From the Archives: Virginia governor hopeful Tareq Salahi is 'pro-same-sex marriage,' pro-hemp

Virginia governor hopeful Tareq Salahi is 'pro-same-sex marriage,' pro-hemp
February 12, 2013 4:11 PM MST

While the two major parties have essentially decided on their nominees for governor of Virginia this year – Terry McAuliffe is the presumptive Democratic nominee and Ken Cuccinelli will be the Republican nominee, barring unforeseen events – there is also one declared independent in the race.

Warren County businessman Tareq Salahi originally entered the campaign for the Republican nomination but later announced he would be running in the general election for governor as an “independent Republican.”

Even though Salahi has served as a gubernatorial appointee to the Virginia Wine Board, the Virginia Wine Tourism Office, and the Virginia Tourism Office, he is best known as one of the “White House gatecrashers” who attended a state dinner without an invitation in 2009 -- an experience he does not omit in recounting his past.

'Socially moderate'
Salahi sat for an interview with the Charlottesville Libertarian Examiner in his home near Front Royal and answered questions on a wide range of issues, including transportation, legislative redistricting, and attracting new businesses to Virginia.

Describing himself as “fiscally conservative” and “socially moderate,” Salahi talked about his views on legalizing marijuana and same-sex marriage, two hot-button social issues.

He said he supports repealing the 2006 Marshall-Newman Amendment to the Virginia Constitution, which prohibits same-sex marriages and civil unions.

Government, he said, does not “belong in the bedroom. Love is love, a relationship is a relationship. There's just no room and no reason for the U.S. or state government to be involved. That [amendment] needs to be repealed. I'm just pro-same-sex marriage. I'm pro-gay rights.”

Salahi emphasized his point by adding, “My views on this are very clear. We haven't made that very loud yet. I'm sure that's going to be coming. I'm pro-same-sex marriage. Yeah, we need to move forward on this in Virginia”

He asserted that Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage hurts the state's economy.

“Virginia's a good leader in the country,” he said.

“We need to continue to be a good leader. We're a leader in many areas. We're one of the best places to do business. I don't want to see businesses not come to Virginia because we're against their [employees'] rights.”

'Hurting jobs'
Why, he asked, “would want to do that? Why would we want to discriminate against [them]? That's hurting jobs and that's hurting bringing more business to the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

Salahi suggested that continuing Virginia's ban on gay marriage was the result of shortsightedness among policymakers.

“People don't see the bigger picture sometimes,” he said. “They can have a very narrow mind because of the way they were taught or what they were told was the only way to be. But again,” he concluded, “government doesn't belong in the bedroom and I don't want to see it in there in any form.”

On the question of legalizing marijuana, which led to national headlines when Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli entertained it, Salahi said he is “open to the idea” but that his campaign team would want to study it by polling Virginia voters “o see what Virginians want.”

If he finds out that “Virginians want it and if it's good for Virginia,” he explained, and if legalizing marijuana “can make money for Virginia and become a profit tool for Virginia,” he will favor it.

'More jobs'
Salahi pointed out that in Colorado and Washington state, where personal use of marijuana was legalized by voter initiative last year, “they're talking about not just a few million, they're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for their states.”

Therefore, he concluded, if “it's good for Virginia and Virginians want it and it brings more jobs and it brings more economic impact to the Commonwealth, then I'm not opposed to it.”

Salahi was unequivocal when asked a related question about ending the prohibition on producing industrial hemp on Virginia's farms.

“Yeah, no question,” he said. “There's no reason why we shouldn't” legalize the growing of hemp for industrial purposes.

“If it's positive, if it's good, if it's handled properly and done correctly, then yes,” he said, apologizing for "a long answer for that question.”


Publisher's note: This article was originally published on Examiner.com on February 12, 2013. The Examiner.com publishing platform was discontinued July 1, 2016, and its web site went dark on or about July 10, 2016.  I am republishing this piece in an effort to preserve it and all my other contributions to Examiner.com since April 6, 2010. It is reposted here without most of the internal links that were in the original.

Bill Clinton Coming to Charlottesville

Paramount Theatre, Charlottesville

After noting Hillary Rodham Clinton's birthday yesterday, I was reminded that her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, will be in Charlottesville this week.

Clinton will take part in a campaign rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe at the Paramount Theatre on the downtown mall. 

The campaign stop is part of a series this week that included events in Dale City, Hampton, and Richmond earlier today, as well as events in Blacksburg, Herndon, and Norfolk and on Monday; Harrisonburg on Tuesday; and Roanoke as well as Charlottesville on Wednesday.

The Charlottesville event is scheduled for 10:45 a.m., with doors to the venue opening at 9:30 a.m.   Tickets have been made available on line and at local Democratic party headquarters on a "first-come, first-served" basis and NBC29 reports tonight that tickets are still available.

Washington Post reporters Ben Pershing and Laura Vozzella write that the Clinton-McAuliffe campaign tour serves a dual purpose:

Boosting turnout to put McAuliffe in the governor’s mansion is only part of the agenda for the longtime friends and political allies. The other is to hold up Clinton’s presidency, particularly his focus on creating jobs and reaching across the aisle, as a model for what McAuliffe hopes to accomplish as governor.

McAuliffe has stopped in Charlottesville several times while campaigning this year, including a visit to Piedmont Virginia Community College on May 6 as part of the official kick-off for his bid for governor.

In the election on November 5, McAuliffe faces two opponents: Republican nominee Ken Cuccinelli and Libertarian nominee Robert Sarvis. Polls will be open that day from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Purple PAC TV Ad Supporting Robert Sarvis Goes Live

Robert Sarvis in Charlottesville

Two weeks ago, I scooped Virginia's political media by revealing that a newly-formed super PAC was going to run TV or radio ads in favor of Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Robert Sarvis.

Last night, I saw the Purple PAC ad for Sarvis during the 11 o'clock news on WVIR-TV NBC29 in Charlottesville.

Writing on Virginia Politics on Demand, I said:

In July, the Center for Public Integrity reported on the formation of a new, libertarian political action committee that aims to support libertarian (and Libertarian) candidates around the country:

A super PAC quietly formed this spring by a prominent libertarian has rushed to a quick fundraising start thanks to a small network of wealthy, like-minded donors.

Purple PAC, a super PAC led by former Federal Election Commission Chairman Brad Smith and Cato Institute founder Ed Crane, raised $575,000 from the time the group launched in early May through the end of June, new FEC filings show....

Smith, who currently serves as the chairman of the anti-campaign finance regulation group Center for Competitive Politics, said Purple PAC plans to make independent expenditures promoting “freedom-oriented” candidates who are fiscally conservative and socially moderate.

These are viewpoints Smith says a large number of voters hold, although they have little influence in Washington.

“Swing voters don’t feel that either of the major parties is representing them,” Smith said, adding the group intends to focus much of its resources on battleground states, as its name suggests.

Now Virginia Politics on Demand has learned that Purple PAC is independently planning to purchase air time on radio (and perhaps television) in support of Virginia gubernatorial candidate Robert Sarvis, the nominee of the Libertarian Party.

The proposed script of the ad reads in part:

Virginia, we have a rational choice for Governor.

Why choose between an ethically challenged, socially intolerant conservative and an ethically challenged, big government liberal?

Robert Sarvis, entrepreneur, libertarian.

Social tolerance and lower taxes: Virginia's future.

Send a message on November 5 and vote Sarvis for Governor.

(Paid for by the Purple PAC, Brad Smith, Treasurer.)

The Purple PAC's address of record is in Falls Church, Virginia, so it should come as no surprise that its first major expenditure should come on behalf of a candidate in the Commonwealth.

VPOD reached out to the Sarvis campaign, which had no knowledge of the potential Purple PAC ad buy.

The only major difference in the text that I reported from what ended up in the TV commercial is that it no longer lists Brad Smith as treasurer in the disclaimer. Instead, it somewhat mysteriously features a photograph of Joey Coon on top of the disclaimer, without naming him.

If I find the Purple PAC ad on YouTube, I will post it here in an update.

UPDATE: Purple PAC has put out a press release about the pro-Sarvis spot. It says, in part:

"Both the Republican and Democratic candidates are right about each other," said Ed Crane, President of the Purple PAC. "Ken Cuccinelli is a socially intolerant, hard-right conservative with little respect for civil liberties. Terry McAuliffe is a big government liberal with little respect for economic liberties. Both have been engulfed in scandal. Fortunately, Robert Sarvis offers an alternative, an agenda grounded in free markets and social tolerance."

He added that Virginia voters need to send a message to both political parties. "Pollster John Zogby has found that 59 percent of voters surveyed answered 'yes' to the question 'Would you define yourself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal?'" said Crane. "It's time that the two major parties made room for those voters - a majority of the electorate - or risk losing them altogether."

The news release notes that the commercial can be seen on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/77629652. It has not yet shown up on YouTube -- where, I'll assert, more people would see it than they would on Vimeo.

UPDATE 2: Purple PAC has added an embeddable version of its Robert Sarvis TV ad to its own YouTube channel. (It's also the only video, so far, on that YouTube channel.) Here it is: