MEDIA ADVISORY: Libertarian Presidential Debate
MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 12, 2016
THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF NEVADA AND OUT FOR LIBERTY NEVADA ANNOUNCE THE LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE MODERATED BY SUPERSTAR ENTERTAINER PENN JILLETTE
LAS VEGAS -- The Libertarian Party of Nevada (LPNevada), the state’s fastest growing political party, and OUT For Liberty Nevada, the LGBT Caucus of the Libertarian Party of Nevada, present a town all and debate between the three leading Libertarian presidential candidates: Governor Gary Johnson, cybersecurity pioneer John McAfee, and entrepreneur and activist Austin Petersen.
Penn Jillette will host and moderate with questions submitted by celebrities of various political affiliations. All proceeds will benefit Opportunity Village in their quest to provide men and women with all levels of disabilities the chance to lead a life that had previously been unattainable.
Debate and Town Hall
Time & Date: 12:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. May 16, 2016
Doors Open: 11:30 a.m.
Location: Opportunity Village Engelstad Campus
Address: 6050 S Buffalo Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89113
Website: www.LPNevada.org/debate
Tickets: https://libertariandebate.eventbrite.com
This event will be filmed for later broadcast. Filming details to be released soon.
About the Candidates
Governor Gary Johnson, who has been referred to as the ‘most fiscally conservative Governor’ in the country, was the Republican Governor of New Mexico from 1994-2003. A successful businessman before running for Governor of New Mexico in 1994, Gary Johnson started a door-to-door handyman business to help pay his way through college. Twenty years later, he had grown that business into one of the largest construction companies in New Mexico, with more than 1,000 employees. Not surprisingly, Governor Johnson brings a distinctly business-like mentality to governing, believing that public policy decisions should be based on costs and benefits rather than strict ideology. Johnson is best known for his veto record, having vetoed more than 750 bills during his time in office — more than all other governors combined. His use of the veto pen has since earned him the nickname “Governor Veto.” He cut taxes 14 times while never raising them. When he left office, New Mexico was one of only four states in the country with a balanced budget. Term-limited, Johnson retired from public office in 2003. An avid skier, adventurer, and bicyclist, he has scaled the highest peak on each of the seven continents, including Mt. Everest. In the 2012 presidential election, Johnson placed third and garnered more votes than any other Libertarian candidate in history. https://garyjohnson2016.com
John McAfee was born in the United Kingdom and raised in Roanoke, Virginia. In the 1960s he learned to code punch-cards, part of early computing technology. He took this experience to the Missouri Pacific Railroad where he helped use a novel IBM computer system to calibrate train schedules. McAfee moved to Silicon Valley in the 1970s and worked for tech companies, including NASA’s Institute for Space Studies. In the early 1980s, he worked for Lockheed. When the first computer virus struck in 1986, McAfee founded his own anti-virus technology company, McAfee Associates. In 1992, a computer virus called Michelangelo compelled McAfee to go public. McAfee resigned from his multimillion-dollar anti-virus software company in 1994 to advise start-ups, lecture and pursue other projects. Today, McAfee blogs about security and privacy and writes pieces for International Business Times. http://www.bealibertarian.com
Austin Petersen is a constitutional libertarian, who believes in economic freedom and personal liberty. Petersen’s passion for limited government led him to a job at the Libertarian National Committee in 2008, and then eventually to the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. After fighting for liberty in our nation’s capital, Petersen took a job as an associate producer for Judge Andrew Napolitano’s show FreedomWatch on the Fox Business Network. After the show’s cancellation, Austin returned to D.C. to work for the Tea Party institution FreedomWorks, and subsequently started his own business venture, Stonegait LLC, and a popular national news magazine The Libertarian Republic. http://austinpetersen2016.com
About The Moderator
Penn Jillette is a cultural phenomenon as a solo personality and as half of the world-famous Emmy Award¬-winning magic duo Penn & Teller. His solo exposure is enormous: from Howard Stern to Glenn Beck to the Op-Ed pages of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. He has appeared on Dancing with the Stars, MTV Cribs, and Celebrity Apprentice. As part of Penn & Teller, he has appeared more than twenty times on David Letterman, as well as on several other TV shows, from The Simpsons and Friends to Top Chef and The View. He cohosted the controversial series Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, which was nominated for sixteen Emmy Awards. He is currently cohost of the CW Network’s Penn & Teller: Fool Us and the author of God, No!, Every Day is an Atheist Holiday, and the upcoming Presto: How I Made More Than 100 Pounds Magically Disappear and Other Big Fat Tales.
About Our charity, Opportunity Village
Opportunity Village is a not-for-profit organization serving children and adults in the southern Nevada community with intellectual disabilities, to enhance their lives and the lives of the families who love them. Opportunity Village is dedicated to helping people become the very best they can be. Through vocational training, community employment, day services, advocacy, arts and social recreation, citizens with severe disabilities are able to find new friends, realize future career paths, seek independence and community integration and unleash creative passions. Almost entirely self-funded, Opportunity Village is possible because southern Nevadans realize the value in supporting their neighbors with intellectual disabilities. In our society, people with disabilities live their live being told what they can’t do. Opportunity Village strives to break that stigma, encouraging the people it serves to follow their dreams. http://www.opportunityvillage.org
About The Libertarian Party of Nevada
The Libertarian Party is the third-largest and the fastest growing political party in the America. The Libertarian Party offers a viable alternative to the long-standing 2 party system in America. Libertarians believe the answer to America's political problems are embracing a free-market economy and the abundance and prosperity it brings; a dedication to personal freedom and civil liberties that marks this country above all others; and a foreign policy of free trade, non-intervention, and peace as intended by America's founders. To learn more about the LPNevada, visit www.LPNevada.org. Please follow LPNevada www.twitter.com/lpnevada and “Like” our Facebook page www.facebook.com/lpnevada.
About OUT For Liberty Nevada
OUT For Liberty Nevada: Outright Libertarians is a state chapter of the Outright Libertarians, a caucus group for LGBT Libertarians. https://www.facebook.com/groups/OutrightNV/
Press Passes and Interview Requests:
Zach Foster, Press Director
Libertarian Party of Nevada
Direct: 951.233.8240
[email protected]
Libertarian Party of Nevada Contacts
Brandon Ellyson, Chairman
OUT For Liberty Nevada
Direct: 646.599.3695
[email protected]
Brett H. Pojunis, Chairman
Libertarian Party of Nevada
Direct: 702.763.9301
[email protected]