Cliff Hyra
From Ballotpedia
Cliff Hyra was a Libertarian Party candidate for Governor of Virginia. He was defeated in the November 7, 2017, election. Hyra was nominated on May 6, 2017.[1]
Biography
Hyra, a Fairfax County native and 2000 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, studied aerospace engineering at Virginia Tech. He graduated in 2004 and enrolled in George Mason University School of Law, graduating in 2007. The year before Hyra graduated law school, he joined the law offices of James C. Wray as an associate patent attorney. Hyra left the firm in 2008 to found his own patent law firm, Hyra IP. In 2012, Hyra joined Symbus Law Group as a patent attorney.[2][3][4]
Education
- Thomas Jefferson High School (2000)
- B.S. in aerospace engineering - Virginia Tech (2004)
- J.D. - George Mason School of Law (2007)
Ballotpedia candidate survey
2017
Hyra participated in a survey created by Ballotpedia. The survey was designed to let our readers know more about the candidates and feel confident that they are voting for the best person to represent them. The survey questions appear bolded, and Hyra's responses follow below.
What is your general philosophy when it comes to economics, jobs, and growth? Do you have any more specific ideas related to these concepts?
Ideally, what should the government's role in a state's healthcare system be? Are there any healthcare policies, actual or hypothetical, that you have an opinion on?
In regard to economic and business regulations such as the minimum wage and professional licensing, what role do you think the state should play?
What would your approach be to issues related to crime and incarceration?
What is your opinion on Virginia's K-12 education system? What issues are important and how can the state address them?
What are your views on proposed oil pipelines that would cross Virginia? In general, how should the state address issues related to environmental regulation?
What are your opinions on Virginia's current taxation policies, for individuals or corporations? Is there anything that you would change?
| “ | Today, Virginia must compete economically against every other state in the nation, and even against other countries. To be successful in the long-term, we must have a world-class tax and regulatory system that fosters innovation and eschews crony capitalism and giveaways to politically powerful corporations. We also must educate and attract a world-class work force and provide a high quality of life to our citizens. We can start by fixing our broken income tax code, with a top rate that currently kicks in at only $17,000 of income- a number that has not changed in 45 years. I would take a pro-innovation approach and eliminate the state income tax on the first $60,000 of household income, saving the average Virginia family $3,000 every year. As governor, I would also make localities sunset inefficient, anti-business taxes such as BPOL taxes, merchant capital taxes, machine and tool taxes, and business personal property taxes, and replace them with better sources of revenue. In step with the best practices of more innovative states, I would end most of Virginia's anti-competitive occupational licensing schemes. Licensing requirements for cosmetologists, interior decorators, cemetery salespersons, auctioneers, and more put barriers in the way of Virginians looking to enter new professions that hold more opportunity. I would give rural Virginia a shot in the arm by legalizing hemp and marijuana, which are well suited to be grown by Virginia's farmers, and which would add billions of dollars of new economic activity to our number one industry- agriculture. I would spur further growth and innovation in the booming food and beverage industries by eliminating absurd and antiquated anti-competitive business regulations that harass small business owners. Examples include the requirement that bars generate 45% of their revenue from the sale of food, the prohibition on use of the word “discount†or the mentioning of prices in connection with happy hour specials, the limitation of breweries to eight special events per year, the prohibition on direct sales of farm-produced goods and the exclusion of food trucks from most downtown areas. By liberalizing our outmoded charter school regulations, now considered some of the worst in the nation, we can achieve success similar to that enjoyed by students in New York and other locales- increasing parental satisfaction and reducing costs while improving test scores. The most consistent research finding for quality charter school programs is that the regular, non-charter public schools always improve as a result. Virginia has the potential to be the economic engine for the Mid-Atlantic region in the new millennium. The quality of our higher education system and the skill of our workers are unmatched. By being a little more innovative and willing to adopt best practices proven to work in other states, by giving Virginians more choice and introducing more competition into the economy, and by removing government barriers to success, we can embark on a new era of economic revitalization that carries forward every part of our Commonwealth and creates new opportunities for all Virginians.[5] | ” |
| —Cliff Hyra | ||
| “ | State government's role in the healthcare sector should be to take a regulatory posture that encourages innovation and maximizes the supply of providers and insurers, which brings down costs to consumers and increases access to medical care. Unfortunately, Virginia's government is failing badly in this area. If I am elected Governor, I will transform VA's healthcare system from an antiquated, overregulated dinosaur that leaves too many Virginians out in the cold, to an innovative system utilizing best practices proven in other states to improve access and reduce costs, without further burdening Virginia's taxpayers or waiting for leadership from the federal government. Virginia has many counterproductive, anti-competitive regulations that must be relaxed for our healthcare system to thrive and deliver a healthier, more productive workforce. Arbitrary practice limit restrictions on Physician's Assistants, mid-level dental providers, and Nurse Practitioners must be eliminated to allow these dedicated professionals to practice to the full scope of their education and training. Outdated Certificate of Public Need regulations, which prevent the opening of new medical facilities without the permission of existing competitors, must be repealed because they are proven to deter healthcare innovation, increase costs and reduce access to healthcare. Innovations such as telemedicine must be allowed and encouraged. Telemedicine offers the promise of much greater choice and convenience, particularly in the mental health field and for other consultations. Removing geographic limitations brings dramatically increased choice and access, particularly in areas of the state with a lower concentration of healthcare professionals, and correspondingly increased competition and downward pressure on prices. Lack of pricing transparency in the healthcare industry makes life very difficult for those with high deductibles or without insurance. Widespread inability to provide a price upfront must be evaluated as anticompetitive industry behavior, and full price transparency must be encouraged and facilitated. Virginia has some of the most restrictive health insurance mandates in the country and many areas have only one insurer. Virginia's strict insurance coverage mandates must be relaxed and the purchase of insurance across state and county lines must be permitted, maximizing choice and competition and ensuring that Virginians always have access to a wide range of health insurance options. Virginia must also permit insurers to allow for medical care to be performed outside of the state or country, with permission of the patient, in situations where quality is higher there and total costs would thereby be reduced- further increasing competition and putting downward pressure on prices. Choice and competition must be increased in Virginia's healthcare industry across the board, for both providers and insurers, to increase access and lower costs for all Virginians. I would also act to lower taxes at low levels of income, abolish inefficient business taxes and shed anti-competitive regulations, bringing economic growth back to Virginia and taking Virginians off the Medicaid rolls and into high-quality employer-provided health plans. Treating substance abuse as a public health issue, instead of a criminal justice issue, would simultaneously reduce costs for Virginia's taxpayers and improve health and welfare for all Virginians.[5] | ” |
| —Cliff Hyra | ||
| “ | Virginia should be very cautious in its approach to regulating business and the economy. Too often, regulatory apparatuses are captured by politically powerful businesses and used as tools to reduce competition in an industry and thereby increase profits at the expense of consumers. Many regulations are in fact written and lobbied for by big businesses in the industry that the regulations cover! Because the costs of such regulatory overreach are hidden, anti-competitive rules and regulations tend to multiply over time, eventually hobbling the state's competitiveness. In today's economy, Virginia is competing not only with neighboring states, but with every state in the country and even other countries overseas. A world class tax and regulatory structure is essential for long-term success and economic growth. Virginia's current regulatory system is unfortunately an excellent example of regulatory overreach protecting large incumbent firms and deterring innovative new startups and scaleups. Virginia has certificate of public needs laws that prevent the opening of new medical facilities without the permission of existing competitors. Such laws are lobbied for very strongly by the hospital industry. Studies show that such regulations reduce access to healthcare and increase costs, but by reducing competition they also increase the profits of incumbent firms. These laws should be repealed, as has been done successfully in many other states. Most occupational licensing requirements are lobbied for by the very profession they are supposed to regulate, primarily to inhibit entry into the profession by newcomers, reducing the supply of such services and increasing the profits of the existing businesses. Because of this, occupational licensing requirements have flourished and spread in Virginia, even while modern technology and innovations such as Yelp, Angie's List, and other review sites are undermining the information asymmetry argument traditionally used to justify such regulations. In step with the best practices of more innovative states, I would end most of Virginia's anti-competitive occupational licensing schemes. Licensing requirements for cosmetologists, interior decorators, cemetery salespersons, auctioneers, and more just put barriers in the way of Virginians looking to enter new professions that hold more opportunity. I would spur further growth and innovation in the booming food and beverage industries, which are about to surpass manufacturing in number of Virginians employed, by eliminating absurd and antiquated anti-business regulations that serve no purpose except to harass small business owners. Examples include the requirement that bars generate 45% of their revenue from the sale of food, the prohibition on use of the word “discount†or the mentioning of prices in connection with happy hour specials, the limitation of breweries to eight special events per year, the prohibition on direct sales of farm-produced goods and the exclusion of food trucks from most downtown areas. A good rule of thumb for any regulation is to look at whether other states have it, and for those that do not, whether they experience any of the negative effects claimed by those in favor of the regulation. If not, the regulation is probably anti-competitive and should be removed to encourage business and economic growth.[5] | ” |
| —Cliff Hyra | ||
| “ | Virginia has a justice system that unfortunately is not very just, and has many policies that are a legacy of an explicitly racist past, when the state government enforced massive resistance to integration and banned interracial marriage. Too many Virginians are languishing in prison for victimless crimes like drug use, away from their families and away from any kind of productive work. Virginia spends billions of dollars each year on a criminal justice system that arrests 40,000 Virginians for drug crimes annually, with marijuana arrests accounting for 60% of those, and mere possession well over 80%. African Americans are arrested at about three times the frequency of others, even though surveys show that drug use is no more prevalent in African American communities. The direct cost to incarcerate each person is nearly $30,000 per year ($120,000 for juveniles), not to mention the loss of their productivity to the economy and the loss of their tax dollars, and all the negative economic consequences for their family and for their future. For all of those costs, what benefits are we getting? None. We would be better off taking that money and setting it on fire, because at least we wouldn't be making things worse. Someone who is struggling with substance abuse needs help, not incarceration and a criminal record. That is why I would legalize marijuana, siding with the more than 85% of Virginians who support that, and join the 29 other states that already have some form of legal marijuana. We know it works. When marijuana is legalized, opioid deaths plummet and tax revenues soar, allowing other sources of tax revenue like income taxes and sales taxes to be cut and put back into the pockets of the people. As governor I would also grant an absolute pardon to everyone who is in jail only for drug use, after completion of a treatment or anti-recidivism program, if deemed necessary, so they can return to their families and expunge their records and get a good, stable job. Ending the drug war allows Virginia to save money while strengthening families and improving relationships between police and the communities they serve. I would also legalize hemp, which contains virtually no THC, creating a new industry in rural Virginia based on cultivation and on refining and manufacturing final products, and I would curb numerous other abusive criminal justice practices in Virginia. For example, I would make arrest quotas explicitly illegal, so that police officer promotions or awards cannot be predicated on making a certain number of arrests. I would end the abusive suspension of driver's licenses for failure to pay trivial fines and for minor drug offenses to help keep at-risk Virginians employed. I would end civil asset forfeiture abuse, also known as “policing for profit,†a practice where police can seize private property based merely on an assertion that the property was related to criminal activity, without any criminal charge or conviction, and victims are forced to sue the police department to get their property back. I would reintroduce parole for non-violent offenders to encourage rehabilitation and good behavior and to reduce recidivism. I would make restoration of voting rights automatic after all sentences and probation are served, as in almost all other states. And, I would end trial by ambush, by requiring prosecutors to turn over police reports and other evidence to the defense before a trial.[5] | ” |
| —Cliff Hyra | ||
| “ | Virginia's K-12 education system is critical to the long-term success and economic vibrancy of our Commonwealth. There are a few major ways in which Virginia's K-12 educational system must be improved. First, we need to fix our school testing. SoLs are not serving their purpose of holding schools accountable for their performance in educating their students. Public schools do need a performance measure, but SoLs can't serve that purpose because it's impossible to determine from SoL scores what the impact of the teacher or school is versus other factors, such as the child's home life. We need to replace SOLs with growth measure testing that measures the change in a student's performance over the course of a year and can isolate the contribution of individual teachers. We can use the results of that testing to identify best practices employed by the most successful teachers and schools, and spread them throughout the state. We also need to liberalize our outmoded charter school regulations, now considered some of the worst in the nation. Virginia is ripe for a good charter school program because we have a very unequal school system, with many schools that are doing very well, but many that are doing poorly and failing students year after year. We have seen many years of experiments in other states, many years of research, and we know now that high-quality charter school programs such as the one New York has implemented can reduce testing gaps between wealthy school districts and lower income areas, which is very difficult to do, lower costs and improve parental satisfaction. The most consistent research finding for quality charter school programs is that the regular, non-charter public schools always improve as a result., because they are forced to become more innovative and adopt best practices to compete for students. We should take that program that works so well in New York and bring its benefits here to Virginia's children. We can also apply basic business principles to our school system to obtain dramatic improvements at little or no cost. Many school buildings are neglected and dilapidated, so poorly insulated that schools must close in extreme temperatures. An ordinary business would raise capital to fund energy-saving renovations that would yield substantial reductions in operating costs, but public schools can't do that. I would put a bond program in place where the state pays for renovations to the schools to improve their energy efficiency, and repays the bonds largely from the resulting energy savings, allowing schools to stay open and students to learn in more comfortable conditions.[5] | ” |
| —Cliff Hyra | ||
| “ | I will staunchly defend the property rights of Virginia property owners against all incursions, be they government or corporate. In 2013, Virginia passed a strong reform to its eminent domain laws, stating that private property rights in Virginia may not be damaged or taken except for public use. This reform was passed specifically to address the problem of government taking private land for the benefit of private corporations, on the discredited theory that benefits would also accrue to the public- in spite of a lack of any public use. In 2013, Virginia rightly and strongly rejected such government overreach. Why do Virginia's politicians now have no problem with the Federal government trampling on the property rights of Virginia property owners? Is it because one of the beneficiaries is politically powerful in Virginia and a large donor to political campaigns? I would resist federal abuse of eminent domain, working to end the practice of the federal government seizing private property in Virginia to give to politically connected big businesses, contrary to Virginia law. I oppose the pipelines that would run right through the Shenandoah Valley area, destroying the region's tourism industry and natural beauty. I would make clear to the federal government and to every company involved that if they want to operate in Virginia, we expect them to comply with Virginia laws, and that if they are going to run roughshod over the property rights of Virginians, they can be sure that we will make them comply with the strictest interpretation of our environmental laws, and make them put the pipelines in the places most convenient to Virginians, not to Dominion Power or the other corporations involved. In Virginia we have an abundance of natural beauty and tourism is our second-largest industry, so keeping our air and water clean is very important. And we have been very successful in doing that- air and water pollution are down dramatically over the last few decades. It is important that our environmental regulations carefully weigh costs and benefits in a rigorous, scientific way, to balance environmental concerns with risks to economic growth. We should encourage innovative green energy technology by incentivizing Dominion to modernize the electric grid to accommodate cyclical energy sources such as wind and solar, and at the same time reduce the monopoly power of Dominion and make it easier for small wind and solar coops to offer competing electric service in Virginia and bring down prices for consumers.[5] | ” |
| —Cliff Hyra | ||
| “ | Our income tax code is broken, with a top rate that currently kicks in at only $17,000 of income- a number that has not changed in 45 years. As a result, a Virginian earning $30,000 per year pays more than twice as much in state income tax as they would in California- one of the highest-tax states in the nation. For someone who is just starting out in their career or in a new business, it is very discouraging to face such a high tax burden at a low level of income. I would take a pro-innovation approach and eliminate the state income tax on the first $60,000 of household income, saving the average Virginia family $3,000 every year. That's money that would change lives, especially in low cost-of-living areas, enabling families to invest in their education and careers, their businesses, and their children- or to pay off a car or student loan, or save for a down payment. Getting that money out of the government's hands and putting it back in your pockets will turbocharge the economy and boost private sector job growth. And the fiscal impact is modest- far less than the cuts made by Governor Tim Kaine in 2009-2010 and easily covered by ending the drug war and freezing new state spending for two years. The savings would enable more new business to stay open and to expand, as most new business owners pay individual income taxes and tax bills are one of the top reasons for small business failure. As governor, I would also phase out the web of burdensome and overlapping local business taxes that we currently have, such as the BPOL tax, machine and tool tax, merchant capital tax, business personal property tax, etc., which are very inefficient sources of tax revenue, are based on business revenue or asset value rather than profit, are expensive to administer and enforce, and discourage business formation and expansion. I would also appoint a commission to update the 2001 Wilder commission report on wasteful state spending, to identify new areas for spending cuts. And I would revolutionize the state government with radical spending transparency- leveraging modern technology and big data to allow all Virginians direct access to state spending details down to the penny. Armed with this information, citizens groups could scour the budget for more avenues for taxpayer savings, allowing me to get to work returning more money to the taxpayers with reductions in Virginia's car tax and sales tax in future years. A lean, low-tax state government fosters innovation, business formation and expansion, and wage growth, and attracts highly-skilled workers and strong businesses, making Virginia competitive on the world stage in the new millennium.[5] | ” |
| —Cliff Hyra | ||
Elections
2017
- See also: Virginia gubernatorial election, 2017
Virginia held an election for governor on November 7, 2017. Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election to a consecutive term.
The general election took place on November 7, 2017. A primary election was held on June 13, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in the primary election was March 30, 2017.
Ralph Northam (D) defeated Ed Gillespie (R) and Cliff Hyra (Libertarian) in the election for Governor of Virginia.[6]
| Virginia Gubernatorial Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Ralph Northam |
53.93% | 1,409,175 | |
| Republican | Ed Gillespie | 45.00% | 1,175,731 | |
| Libertarian | Cliff Hyra | 1.07% | 27,987 | |
| Total Votes | 2,612,893 | |||
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections | ||||
Ralph Northam defeated Tom Perriello in the Democratic primary for Governor of Virginia.[7]
| Virginia Democratic Gubernatorial Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Ralph Northam |
55.90% | 303,541 |
| Tom Perriello | 44.10% | 239,505 |
| Total Votes | 543,046 | |
| Source: The New York Times | ||
Ed Gillespie defeated Corey Stewart and Frank Wagner in the Republican primary for Governor of Virginia.[7]
| Virginia Republican Gubernatorial Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Ed Gillespie |
43.71% | 160,100 |
| Corey Stewart | 42.53% | 155,780 |
| Frank Wagner | 13.76% | 50,394 |
| Total Votes | 366,274 | |
| Source: The New York Times | ||
Hyra was nominated by the Libertarian Party of Virginia on May 6, 2017.
Campaign issues
The following issue statements were found on Hyra's official campaign website. For a full list of issue statements, click here.
| “ |
Unleashing Innovation in Virginia As Governor, Cliff Hyra will unleash the potential of small business owners and entrepreneurs by:
Don’t Squash Virginia’s Boom in Food/Drink Virginia has over 15,000 food and drink establishments, and the industry employs 368,000 Virginians. This is all despite Virginia having some of the most obscure and obstructive food and beverage laws in the region. Let’s be even more competitive by:
Taxes
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” |
| —Cliff Hyra[8] | ||
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Hyra lives in Mechanicsville, VA with his wife and three children.[9]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Cliff + Hyra + Virginia"
- All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
| Virginia | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
|---|---|---|
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External links
- Cliff Hyra for Governor of Virginia
- Cliff Hyra for Governor of Virginia - Facebook
- Cliff Hyra - Twitter
- Cliff Hyra - Youtube
Footnotes
- ↑ Libertarian Party, "LP Nominates Cliff Hyra for Virginia Governor," May 9, 2017
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Clifford D. Hyra," accessed June 9, 2017
- ↑ Symbus Intellectual Property, "Clifford D. Hyra," accessed June 9, 2017
- ↑ Hyra IP, "About Hyra IP," accessed June 9, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "List of Statewide Candidates," October 17, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 Primary Filing," accessed May 12, 2017
- ↑ Cliff Hyra for Governor of Virginia, "Issues Facing Virginia Voters," accessed October 6, 2017
- ↑ Cliff Hyra for Governor of Virginia, "About," accessed June 9, 2017
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