Editing Byron Looper (section)

== "Low Tax" name imitators ==

Other political candidates and public personalities have emulated Looper's adopted name or have independently adopted similar names. Among these were [[Something Awful]] founder [[Richard "Lowtax" Kyanka]], who adopted his [[nickname]] as a humorous reference to Byron Looper, for whom Kyanka nearly worked as an intern in the summer of 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fark.com/comments/446456/DARE-The-Comic?startid=3051727|title=D.A.R.E. - The Comic|work=[[Fark]]|date=February 20, 2003|url-status=live|access-date=November 22, 2021|quote=Way back during my college days at Vanderbilt University, I almost ended up getting a summer job with the Putnam County tax assessor (because I was broke and needed to pay for college tuition). He was a very insane little man who legally changed his middle name to "Low Tax" to win votes for his upcoming senatorial campaign.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123032431/https://www.fark.com/comments/446456/DARE-The-Comic?startid=3051727 |archive-date=2021-11-23 }}</ref> In 1998, a candidate with the name Craig 'Tax Freeze' Freis ran for the [[State Board of Equalization (California)|California Board of Equalization]]. He finished in fourth place (out of six candidates running) in the Democratic primary for the office.<ref>[http://primary98.sos.ca.gov/Final/P98_SOV.pdf Election results for the June 2, 1998 elections] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202041654/http://primary98.sos.ca.gov/Final/P98_SOV.pdf |date=February 2, 2009 }}, page 42.</ref>

In [[Los Angeles County]], a candidate named John "Lower Taxes" Loew ran in every election for [[County (United States)|county]] [[assessor (property)|assessor]] from 2000 through 2018. He explained that he changed his name to send a message about his political positions.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dailybreeze.com/2006/05/30/lower-taxes-not-just-a-slogan/|title=Lower Taxes not just a slogan|date=May 30, 2006|first=Christina|last=Esparza|publisher=[[Daily Breeze]]|access-date=July 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704212814/https://www.dailybreeze.com/2006/05/30/lower-taxes-not-just-a-slogan/|archive-date=July 4, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-assessor-debate-20140331-story.html|title=Candidates for L.A. County assessor tangle over tax policy in debate|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=March 30, 2014|first=Abby|last=Sewell|access-date=July 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708030418/http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/30/local/la-me-assessor-debate-20140331|archive-date=July 8, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2000, Loew received less than 1% of the vote<ref>[http://rrcc.co.la.ca.us/elect/00110020/rr0020pi.html-ssi Final Official Election Returns] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929084309/http://rrcc.co.la.ca.us/elect/00110020/rr0020pi.html-ssi |date=2007-09-29 }}, Los Angeles County, November 7, 2000 General Election</ref> in the special election to fill a vacancy in the office. In 2002 and 2006, Loew lost the elections to incumbent Rick Auerbach by margins of 70%–11% and 77%–23% respectively.<ref>http://rrcc.co.la.ca.us/elect/02031211/rr1211pn.html-ssi {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091049/http://rrcc.co.la.ca.us/elect/02031211/rr1211pn.html-ssi |date=2007-09-29 }} 70-11</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://rrccmain.co.la.ca.us/charts/1275/1275AS.htm |title=Assessor |access-date=2006-06-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927005020/http://rrccmain.co.la.ca.us/charts/1275/1275AS.htm |archive-date=2007-09-27 }} 77-23</ref> Loew ran again in 2010, where he finished in third place with 10.6% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://rrcc.co.la.ca.us/elect/10061499/rr1499po.html-ssi |title=Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters election results for County Assessor, 2010 |access-date=2011-11-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426005806/http://rrcc.co.la.ca.us/elect/10061499/rr1499po.html-ssi |archive-date=2012-04-26 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2014, he finished in fourth place with 9.47% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lavote.net/election-results#year=2014&election=879 |title=June 3, 2014 Los Angeles County primary election results |access-date=July 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704212923/http://www.lavote.net/election-results#year=2014&election=879 |archive-date=July 4, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2018 Loew again ran with the name "Lower Taxes" on the ballot and ended up in second place with 23.58%, forcing incumbent Jeffrey Prang into a runoff.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.lavote.net/election-results#year=2018&election=3793 |title=June 5, 2018 Los Angeles County primary election results |access-date=July 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704212923/http://www.lavote.net/election-results#year=2018&election=3793 |archive-date=July 4, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Loew lost the runoff to Prang by a margin of a little over 20%.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.lavote.net/election-results#year=2018&election=3861 |title=November 6, 2018 Los Angeles County general election results |access-date=January 8, 2020 }}</ref>