Commentary Open Forum: Why NOT Hyra? No reason why the Libertarian candidate for governor should not be … – The Winchester Star

Here we are once again, another gubernatorial election, and another Libertarian candidate being ignored by debate hosts. Much like the Commission on Presidential Debates, Virginia debate hosts have a history of ignoring the Libertarian candidates. This year it is Cliff Hyra.

On July 22, the Virginia Bar Association hosted its gubernatorial debate between Republican Ed Gillespie and Democrat Ralph Northam. Despite overwhelming calls from Hyra supporters specifically and supporters of fair and open debates in general to include Hyra, the VBA not only refused to invite him, but threatened future sanctions on Libertarian candidates if the calls, emails and social media posts did not cease.

Additionally, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Roanoke Times, and Martinsville Bulletin have all published editorials calling for Hyras inclusion in the debates. As one of Virginias premier daily newspapers, the addition of The Winchester Star to this list would make Hyras campaign hard to ignore for debate hosts.

Next up, the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce is hosting the second debate at George Mason University on Sept. 19 and so far Cliff Hyra has not been invited.

It boils down to one simple explanation. The debate hosts fear one or both of the major-party candidates will pull out of the debates if Hyra is invited. This is a sincere fear since Republican and Democratic candidates have a history of doing so in Virginia. In 2014, when Robert Sarvis was the Libertarian running for Senate against Ed Gillespie and Mark Warner, both threatened debate hosts at JMU that they would likely not participate in the debate if Sarvis were invited. They backed that threat up by refusing to participate in the only debate that would have included Sarvis, at the University of Mary Washington.

Ralph Northam is already on record with his support of including Hyra; however, Gillespie has refused to respond to my own inquiries. There is no reason to not invite Hyra to the debates. Gillespie took Northam to task for not accepting his challenge of 10 debates, calling a counteroffer of three insulting to Virginians.

Cliff Hyra is the only candidate to oppose the proposed gas pipelines due to eminent domain abuses; he also wants to reform the criminal justice system by legalizing cannabis, pardoning nonviolent prisoners incarcerated for drug offenses after completing anti-recidivism/treatment programs, and ending civil asset forfeiture abuses. Hyra also wants a model similar to the Wilder Commission to target wasteful government spending, expand competition and choice to public education by expanding charter school programs, and exempt the first $60,000 of household income from state income taxes (or $30,000 for individuals) and tax anything above that at a flat 5.75 percent.

Mark Anderson is chairman of the Frederick County Libertarians.

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Commentary Open Forum: Why NOT Hyra? No reason why the Libertarian candidate for governor should not be ... - The Winchester Star