Brad Tidwell, former Chair of the Falls Church Young Republicans

2.  What led you to run for office and why as a Libertarian (If you have run before, let me know that, too)

Marcus Simon ran unopposed in the Democratic Primary and pledged to increase gun control in Virginia, in the General Election he was unopposed by the Republican party and over the last 20 years they have only challenged Jim Scott a handful of times. I felt that they were incapable of running a candidate and would likely not run anyone, so I decided to give the voters a choice. I find it absolutely embarrassing that nearly one-third of our races in the Commonwealth are unopposed, democracy only works when you have contested elections and as someone who believes in the Democratic system I was not going to allow Marcus to run unopposed in the general election.

3.  Who are your political heroes (male or female)

Robert Kennedy. I don’t agree with him ideologically, but his speech in Indianapolis on the death of Martin Luther King Jr. reminds me that we are all in this together; Black, White, Hispanic, Liberal, Conservative, Libertarian. Sometimes in politics we demonize each other and forget that we are all involved because we want to leave this world in better shape than we found it for our children and grandchildren. I think our law makers in Richmond and D.C. sometimes forget that and need to be reminded. I would consider this speech to be the greatest speech of all time followed closely by Charlie Chaplin’s speech in “The Great Dictator”.

4.  What do you want our readers to know about you, your campaign or the issues you think are important

I am a strong supporter of personal liberty and personal responsibility. I grew up in a working class home and worked my first job when I was 14. Everything I own was paid for with my own hard work, I have never been someone to ask for handouts because I believe that anything can be overcome if you have the will to do so. My mentality of personal responsibility is why I am such a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, I would like to allow others to take responsibility for their own personal safety by passing a Constitutional Carry Amendment. As a Libertarian candidate, I would like to see the government get out of the business of regulating marriage and mandating morality. A government that has the ability to decide what constitutes a legitimate relationship now or the morality of an activity will have the power to enforce a different morality upon people when the pendulum swings in the other direction.

I have done a few local debates and have made some contacts in the Media who have covered my campaign. I have a strong social media following and have been influential in driving policy discussions online. My comments have been featured in Metro Weekly, Al-Jazeera America. I also gave a speech in Washington D.C. about the recent NSA revelations in front of a large crowd, I was covered by the BBC, RT, Al-Jazeera.

6.  Is there interest in your district for Sarvis and will it help you.

My district is heavily Democratic, but that has not stopped me from making in roads on important issues such as prison sentencing reform. I am more of a moderate libertarian which has helped people understand there are many different types of libertarians. There are some groups in the GOP who claim the title of libertarian but don’t actually govern that way. With the proximity of my district to Washington DC. it has caused some issues were voters ask me why I support a certain policy that I completely disagree with. I’m not sure about the support for Sarvis and I haven’t really touted his campaign goals as I have my own message I am focused on.

7.  What other things should we know about your campaign.

I also can understand the attraction to Senator Bobby Kennedy.  I remember staying up late for the fateful 1968 California primary and I saw that Kennedy was going to win.  (I know I was a strange kid!)  I went to bed and told my mother – Kennedy’s gonna win the nomination and maybe the election.  But we all know it was never to be.  I wanted my hero, George Romney, to win the election actually.  (I know I was REALLY strange as a kid!)

I am impressed with Tellez but of course this is not an endorsement.  The district is well-served by his run.  We’ll cover all the LP house races.

CORRECTION:  I got the district number wrong and made three tiny corrections in the text.  Thanks to Anthony for his input.