A A

A Vancouver commercial airline pilot with strong opinions on federal education mandates and genetically modified foods is running to unseat 17th District state Rep. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver.

Chris Rockhold, 43, who identifies as a Libertarian, said he would like to see the state opt out of Common Core standards, which lay out what students at each grade level should learn in mathematics and language arts. The standards have been adopted by 45 states and are slated to be fully implemented in Washington next school year.

So many laws come down from the federal government and they all have strings attached, he said.

If elected, Rockhold also said he would push for food labels on genetically modified organisms.

It sounds corny when you say you want to change the world, but thats kind of why I wanted to run, Rockhold said.

Harris voting record, Rockhold said, is too often aligned with that of Democrats.

I think people go up there (to Olympia) wanting to do good things, then they go up there and get entrenched and say this is how you have to compromise your principles, Rockhold said. Im not concerned about how Ill look within the system. Im more concerned with how to improve liberty and how I can improve the state of Washington.

Rockhold, who is married with one son, is a pilot with Empire Airlines. He attended both South Puget Sound Community College and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

He would like to see Obamacare repealed and blasts his opponent for voting for measures that he believes helped pave the way for the health exchange.

See the original post here:

Libertarian challenges Harris for House seat