“Up until a few years ago, I was as disdainful of third parties as most people are. When I first ran for office in 2011, I didn’t even consider running outside the two major parties, even though I had plenty of complaints about each.

“So how did I end up running as a statewide candidate for a third party just a couple years later?”

“It was simple. As a candidate I saw, up close and personally, the Republican and Democratic parties in Virginia. I was totally turned off by the hypocrisy, extremism, ignorance and corruption in both parties. I saw how us-versus-them dynamic of the two-party system made all of it possible. But I wasn’t ready to give up on the possibility of presenting to voters a public policy vision far better than the nonsense peddled by the major parties.”

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