Blake Ashby was a moderate Republican candidate for the U.S. Republican Party presidential nomination, 2004. Ashby is an entrepreneur and independent businessman from St. Louis, Missouri.

Ashby became a Republican as a sophomore in high school. He realized that the core values of the "Grand Old Party" resonated with him though a civics class. In his early 20s, Ashby served on several Missouri Republican campaigns and as a researcher for the Missouri House Republican Caucus.

Ashby was a strong believer in free-market capitalism. He launched Broadspan Communications, one of the first competitive telecommunications companies in the Midwest. The venture grew from a basement start-up to become Primary Network Communication, a leader in new technology which expanded into five states with a nationally recognized model. Ahsby has worked to start more than two dozen companies in 13 years, including restaurants, technology companies and food manufacturers.

Ashby decided to campaign for the Presidency because he was dismayed by a growing national deficit, disheartened by the Party leadership's apparent loss of faith in the free market and the right to compete, and frustrated by its drift away from the traditional Republican values of fiscal prudence and limited government.

Ashby placed seventh in the Republican New Hampshire primary winning 264 votes (0.39%). He came in third in the Oklahoma primary on Mini-Tuesday with 981 votes (0.80%). Thereafter he campaigned as a write-in candidate, having failed to qualify for any other state ballots.

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Ashby 2004