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Campaign of gubernatorial candidate seeks inclusion into VBA debate

Jordan Bondurant//July 20, 2017

Campaign of gubernatorial candidate seeks inclusion into VBA debate

Jordan Bondurant//July 20, 2017//

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The Virginia Bar Association is set to help kick off Virginia’s battle for governor Saturday as part of its summer meeting, and one candidate is pushing to be on the stage.

Republican Ed Gillespie and Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam, the Democratic nominee, will spar for the first time with each man trying to paint a picture for voters of their visions for Virginia’s future. The 90-minute debate will be moderated by “PBS NewsHour” anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff and streamed live online and on social media.

But left off the stage is Libertarian Cliff Hyra. Hyra, a patent attorney from Northern Virginia and a dues-paying member of the VBA, has received vocal support from the editorial boards of the commonwealth’s three largest newspapers, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Roanoke Times and Virginian-Pilot, for the third-party candidate’s inclusion in the debate.

Hyra campaign director John Vaught LaBeaume penned a July 19 letter to Executive Director Yvonne McGhee, the VBA Board of Directors and VBA staff outlining why their candidate should stand alongside Gillespie and Northam.

“Our campaign is confident that Cliff Hyra…is worthy of inclusion in this and any gubernatorial debate in 2017, and that his presence will elevate the quality and tenor of the exchange between the candidates,” the letter states.

The letter also points out how the VBA gubernatorial debate in 2013, featuring Republican Ken Cuccinelli and now-Governor Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, helped set the stage for one of the most hotly-contested races for governor in recent memory. The Hyra campaign feels like their guy would help keep debate rigorous and respectful.

“When Hyra presents his vision for an Inclusive and Innovating Virginia, he will draw a strong distinction between his and the visions of the other candidates, but he will do so on decidedly respectful terms, free of the personal invective all too common in today’s political debate, and, indeed, in previous Virginia gubernatorial debates,” LaBeaume said.

Hyra seeks to thrust the Libertarian Party of Virginia into major party status by earning 10 percent of the popular vote in the upcoming Nov. 7 election. Robert Sarvis, who was the Libertarian candidate in 2013, earned 6.5 percent.

Currently the Libertarian Party must collect signatures and submit them to the Virginia Board of Elections to have candidates included on any statewide ballots.

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