, and somebody took that seriously. Lots of somebodies.”

Yet many Michigan voters and some members of the media seem unaware of this fact, Gelineau said – something he classifies as intellectual laziness.

“You’ve got these two that are out there, nationally known and all that, and then there’s other political parties,” Gelineau said. “I think it’s intellectually lazy to say that everybody else is all in one group, because that’s really just not true.”

Gelineau needed 15,000 signatures to file to be on the ballot as a candidate for governor this year, something he wouldn't have had to do as a third-party candidate. 

“If you’re somebody like Jennifer Kurland, she has to show up at a convention that has about 47 people, and she gets nominated,” Gelineau said. “That’s fine, that’s what the rules say, but it’s not exactly work.”

Kurland, the Green Party nominee for governor, is hopeful she will be able to help grow her party’s following in this year’s midterms. 

“I think one of the things that has really been missing in the Green Party of Michigan is active candidates," Kurland said. "We have held our ballot access pretty simply by existing, and I am actively running. I am all over the state, I am everywhere I can possibly be and grabbing whatever media I possibly can.

“I do think it’s going to be a good year for the Green Party. Simply because we’re really making the effort. I am working to transform our party and grow our party, and we’ve been gaining new members all year.”

Gelineau had a similar tone and said he doesn’t harbor any illusions that he’s going to win. Instead, he simply has to hit the 5 percent threshold necessary to maintain the Libertarian Party’s status as a major party for future elections.

The party's strategy to do so involves releasing a number of controversial policy proposals. One would split the city of Detroit from Wayne County and into its own county, and another — known as MI Way Forward or "23 for Me" — would pay young women for every year up to age 23 that they do not become pregnant.

“If we throw out some controversial proposals that only 20 percent of the people like but they’re willing to vote for us because of it, did we win? I think we did,” Gelineau said. “That doesn’t mean compromise your soul, but I don’t think '23 for Me' did that. I’m very comfortable with it.”

After this year’s election is over, Gelineau plans to continue growing the party by making the transition from this campaign to the next more seamless. One way he plans to do this is by giving his website, liberty4gov.org, to the next gubernatorial nominee.

“Surely, they’re going to replace a lot of the content; they might even put their own picture up," Gelineau said. "That’s not really the point. The fact is, that domain will already be out there in the public consciousness, among media sources and everybody else. Liberty4gov.org is how you’re going to get ahold of the next Libertarian candidate for governor, and it’s going to take a huge workload off their list of stuff they have to do.”

Gelineau says he will also make a list of everything the next candidate will need to do in order to be successful, from negotiating billboards to entering campaign finance data reports. 

Gelineau said his ultimate goal is to break the political system. His plan to do this involves offering Kurland the Libertarian Party’s nominee for lieutenant governor. This would make the U.S. Senate the top of the Green Party ticket, which the Libertarians are not running a candidate in. The parties would work together to ensure that they each hit the 5 percent threshold and gain major party status.

“We’re getting a tremendous amount of media, and I’m hoping to use that to make history,” Gelineau said.