Arvin Vohra

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.

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	May 9, 1979 Silver Spring, Maryland
Political party	Libertarian
Residence	Bethesda, Maryland
Alma mater	Brown University

Profession

Arvin Vohra founded a company that helps students who are taking college entrance exams.[1] His Vohra Method approach uses non-linear 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. 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]

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]

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

Maryland House of Delegates, District 15: 2010[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kathleen Dumais (inc.)	21,475	21%
	Democratic	Brian Feldman (inc.)	21,126	20%
	Democratic	Aruna Miller	19,519	19%
	Republican	Scott Graham	14,107	14%
	Republican	Sylvia Darrow	14,107	14%
	Republican	Mathhew Mockerman	12,431	12%
	Libertarian	Arvin Vohra	1,767	2%

Maryland's 5th Congressional District: 2012[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Steny Hoyer (inc.)	238,618	69.40%	+5.14
	Republican	Tony O'Donnell	95,271	27.71%	-6.91
	Green	Bob Auerbach	5,040	1.47%	+1.47
	Libertarian	Arvin Vohra	4,503	1.31%	+0.24
	No party	Write-ins	388	0.11%
Total votes			343,820	100.00
	Democratic hold

Maryland's 4th Congressional District: 2014[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Donna Edwards (inc.)	134,628	70.18%	-6.99
	Republican	Nancy Hoyt	54,217	28.26%	+7.54
	Libertarian	Arvin Vohra	2,795	1.46%	-0.53
	No party	Write-ins	197	0.10%
Total votes			191,837	100.00
	Democratic hold

United States Senate election in Maryland, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Ben Cardin (incumbent)	1,363,259	64.2%	+8.2
	Republican	Tony Campbell	659,380	31.1%	+4.8
	Independent	Neal Simon	79,612	3.7%	N/A
	Libertarian	Arvin Vohra	21,230	1%	-0.2
Majority
Turnout

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

1. Adams, Caralee J. (March 2, 2011). "Value of Test-Prep Courses for College Admission Unclear: Providers claim students will improve their performance, but research shows coaching has minimal positive effects". Education Week. p. 10–11.
2. Snyder, Chelsey. "Vohra Method Website". Vohra Method. Vohra Method. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
3. "A record 30 Indian-Americans will contest for 2014 US polls". India Today. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
4. "Gary Johnson's independent libertarian views aren't fringe". Santa Fe New Mexican. November 2, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
5. Doherty, Brian (February 7, 2018). "Larry Sharpe, Libertarian Candidate for Governor of New York, Quits the Party's National Committee". Reason. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
6. "LNC Vice Chair Arvin Vohra once again stirs controversy, calls for removal with age of consent comments". Independent Political Report. January 13, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
7. "Questioning Age of Consent Laws in America". 71 Republic. January 15, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
8. "State Libertarian Parties Demand Removal of Arvin Vohra for Comments on Child Molestation". The Jack News. January 16, 2018. Archived from the original on January 18, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
9. Anderholt, Austin (January 12, 2018). "Libertarians Call for Party Vice Chair's Resignation Following Controversial Sexual Remarks Regarding Minors". Retrieved January 22, 2018.
10. "LNC Vice Chair Arvin Vohra once again stirs controversy, calls for removal with age of consent comments". independentpoliticalreport.com. 13 January 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
11. Kellog, Spencer (February 3, 2018). "Larry Sharpe Resigns Libertarian Party Leadership Post In Protest". 71Republic. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
12. Kellogg, Spencer. "Libertarian Vice Chair Arvin Vohra Blunders With Rapist Comment". Archived from the original on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
13. Doherty, Brian (April 13, 2018). "Libertarian Party Vice Chair Jokes About Shooting Up a School Board; Party's National Committee Declines to Suspend Him". Reason. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
14. "Think Liberty on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
15. Henderson, Luke (April 13, 2018). "Nicholas Sarwark Votes No, Vohra Suspension Motion Fails". The Libertarian Vindicator. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
16. "Arvin Vohra". Facebook.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
17. "Controversialist Arvin Vohra Announces 2020 Libertarian Presidential Run". Reason.com. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
18. "Libertarian presidential hopefuls: Now there are 2 ... or 3? - Libertarian Party". Lp.org. 3 July 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
19. "State House of Delegates: Contested Races". The Baltimore Sun. November 4, 2010. p. 6A.
20. "2012 Presidential General Election Results". November 28, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
21. "Official 2014 Gubernatorial General Election results for Representative in Congress". December 2, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2017.

External links

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