Larry Sharpe
Template:Infobox person Larry Sharpe is an American business consultant and political activist. He was a Libertarian candidate for Vice President in 2016. He is founder and Managing Director at NeoSage.[1][2]
Early life and career
Sharpe was born in Manhattan, New York as an only child. His birth parents gave him up for adoption, and he was adopted when he was only a few weeks old. His adopted mother was a German immigrant who worked as a clerk and a waitress. His adopted father was a serviceman, policeman, and later a corrections officer, who died of cancer when Sharpe was a pre-teen. Sharpe joined the Marines at age 17 to find positive male role-models.
After he left for the Marines, Sharpe's mother collapsed into self-medication. At first, she took legal substances, but as the situation got worse, she turned to illegal substances. Eventually, she lost everything and became a convicted felon.
Sharpe eventually decided that he wanted more for himself and his family. He started a business, but it had a mediocre start, so he sold it. Sharpe bounced back with another business that took off, but was devastated in the financial crisis of 2007-2008. He decided that he would try again, and he has built an organization that has helped many other organizations.[3]
Sharpe is a veteran.[1]. He attended the University of Maryland where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in anthropology.[2] He became an English teacher and in 2001 he started Prime Distribution Inc. and later sold it. In 2004, he founded Neo-Sage, where he is currently Managing Director.[4]
Political History and Views
Sharpe first became interested in the Libertarian Party during Gary Johnson's 2012 Presidential campaign. He became a member of the Libertarian Party of New York and has used videos and social media to promote Libertarian ideas.[1] Sharpe worked on Johnson's Our America PAC before deciding to run for the Vice Presidential nomination.[5]
Sharpe believes that US laws should be simpler and fairer. He is a supporter of free trade, small business, an acceptance of new technology, and bringing the black market into normal business. Sharpe is also a Bleeding-Heart Libertarian, and in addition, supports criminal justice reform, term limits, and single-issue voting in Congress.[6]
2016 Vice Presidential campaign
Sharpe ran for Vice President in 2016 as a Libertarian. He placed second on the first ballot with 30.4% of the vote. Because nobody received a majority on that ballot, another vote was held. Because she placed last on the first vote, Alicia Dearn was not on the second ballot. William Coley and Derrick Grayson dropped out and endorsed Sharpe after the first ballot was cast, but Grayson didn't do so until after the second ballot was passed out to the delegates.[7] Larry received 46.9% of the vote on the second ballot. William Weld won a majority on the second ballot, and won the Vice Presidential nomination.[8]
2018 New York gubernatorial campaign
Sharpe is considering running for the Libertarian Party nomination for Governor of New York in 2018.[9][10]
Electoral history
| Libertarian National Convention Vice Presidential vote, 2016 – 1st Ballot[7] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | First Ballot | Percentage |
| William Weld | 426 | 49.0% |
| Larry Sharpe | 264 | 30.4% |
| William Coley | 93 | 10.7% |
| Derrick Grayson | 48 | 5.5% |
| Alicia Dearn | 29 | 3.3% |
| None of the above | 6 | 0.7% |
| Daniel Hogan (Write-in) | 1 | 0.1% |
| Austin Petersen (Write-in) | 1 | 0.1% |
| Gary Johnson (Write-in) | 1 | 0.1% |
| Totals | 869 | 100% |
| Libertarian National Convention Vice Presidential vote, 2016 – 2nd Ballot[7] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Second Ballot | Percentage |
| William Weld | 441 | 50.6% |
| Larry Sharpe | 409 | 46.9% |
| None of the above | 12 | 1.4% |
| Derrick Grayson | 9 | 1.0% |
| Mark Stewart (Write-in) | 1 | 0.1% |
| Totals | 872 | 100% |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Doherty, Brian (May 28, 2016), Meet the Libertarian Party's VP Candidates, Reason, http://reason.com/blog/2016/05/28/the-libertarian-partys-vice-presidential, retrieved December 3, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Libertarian Party, Larry Sharpe, Libertarian Party, http://libertarian.nationbuilder.com/sharpe, retrieved December 3, 2016
- ↑ Sharpe, Larry. "Template:Citation error". http://www.sharpe4vp.com/issues. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ↑ Meet Larry, Larry Sharpe for Libertarian Vice President 2016, http://www.sharpe4vp.com/meet-larry, retrieved December 3, 2016
- ↑ Weigel, David (May 29, 2016), Libertarians pick Johnson and Weld ticket after close contest, The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/29/libertarians-pick-johnson-and-weld-ticket-after-close-contest/?utm_term=.d05e19df2fd4, retrieved December 3, 2016
- ↑ "Template:Citation error". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuVlJm_3cwc.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Will Coley drops out and endorses Sharpe for LP VP". https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4601302/will-coley-drops-endorses-sharpe-lp-vp.
- ↑ "Here's What Happened at the Libertarian National Convention". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PioXdolPGCw&feature=youtu.be.
- ↑ Libertarian Party Picks Johnson/Weld Presidential Ticket, Onondaga County Libertarian Party, June 2, 2016, http://onondagalibertarians.org/libertarian-party-picks-johnsonweld-presidential-ticket/, retrieved December 3, 2016
- ↑ Evans, Jordan (October 5, 2016), Libertarians Organize Ahead of November, Jordan Evans, https://jwevans.co/2016/10/05/libertarians-organize-ahead-of-november/, retrieved December 3, 2016