Minnesota RLC Endorses Tom Emmer for Governor

Yesterday the Republican Liberty Caucus of Minnesota, a state affiliate of the Republican Liberty Caucus, announced endorsements for 12 candidates who will restore fiscal responsibility, individual liberty, and reduced size to state government.  The Minnesota primary occurred last month.

“Our state government is living well beyond its means, and Minnesotans are feeling the consequences of the DFL-led legislature’s inability to set the state’s spending priorities given the realities of current revenues,” said state RLC Chairman David FitzSimmons.

The caucus endorsed Rep. Tom Emmer (pictured) for Governor, Pat Anderson for State Auditor, Rep. Dan Severson for Secretary of State, and Lee Byberg for the Seventh Congressional District.

Incumbents endorsed by the Caucus include Rep. Ron Shimanski, House District 18B and Sen. Chris Gerlach, Senate District 37.

Challengers endorsed by the Caucus include Dave Kruse, House District 23B; Doug Wardlow, House District 38B; Dale Helm, House District 51B; Mark Fotsch, House District 54A; Andrea Kieffer, House District 56B and Krysia Weidell, Senate District 67.

“The strength of this slate is a testament to those who remember and respect the principles that founded our country since they are running to preserve our freedoms here in The North Star State,” concluded Chairman FitzSimmons.

A full listing of the Minnesota RLC’s endorsements is available here.

New Hampshire RLC Endorses 142 Candidates

With just two weeks until the New Hampshire primary, the state chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus has endorsed 45 additional candidates for office. The group of 45 joins the 97 other candidates endorsed by the New Hampshire RLC previously.

The candidates were selected after reviewing candidate surveys from www.rlcnh.org/survey, which were used to judge the candidate’s positions on the issues.

“Once elected, these 142 candidates will be leaders who bring restorative change to New Hampshire with their common sense agenda,” said Andrew Hemingway, chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire. “No longer will growing government and the taxes and spending that come with it govern the state. These leaders will restore the principles of limited government, individual liberty, personal responsibility and free enterprise to New Hampshire.”

RLCNH is promoting Common Sense for New Hampshire, an effort to elect legislators who will promote policies favorable to economic opportunity, health care savings, and parental/community empowerment. The New Hampshire RLC is also targeting seven “Republicans in Name Only” (RINOs) this fall.

A listing of the newly endorsed New Hampshire candidates is here and a listing of previously endorsed RLCNH candidates is here.

In the past year Wisconsin has gone from having no RLC affiliate at all to having an active chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus.

In the past eight months the RLCWI has chartered its affiliate, reached out at the state GOP Convention, introduced itself to party leaders/activists, protested the Wisconsin GOP’s pre-primary endorsements, and endorsed a liberty slate of candidates. Their progress is documented at http://wi.rlc.org/.

The endorsed candidates for State Assembly, who will face primary opposition on September 14, include:

∙ Andre Jacque for State Representative, District 2 (Green Bay)
∙ Jim Steineke for State Representative, District 5 (Appleton)
∙ Brad Sponholz for State Representative, District 7 (Milwaukee)
∙ Chris Kapenga (pictured) for State Representative, District 33 (Waukesha)
∙ Evan Wynn for State Representative, District 43 (Whitewater)
∙ Both Jeremy Thiesfeldt and Timothy Lakin for State Representative, District 52 (Fond du Lac)
∙ Chuck Schmidt for State Representative, District 57 (Appleton)
∙ Scott Krug for State Representative, District 72 (Wisconsin Rapids)
∙ Roger Rivard for State Representative, District 75 (Superior)
∙ Dave Redick for State Representative, District 77 (Madison)

“This is a great slate of candidates. We hope they make it through their primaries so we can reshape the Wisconsin Assembly with a liberty slate,” said Wisconsin RLC Chairman Michael S. Murphy. Learn more about the candidates at http://wi.rlc.org/endorsements/.

Congratulations to the Wisconsin RLC!

After hosting its Republican Secretary of State debate last week, the Michigan chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus has endorsed Anne Norlander for Secretary of State.

Norlander is the County Clerk and Register of Deeds for Calhoun County, Michigan. She has solid fundraising numbers although a poll from July indicates she is not at the front of the pack for likely Republican voters. Still, only a few percentage points separated her from her leading opponents.

Republican Liberty Caucus members hope to make up the difference to help Norlander get to the head of the pack before the election.

“I think Norlander won the support of our Board because of her understanding and willingness to manage fair elections and she seems to best articulate a limited government message in her debate answers,” said Michigan RLC Chairman Mike Hewitt.

Delegates to the Michigan GOP Convention will select the nominee on August 28.

With momentum building in its campaign to bring common sense back to the State House, the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire endorsed 36 candidates after reviewing a second round of surveys submitted through the group’s website, http://www.rlcnh.org/survey.

The 36 include candidates for state senator, state representative and executive councilor. They join a coalition of 61 other Republicans already endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire.

“I am confident these leaders will work together once elected to bring common sense back to Concord,” said RLCNH Chairman Andrew Hemingway.

Thus far about one third of the 468 Republican state representative and state senator candidates have responded to the RLCNH candidate survey. The RLCNH board will continue to consider candidates who submit their surveys leading up to the primary and will announce new endorsements periodically.

The newly endorsed candidates include:

David Wheeler, Executive Council, District 5
Kyle Tasker, State Representative, Rockingham 1
Al Baldassaro (Incumbent), State Representative, Rockingham 3
Daniel Tamburello, State Representative, Rockingham 3
Donna Mauro, State Representative, Rockingham 4
Bob Fesh, State Representative, Rockingham 5
Steven Doyle, State Representative, Rockingham 13
Gary Wheaton, State Representative, Rockingham 14
Stephen B. Stepanek, State Representative, Hillsborough 6
Win Hutchinson, State Representative, Hillsborough 9
Muni Savyon, State Representative, Hillsborough 10
Shuvom Ghose, State Representative, Hillsborough 11
William Infantine, State Representative, Hillsborough 13
Jonathan Maltz, State Representative, Hillsborough 27
Lynne Ober (Incumbent), State Representative, Hillsborough 27
Andy Renzullo (Incumbent), State Representative, Hillsborough 27
Jordan Ulery (Incumbent), State Representative, Hillsborough 27
Tony Soltani, State Representative, Merrimack 8
Scott Spaulding, State Representative, Merrimack 8
Pamela Ean, State Representative, Merrimack 12
Garret Ean, State Representative, Merrimack 12
Bob Greemore, State Representative, Belknapp 3
Colette Worsman, State Representative, Belknapp 3
Greg Sorg (Incumbent), State Representative, Grafton 3
Charles E. Sova, State Representative, Grafton 10
Evelyn Logan, State Representative, Strafford 1
Carol Vita, State Representative, Strafford 3
David L. Mincin, State Representative, Strafford 3
Christopher Buck, State Representative, Strafford 4
David Childs, State Representative, Strafford 7
Tony Blane Wilson, Sr., State Representative, Sullivan 4
Thomas W. Laware, State Representative, Sullivan 5

Several of our endorsed Republican Liberty Caucus candidates succeeded in their primaries last night.

Justin Amash (pictured), 30, a one-term State Representative, won the primary in Michigan’s 3rd District. He will likely be elected to Congress this fall considering how Republican the Grand Rapids district is. Amash will replace moderate Vernon Ehlers as a new voice for transparency and limited government.

In Missouri, RLC endorsed candidate Robyn Hamlin won her primary to become the Republican nominee against longtime Congressman Lacy Clay (D) in an urban St. Louis district. Unfortunately, the district is heavily Democrat.

RLC endorsed State Senate candidate Brian Nieves has defeated two opponents in his bid to win an open Senate seat in Missouri. Nieves has a long history of electoral success and was the immediate past Majority Whip in the Missouri House of Representatives. He will likely win this fall due to district demographics.

In Michigan, RLC endorsed candidate Arlan Meekhof, a current member of the Michigan legislature, defeated his opponent in a bid for State Senate. It is a Republican district so Meekhof will likely win this fall.

Other successful Missouri RLC endorsed candidates included incumbent State Representatives Tim W. Jones and Shane Schoeller. Additionally, Paul Curtman was unopposed in his bid to become State Representative in District 105.

Other successful Michigan candidates included Lori Levi (pictured), State Representative, District 21 and incumbent RLC legislator Bob Genetski, District 88.

Two other Michigan RLC candidates were unopposed in the primary: Bret Allen, State Representative, District 29 and Chase Ingersoll, State Representative, District 53.

A very important victory also occurred on Missouri’s ballot initiative, in which voters approved Proposition C. 71 percent of voters supported a law banning the government from forcing residents to buy health insurance. Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma have similar ballot initiatives that will appear later this fall on ballots in those states.

Congratulations to all of our RLC candidates and to Missouri voters for passing Proposition C.

Several Republican Liberty Caucus-endorsed candidates in Georgia either won their races or advanced to runoffs on Tuesday’s election in The Peach State.

Topping the list of runoff candidates is Karen Handel (pictured, left), who was one of two candidates endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia Board of Directors for Governor. Handel will face Congressman Nathan Deal in the August 10 runoff election.

In Congressional District 12, voters will get a chance to choose between candidates Carl Smith (RLC endorsed) and Ray McKinney in the same runoff. The winner will face Congressman John Barrow (D).

In Congressional District 13, RLC-endorsed candidate Mike Crane will face off against Dr. Debra Honeycutt in a runoff. The winner will face Congressman David Scott (D).

In the Attorney General race, ex-Cobb County Commission chair Sam Olens will face State Sen. Preston Smith in the runoff. The Republican Liberty Caucus has endorsed Preston Smith.

The RLC-backed candidate for Commissioner of Agriculture, Gary Black, won his primary.

Jason Shepherd (pictured, right), a longtime Board member of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia, won his State Representative primary in District 37 and will face Terry Johnson (D) in November.

For State Representative in District 180, RLC-endorsed candidate Jason Spencer has advanced to a runoff.

For a full list of RLC-backed candidates in Georgia, click here.

Congratulations to these candidates!

In a major effort to build a coalition of lawmakers who will bring common sense back to the State House, the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire endorsed 61 candidates after reviewing the first round of surveys submitted through the state chapter website, http://www.rlcnh.org/survey.

“I am very excited about these candidates, because they are leaders who will bring common sense back to Concord—something that has been lacking for several years,” said Andrew Hemingway, chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire. “Each one of these candidates will fight for lower taxes, less spending and limited government, and we will do everything we can to support them.”

RLCNH is unlike many groups that survey candidates since the caucus actually publishes its list of endorsed candidates before the primary in an effort to get them elected. Endorsed candidates will receive financial support, networking opportunities and the chance to use prepared campaign materials and services, such as Web site design and hosting services, talking-point memos and palm-card templates.

Endorsed candidates will also have the opportunity to build upon a shared RLCNH agenda called Common Sense for New Hampshire, which will build momentum in the Legislature for laws that will promote jobs and economic opportunity, fix health care in New Hampshire and empower parents and local communities.

In general, endorsed candidates are strong proponents of limited government, individual liberty, personal responsibility and free enterprise. They have shown their dedication to these ideals with their score on RLCNH’s 20-question candidate survey and their reputation among liberty activists. Endorsed candidates must score 80 percent or higher on the survey and they must have a strong character recognized by their peers.

So far, about a quarter of the 468 Republican state representative and state senator candidates have responded to the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire candidate survey. The RLCNH board will continue to consider candidates who submit their surveys leading up to the primary, and will announce new endorsements as a group from time to time.

“I want to encourage all Republican candidates for office to identify their true affinity toward liberty for both their constituents and their peers by taking the RLCNH candidate survey,” Hemingway said. “This will help our caucus move New Hampshire forward once our candidates get elected. We are confident that candidates’ affiliation with the RLCNH will help them work closely together to restore the principles that made this state and nation great.”

The endorsed candidates include:

For State Senate:
Jim Forsythe, Senate District 4 (Strafford)
John Lewicke, Senate District 12 (Mason)
Andy Sanborn, Senate District 7 (Henniker)
Raymond White, Senate District 9 (Bedford)

For State Representative:
Mike Ball, Hillsborough 9 (Manchester)
Hon. J. Gail Barry, Hillsborough 16 (Manchester)
Robert E. Barry, Hillsborough 16 (Manchester)
Omer Beaudoin, Hillsborough 8 (Manchester)
Joseph W. Bendzinski, Cheshire 3 (Keene)
Jerry Bergevin, Hillsborough 17 (Manchester)
Spec Bowers, Sullivan 3 (Sunapee)
Lester W. Bradley, Grafton 4 (Thornton)
Harriet Cady, Rockingham 1 (Deerfield)
Jenn Coffey, Merrimack 6 (Andover)
Seth Cohn, Merrimack 6 (Canterbury)
Tim Comerford, Rockingham 9 (Fremont)
Steve Cunningham, Sullivan 2 (Croydon)
Jason A. Czekalski, Cheshire 7 (Rindge)
Cam DeJong, Hillsborough 9 (Manchester)
Jason Allen Dubrow, Merrimack 13 (Dunbarton)
Sheridan B. Folger, Strafford 5 (Dover)
Jim Headd, Rockingham 3 (Auburn)
JR Hoell, Merrimack 13 (Dunbarton)
Timothy Hogan, Hillsborough 23 (Nashua)
Rob Huxley, Hillsborough 3 (Greenville)
Daniel Itse, Rockingham 9 (Fremont)
Kyle Jones, Strafford 1 (Rochester)
Laura Jones, Strafford 1 (Rochester)
Tom Keane, Merrimack 13 (Bow)
Marie Lozito, Sullivan 4 (Claremont)
Linda Luhtala, Grafton 6 (Rumney)
Robert Luther, Belknap 4 (Laconia)
Leigh Macneil, Merrimack 4 (Hopkinton)
Andrew J. Manuse, Rockingham 5 (Derry)
Carol McGuire, Merrimack 8 (Epsom)
Daniel McGuire, Merrimack 8 (Epsom)
Bernhard McKay, Strafford 1 (Rochester)
Paul Mirski, Grafton 10 (Enfield)
Keith Murphy, Hillsborough 18 (Bedford)
Jeanine Notter, Hillsborough 19 (Merrimack)
William L. O’Brien, Hillsborough 4 (Mont Vernon)
Bill Ohm, Hillsborough 26 (Nashua)
Richard H. Olson Jr., Hillsborough 12 (Manchester)
Stephen Palmer, Hillsborough 6 (Milford)
Katherine Prudhomme-O’Brien, Rockingham 5 (Derry)
John Reagan, Rockingham 1 (Deerfield)
Jon Richardson, Merrimack 8 (Allenstown)
Laurie Sanborn, Merrimack 5 (Henniker)
Brian Seaworth, Merrimack 7 (Pembroke)
Steven Smith, Sullivan 5 (Charlestown)
Will Smith, Rockingham 18 (New Castle)
Greg Surbey, Hillsborough 24 (Nashua)
Robert M. Tarr, Hillsborough 12 (Manchester)
Jack Thorsen, Rockingham 16 (Portsmouth)
Stella Tremblay, Rockingham 3 (Auburn)
Mark Warden, Hillsborough 7 (Goffstown)

The Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, a state chapter of the national Republican Liberty Caucus, was launched in December 2004 to promote and advance traditional Republican Party values, such as limited government, low taxes and spending, individual liberty, personal responsibility, free enterprise and loyalty to the U.S. and N.H. constitutions.

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Contact: Andrew Hemingway, RLCNH Chair, 603-236-6720, akreins@gmail.com
RLCNH | 26 South Main Street, PMB 525, Concord, N.H. 03301 – info@rlcnh.org – www.rlcnh.org

The Republican Liberty Caucus, a grassroots network of concerned citizens dedicated to upholding individual liberty, limited government, and free enterprise within the Republican Party, is pleased to announce its support of the following Colorado candidates:

* Mike Fallon, U.S. Congress in District 1
* Stephen Bailey, U.S. Congress in District 2;
* Tim Leonard, State Senate in District 16
* Ted Harvey, State Senate in District 30 (Incumbent);
* Robert Houdeshell, State House in District 13
* Donald Beezley, State House in District 33
* Luke Korkowski, State House in District 61
* Carl Bruning, Larimer County Sheriff

Each of our endorsed candidates share common goals of dramatically reducing spending, cutting taxes, and an overall sense that government needs to return to its proper role and and exercise only those powers enumerated in the Constitution.

In addition to these endorsements, the Republican Liberty Caucus is pleased to endorse the following Colorado ballot initiatives in 2010:

* Yes on Amendment 60, to limit property taxes;
* Yes on Amendment 61, to limit Colorado debt; and
* Yes on Proposition 101, to limit vehicle registration fees.

The Republican Liberty Caucus mission is to recruit and endorse candidates who support its agenda, elect limited-government Republicans to political office, and change the direction of the Republican Party to reflect members’ vision of peace and prosperity.

If we are able to elect these liberty-minded candidates while passing these ballot initiatives, Colorado will be many steps ahead of where it is now. There’s lots of work to do still, so please get involved today!

Learn more about the Caucus at http://www.RLC.org.

Oklahoma State Senator Randy Brogdon has been endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus in his race to become the next Governor of Oklahoma. Brogdon is in a tough election with Congresswoman Mary Fallin, the establishment favorite, to win the Republican primary taking place July 27.

As a State Senator, Randy Brogdon proposed or passed …

• The Healthcare Freedom of Choice Act
• The Real ID Opt-out Bill
• The Freedom Firearm Act
• The Tenth Amendment Resolution

Brogdon was also the lead sponsor of the Stop OverSpending Initiative (TABOR) and was instrumental in supporting an initiative to protect private property rights in response to Kelo v. New London.

Become a Facebook fan of Randy Brogdon and join his campaign to claim the Governor’s seat for limited government.

Republican Liberty Caucus endorsed candidates in Utah and South Carolina won their runoffs last night.

Congratulations to Mike Lee, who narrowly defeated Tim Bridgewater in the Utah U.S. Senate race. Lee will be a voice for common sense in the Senate after he wins in November. Until then, we have to make sure he is able to fend off his Democrat opponent.

In South Carolina, Nikki Haley won her run-off against bailout-supporting Congressman Gresham Barrett. Haley will be the first female Governor if she is elected. She will also be the 2nd southern Republican Governor of Indian origin currently serving. It’s good to see the Republican Party in a southern state embracing diversity and independent thinking.

In South Carolina’s 8th District, the votes were so close between RLC endorsed candidate Nancy Harrelson and her opponent that there will be a recount.

Congratulations to Mike Lee and Nikki Haley, their campaign teams, and Utah/South Carolina voters!