A full slate of Libertarian candidates filed to run for federal office yesterday at the State Board of Elections. Collectively, the candidates submitted well over 30,000 signatures.
The full slate is led by US Senate candidate Robert Sarvis, who is running against incumbent Democrat Mark Warner and recent Republican nominee Ed Gillespie.
Joining Sarvis are Libertarian candidates in every US House Congressional District:
- Xavian Draper in the 1st District, running against Republican incumbent Rob Wittman and Democratic nominee Norm Mosher.
- Allen Knapp in the 2nd District, running against incumbent Republican Scott Rigell, and Democratic nominee Suzanne Patrick.
- Justin Upshaw in the 3rd District, running against incumbent Democrat Bobby Scott.
- Bo Brown in the 4th District, running against incumbent Republican Randy Forbes.
- Paul Jones in the 5th District, running against incumbent Republican Robert Hurt and Democratic nominee Lawrence Gaughan.
- Will Hammer in the 6th District, running against incumbent Republican Bob Goodlatte.
- James Carr in the 7th District running against Democratic nominee Jack Trammell and Republican nominee David Brat.
- Jeffrey Carson in the 8th District, running against Republican nominee Micah Edmond and Democratic nominee Don Beyer.
- Matthew Edwards in the 9th District, running against incumbent Republican Morgan Griffith and independent William Carr.
- Bill Redpath in the 10th District, running against Democratic nominee John Foust and Republican nominee Barbara Comstock.
- Marc Harrold in the 11th District, running against incumbent Democrat Gerald Connolly and Republican nominee Suzanne Scholte.
“These candidates will make great representatives for the people of Virginia,” Sarvis said. “Sending another Republican or Democrat to Washington isn’t going to change anything. But sending a Libertarian will change everything.”
Despite earning 145,000 votes in a statewide election last year, the Libertarian Party still has to petition for voter signatures to put its candidates on the ballot, something neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have to do. Sarvis needed 10,000 valid signatures of Virginia voters, including 400 from each Congressional district; the House candidates needed 1,000 each.
“The laws are written to privilege Republicans and Democrats and keep political competition out. And look at the mess that’s created in both Washington and Richmond. But the upset in the seventh district primary yesterday shows voters are fed up with the self-dealing, self-interested, cronyist status quo. That’s what I ran against last year, and that’s what we’re running against this year.”
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