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Robert Sarvis isn’t sure whether he’s the first Asian American to run for Virginia governor, but if he wins this November, he’d be the first to hold the office. Sarvis, of Annandale, Va., is the third-party candidate in the Virginia governor’s race. Born and raised in Fairfax County, Sarvis, 37, is Chinese-American. His wife, Astrid, is a pediatrician who intends to specialize in emergency medicine. They have two children: son Harlan, 3 and Ai-li (named for Sarvis’ mother), age 2. Sarvis says that he decided to run for office because of his “frustration at politicians not pursuing very intelligent policies.”
Sarvis has had an illustrious academic career: a graduate of the magnet high school, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Sarvis received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Harvard. A master’s in mathematics from Cambridge followed. After spending a few years in San Francisco as a software developer, Sarvis went on to law school at New York University, then took a clerkship in Mississippi and eventually returned to the DC area to practice securities litigation. He quit his legal job to start a software company in 2008. His company won a Google competition for Android developers.
In 2011, Sarvis left the company to run for office and study economics at George Mason University, where he earned his second master’s degree. He ran for state senate in 2011 as a Republican, and is running for Virginia governor as a Libertarian. Sarvis says he is the only candidate “who brings up issues like the pension system, political patronage, and ethics reform.”
Current polls estimate that 7-10% of likely voters support Sarvis. The candidate spoke to Asian Fortune about his political agenda, cultural heritage, and Northern Virginia.
Sarvis: I got frustrated because there’s not a good vehicle for…a candidate who believes in liberty and freedom in both the economic and personal spheres. The party has become very socially conservative. They obviously don’t care about personal freedom. They use the language of freedom to talk about economic issues, but look at what happens when they get to the federal level: the Republicans had the presidency, House, and Senate, and we still had huge increases in spending with no tax reform or regulatory reform. In Virginia, we have Republicans in the governor’s office, the house and the senate, and we didn’t get tax reform, we didn’t get regulatory reform, we didn’t get school choice. But we got a huge increase in taxes in the transportation bill.
Asian Fortune: Most politicians hold local office before running for governor. But you haven’t. Why did you choose to go the route you did?
Sarvis: I think [running for governor] was really the best way to get a message out. When the two candidates are so extreme and so representative of their parties’ bad qualities, it leaves an opening for someone to actually get a message of freedom out… This is an opportunity to actually give Virginia something to vote for. A lot of people don’t pay attention to delegate races.
Asian Fortune: How does your culture influence you as a politician?
Sarvis: Representing the diversity of Virginia as a whole, especially northern Virginia, gives me more credibility for talking about a more open, welcoming society. One of my main focuses is on education, and that’s because I value education so much. I think a lot of people respond to the idea that I embody both physically and philosophically the idea of an open-minded society. I also think that Asian Americans are a success story in America. In the 19th century, people talked about how Chinese culture couldn’t be assimilated into the way we do business [in America], but now Asians are incredibly successful academically and professionally. I think the idea that an open economy that anybody can do business in, where anybody can start a business, is the kind of thing that helps us raise the living standards of poor people, whether they’re born here or emigrate from other countries. I see that in the success of Asian Americans, many of whom start businesses of all kinds.
Asian Fortune: Do you have a favorite memory of growing up in Fairfax County?
Sarvis: Going target shooting with my dad at Fairfax Rod and Gun Club. The first time that I knew that I’d impressed my dad and that he was proud of me was at the gun club. I had a lot of friends and good memories of going through neighborhood streets, playing in the creek, finding frogs and tadpoles, stuff like that.
Asian Fortune: What kinds of things does your family like to do in the area?
Sarvis: We really like going to the kid’s playground by the movie theater in Tyson’s Corner mall. We’ve been to the Reston Zoo a few times. We like going to parks and walking around, and eating at restaurants.
Asian Fortune: Do you have a favorite local restaurant?
Sarvis: We live very close to a place called Indaroma that’s very good. We also live close to some Ethiopian and Korean restaurants in Annandale. We were sad that BonChon Chicken moved away. My wife loves wings.
Asian Fortune: Favorite sports team?
Sarvis: The Redskins. We’re still hopeful that RG III will return to form.
Asian Fortune: Since you went to TJ, I have to ask: what’s the nerdiest thing you’ve ever done?
Sarvis: I don’t know. There are so many. I guess summer math camps. Basically every summer after 8th grade through high school, I was at some sort of science or math camp.
