Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Larry Sharpe expresses confidence

NEW YORK — Libertarian candidate for Governor Larry Sharpe is a lot of things. He's a father, businessman, a former Marine and above all, he's confident in his chances this fall.

The former runner-up for a vice presidential nomination on the national Libertarian Party ticket in 2016 announced that he would run for governor last year, motivated to stop a mass-exodus of 100,000 New Yorkers each year since 2010.

"I don't want to be a part of that statistic. I don't want to leave New York. I was born and raised here," he said.

Sharpe has owned trucking and distribution businesses, acted as a management consultant, a consultant in leadership, and taught in several disciplines at Yale, Columbia and John Jay College.

The candidate has been on the campaign trail pushing the classic libertarian principles that local control of issues and funding is key to successfully addressing the needs of counties and municipalities. He also called for a renewed focus on individual rights in the marketplace, in public and in the home.

"That way, the counties can be the counties and the regions can be the regions that they want to be," he said. "You should never use your force to make somebody do something. Too many people want to use government and force so that you have to be (like them)."

Education, legalization of marijuana and hemp, allowing new industry, bail and court reform are some of the issues Sharpe believes he has an edge on.

His platform also promises to eliminate the state's income tax by addressing pension, Medicare and Medicaid reform.

Especially touching his heart on the campaign trail was a need to reform the state's Family Court system, after hearing from parents (but especially men) estranged from their children by the courts.

"How can we rebuild this state with broken men, and the family court system is crushing them in this state. We have a system that encourages us to lie, fight over kids, and it's horrible," he said. "And the kids are watching this."

Sharpe proposed strict punishments for perjury, removing a focus on support money in place of fairness, and to stop treating family court as a lesser "junior court" — which he says reduce both criminal and civil actions.

Specific to the Southern Tier, the candidate railed against a statewide moratorium on fracking for natural gas that has been in place since 2014, so long as the industry submits to full transparency and the counties individually agree to it.

"Who am I to tell the counties or individual landowners what they should be doing," he said. "The same goes for farmers. If you want to grow marijuana or hemp, grow it ... regulate it like onions" so long as products are not sold across state lines, in accordance with federal guidelines.

Sharpe had harsh words for his competitors, "The red team (Republicans) and the blue team (Democrats) are the classic definition of career politicians," he critiqued. "The red team's candidate has been a politician his entire life and doesn't know what it is to not be a politician, and the blue team's candidate was born into it. He's literally political loyalty."

Sharpe says that he's hitting the ground running, that shaking hands and speaking with people on an individual basis has set him apart from his opponents.

"If you want to talk to Andrew Cuomo, 'his majesty' won't even see you, and the sacrificial lamb the Republicans put up, you can see him for $250," he said.

The barbs drew a sharp contrast, and positioned the Libertarian as "an outsider" in Albany. While unlike his opponents, Sharpe says he's exactly like his fellow New York residents.

"I have failed, I have succeeded; I'm a veteran, I have been a teacher; I've had addiction in my family, I've had struggles and financial failures ... but I got back up," he said.

Sharpe continues to shake up the field, lobbying for loyal Republicans to vote for him. He's even seeking a September Republican primary between himself and Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro for the party's line in November.

"He's already been dealt a fatal wound by me and cannot recover. Less than 20 percent of the Republican base actually supports him. I've also taken a big chunk of those supporters, and he is never getting them back," he said. "The Republican candidate will never win. It's a fantasy."

Sharpe was encouraged by recent polling that indicated that a race in November featuring multiple candidates could mean that the winner may need just 30 percent of the vote. According to a recent Gravis Marketing poll, Sharpe is garnering 24 percent among people who recognized his name.

"If you vote for an 'R' or a 'D' in November, 'his majesty' will win again, and nothing will change," he concluded.

However, win-lose-or draw, Sharpe says that his candidacy will be a catalyst for change by pressuring the other parties to be true to their word.

The New York native will appear on the General Election ballot with Rocherster resident Andrew Hollister as his running-mate. To learn more about the candidacy of Larry Sharpe, visit his website www.larrysharpe.com, or his Facebook page "Larry Sharpe For NY".