Note: This is the first in a series examining the positions of several third party and independent presidential candidates onissues covered by the Acton Institute. A previous series covered the Democratic Party platform (see here and here) and the Republican Party Platform (see here and here).

Candidate: Evan McMullin

Party: Independent candidate

Age: 40 (born 1976)

Religion: Mormon

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy from Brigham Young University (2001)

• Master’s of Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (2011)

Occupations/positions:

• Deckhand on mercial fishing vessel (1997)

• Mormon missionary in Brazil (2001)

• Volunteer refugee resettlement officer in Amman, Jordan, on behalf of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2001)

• Operations Officer with the CIA’s National Clandestine Service (served in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia) (1999 – 2010)

• Investment Banking Associate, Goldman Sachs (2010-2013)

• Senior Advisor for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs (2013-15)

• Chief Policy Director for the U.S. House of Representatives Republican Conference (2015-2016)

Position on the Issues:

Education

• “Local control, expanded opportunity and a return to fundamentals are vital to reforming our failing education system.”

• Supports expanding charter and magnet schools.

• Supports eliminating Federal Common Core mandates

Government accountability

• “An all-powerful government centered in Washington has eroded the separation of powers in a way that is corrosive to our Republic and our Constitution.”

• Supports stripping the Executive branch of legislative power and returning it to Congress and the individual states.

Healthcare

Opposes Obamacare.

• Supports petition, deregulation and innovation” in the healthcare system.

• Supports protecting “vulnerable populations, including patients with preexisting conditions.”

Jobs and the economy

• “America should be the best place in the world for innovation, entrepreneurship and opportunity.”

• Supports reforming a “system that too often benefits the politically connected and the corporate elite, while leaving too many Americans behind.”

• Supports reforming the tax code to make it “lean, simple and encourage investment here at home.”

• Supports reducing government regulations

Poverty

• Opposes creating additional government programs as the “single answer” to solving poverty.

• “Those who can work should have to opportunity to work, and those who need the training and education to e productive should receive it.”

Trade

• Supports greater access to foreign markets.

• Supports negotiating “stronger trade deals” and enforcing the terms of existing agreements to “ensure petition globally.”

• “Closing doors to trade opportunities won’t bring back jobs, but it will make life for everyday Americans more expensive, and reduce our ability to sell our goods around the world.”

Next in this series: The Libertarian Party platform