Cliff Hyra is a lifelong Virginia resident. He grew up in Northern Virginia, living in Falls Church and Springfield. He attended school in Fairfax County, including Keene Mill Elementary, Lake Braddock, and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. He played travel ice hockey for the Mount Vernon Ice Dogs and graduated from high school with 42 college credits.

Cliff then attended Virginia Tech, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering, graduating magna cum laude. While at Virginia Tech, he was a member of the University’s chapter of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and played on the Virginia Tech Rugby Football Club, which won the Ed Lee Cup as Virginia State Champions for all four years of Cliff’s tenure.

Cliff then attended law school at George Mason University, graduating magna cum laude and fifth in his class of 214. While in law school he served on the George Mason University Law Review and interned for judge Stanley P. Klein at the Fairfax County Circuit Court. He also worked part time at a boutique intellectual property law firm in McLean.

After graduating in 2007, he remained in Northern Virginia and joined the firm full time, working there until the end of 2008 when he started his own intellectual property law practice, Hyra IP. In 2012 he joined Symbus Law Group as a partner, where he continues to work. Cliff is a registered patent attorney and member of the Virginia and District of Columbia bars, the International Trademark Association, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association. He specializes in domestic and international patent and trademark preparation and prosecution, opinions, appeals, enforcement, and contested proceedings for his client base that includes universities, multinational corporations, and small and medium-sized companies around the country and the globe.

In 2015 he and his family moved to his wife’s hometown of Mechanicsville, a suburb just north of Richmond in Hanover County.

The 2017 campaign for Governor is the first of Cliff’s political career.

Cliff and Stephanie Hyra have three children, Cheyenne, 7, Bridgette, 5, and Thomas, 3. They are expecting their fourth child at the end of August.

Cliff enjoys travel, investing in real estate, running, and reading, as well as playing Euro-style board games and video games, especially with his children.