Arvin Vohra

Arvin Vohra
Arvin Vohra in 2017
Vice Chair of the Libertarian National Committee
In office June 29, 2014 – July 3, 2018
Preceded by	R. Lee Wrights
Succeeded by	Alex Merced
Personal details
Born	(1979-05-09) May 9, 1979 (age 42) Silver Spring, Maryland
Political party	Libertarian
Residence	Bethesda, Maryland
Alma mater	Brown University

Arvin Vohra (born May 9, 1979) is an American politician, author, educator, and former vice-chairman of the Libertarian National Committee. Vohra ran for the Maryland House of Delegates once, and for U.S. House twice, as a Libertarian. He was a candidate for U.S. Senate in the 2018 election in Maryland. He lost to Ben Cardin and won 1% of the vote.

Profession[]

Arvin Vohra founded a company that helps students who are taking college entrance exams.^[1] His approach uses non-linear^{[clarification needed]} worksheets to provide individual learning in group classes.^[2] Vohra is of Indian American descent.^[3]

Political positions[]

Arvin Vohra is an anarcho-capitalist who believes in ending the welfare state, abolishing public schools, and ending the income tax.^{[citation needed]} This view puts him at direct odds with prior Libertarian Party nominees, including Gary Johnson, who does support a "social safety net".^[4]

Controversies[]

Vohra drew flak in 2017 for calling public schools "welfare for the middle class", referring to military veterans as "paid killers", public school teachers as "supervisors of indoctrination camps",^[5] and in April 2018, for joking about violence against school board members.^{[6][unreliable source]}

In defense of his view that individuals and families, rather than the state, should determine readiness for marriage and procreation, he stated, "Statists insist that there is some magical age at which every single person on earth is ready to give sexual consent, and seem unbothered by the fact that in America, this age varies from state to state. Logically, either that means: 1. There is not actually a magical age 2. Some states have set the age too high, and are prosecuting people unjustly 3. Some states have set the age too low, and are failing to protect kids 4. Human nature somehow varies from one state to another."^[7][8] The Libertarian Youth Caucus called for Vohra's resignation.^[9] Multiple state Libertarian Party chapters demanded Vohra be relieved from his position, including the Libertarian Parties of Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.^[8] When asked if he personally would have sex with a 14-year-old, Vohra responded, "Probably not, but that's not the point. My personal life choices are mine, and I don't believe in forcing them on others."^{[10][unreliable source]}

On February 2, 2018, members of the LNC voted on whether or not to suspend Vohra from his position. The vote failed a two-thirds majority, and in response, prominent Libertarian activist Larry Sharpe resigned from his position in the Committee as Region 8 Alternate.^[11]

On March 6, 2018, he was criticized for a satirical article that started with “Listen, guys, rapists are good people who sometimes do things we may individually disagree with...", and ended with "See how insane that sounds? When people are doing something evil, we need to stop it, not inexplicably pander to it.”^[12]

In April 2018, a new motion to suspend Vohra was brought to the LNC, prompted by new comments by Vohra: "Bad idea: school shootings. Good idea: school board shootings." Vohra dismissed the comments as a joke, and apologized on Facebook.^[13][14] The motion failed in a deciding vote by Nicholas Sarwark.^[15]

In June 2018, he drew criticism for appearing on the podcast of neo-Nazi Christopher Cantwell. In defense of this appearance, Vohra stated; "I'll take a racist who opposes government schools over a public school teacher who endorses them any day. If I have to pick between racism and welfarism, I'll pick racism in a second."^[16]

On July 3, 2018, Vohra lost his re-election bid to be vice-chair of the LP to Alex Merced. However, on the same day, he announced that he would seek the Libertarian Party's nomination for president in 2020.^[17][18] He did not get nominated.

Electoral history[]

Bibliography[]

• Vohra, Arvin (2008). The Equation for Excellence: How to Make Your Child Excel at Math. Roland Media Distribution. ASIN B01FKSYWY6.
• Vohra, Arvin (2012). Lies, Damned Lies, and College Admissions: An Inquiry into Education. Roland Media Distribution. ISBN 978-0980144635.
• Vohra, Arvin (2016). Why Hillary Lost. BookBaby. ISBN 978-0980144673.
• Vohra, Arvin (2017). Materialistic Minimalism. Roland Media Distribution. ISBN 978-0980144680.
• Vohra, Arvin (2017). How to Get Into an Ivy League College. Roland Media Distribution. ISBN 978-0980144697.
• Vohra, Arvin (2018). Pull Out: Men, Modern Life, and Mutiny. Roland Media Distribution. ISBN 978-1732503403.

References[]

External links[]

• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Arvin Vohra for U.S. Senate campaign site