(FROM LEFT) Judge Jim Gray and Larry Sharpe
Photos by Campaigns
This week, the Amarillo Pioneer will be bringing our readers interviews with a few of the candidates for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination. The Libertarian Party will select its candidates for President and Vice President in a nomination vote this weekend and the party’s ticket will be one of four eligible to appear on the Texas ballot in November.
Of all of the candidates running for either President or Vice President in the Libertarian Party’s ongoing nominating process, perhaps one ticket stands out the most with a combination of electoral experience and popularity within the party.
Judge Jim Gray and Larry Sharpe are running as a ticket for the Libertarian Party’s nomination for President and Vice President. Gray, the former presiding judge of the Superior Court of Orange County, California, is likely best known by voters for appearing as Gov. Gary Johnson’s running mate on the Libertarian ticket in the 2012 election. Gray also has a connection with Texans, having attended Peace Corps training in San Marcos. Sharpe was arguably the Libertarian Party’s most visible candidate during the 2018 midterm elections, running a spirited challenge to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The duo of Gray and Sharp are running to lead the Libertarian Party in 2020, with plans to unify a polarized and divided nation around the idea of liberty.
“Is Trump going to bring us together? Is Biden going to bring us together?” Sharpe asked. “No, they’re too busy yelling at each other. Only the liberty movement can bring us together.”
Gray says the Gray/Sharpe platform is one that American voters can identify with and support. Among his top priorities, if elected, are auditing the federal government and its agencies through sunset laws, bringing troops home from Afghanistan, and pruning back the IRS and the welfare system through a program he calls “A Crutch to a Ladder.”
On the topic of the coronavirus, Gray says he is unsatisfied with the government’s response to the pandemic, and believes there is a new way forward.
“Satisfaction be damned,” Gray said. “I’m horrified.”
Gray says the government must change its approach to responding the pandemic, mentioning the economic repercussions of ongoing closures.
“The economy was not even part of the equation,” Gray said.
Among his solutions are having the federal government make recommendations for health and safety and allowing businesses to respond. Gray mentioned that some closure rules across the country have essentially closed small businesses, while letting corporations and major retailers continue to function, a move he called “irresponsible.”
Addressing the concern some voters have regarding voting for a third-party candidate, Gray says now is the time for voters to make their vote count for a change. Sharpe agrees and says a strong Libertarian showing for the national ticket in 2020 will help down ballot Libertarians.
“It will have coattail effects and help our down ballot candidates nationwide,” Sharpe said.
For more information about Gray and Sharpe, visit www.graysharpe2020.com.