Congressman Justin Amash, in his short speech to delegates, spoke positively about the Republican Liberty Caucus, saying …

“In 2005, I wasn’t involved in politics in any substantive way. I had never really thought about running for office. I began looking for organizations that shared the beliefs I had — and that’s when I came across the Republican Liberty Caucus. And, really, it’s what’s started my move toward running for office.”

Listen to more of our elected liberty Republicans below. Please join or get involved (or both) in the Republican Liberty Caucus today.

Congressman Justin Amash – Part 1

Congressman Justin Amash – Part 2

Elected Liberty Republicans – Part 1 (Dan Halloran)

Elected Liberty Republicans – Part 2 (Jamie Callender)

Elected Liberty Republicans – Part 3 (Terri McCormick)

Elected Liberty Republicans – Part 4 (Mix)

Elected Liberty Republicans – Part 5 (Mix)

Governor Gary Johnson – Part 1

Governor Gary Johnson – Part 2

A quartet of former Republican State Representatives from Maine, Maryland, Ohio, and Wisconsin will put that theory to rest at the 2011 RLC National Convention in Arlington, Virginia on Saturday, February 12. We encourage you to learn more about these pro-liberty leaders below and register to attend the Convention to hear their remarks.

Jamie Callender is an attorney, college professor, and former State Representative who served in the Ohio House from 1997 to 2004. He represented a Democratic area despite being a Republican with a strong libertarian streak. With his leadership, Ohio was able to greatly expand school choice — an issue he is very passionate about. He was term limited out of office. Callender currently serves as a Professor of Public Policy at Kent State University. He and his family live in Lake County, Ohio in the Cleveland metropolitan area.

R. Kenneth Lindell is a former one-term Maine State Representative. In addition to serving as the Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Maine, Ken was also Chairman of the Ron Paul for President campaign in Maine. Ken is also a Certified Financial Planner. He and his wife Althea, along with their three children, reside in Frankfurt, Maine. He has been a longtime advocate of the liberty message and also attended the 2006 RLC National Convention in Orlando, Florida.

Don Murphy is a former elected Delegate from Baltimore County, Maryland. He was first elected in 1993 and served until 2002. He is a co-founder of the Patapsco Valley Republican Club, served as Chairman of the Baltimore County Republican Party, and served as a Delegate to the Republican National Convention. In 2010, he was a Senior Advisor to RLC-endorsed Senate candidate Dr. Eric Wargotz. Don is also the founder of Republicans for Compassionate Access, a group of Republican legislators who believe in a patient’s right to choose medical treatment under a doctor’s care. Delegate Murphy has attended every RLC National Convention since 2006.

Terri McCormick is Vice Chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Wisconsin and is a former three-term State Representative who represented Appleton and Neenah. She is also a two-time candidate for Congress. Terri pioneered one of the first state charter school laws in the country and formed the Wisconsin Charter School Association. She is an advocate of term limits and upheld her term limits pledge. Legislation she authored expanded small business growth in the state of Wisconsin and also created a prescription drug purchasing pool for seniors. Terri is the author of the book, “What Sex Is a Republican? Stories from the Front Lines of American Politics and How You Can Change the Way Things Are.”

Dr. Rand Paul is Senator-elect from Kentucky. Justin Amash (pictured, right) is Representative-elect from Michigan’s Third Congressional District. Congratulations, Rand and Justin! RLC supporters have no doubt that these two champions of liberty will work vigorously to promote our vision of a free country in Congress.

The RLC is also pleased that Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, John Koster of Washington state, Chip Cravaack of Minnesota, and Steve Chabot of Ohio will join Dr. Ron Paul and our other pro-liberty Republican legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Joining Rand Paul in the Senate are RLC-endorsed Senate candidates Mike Lee of Utah and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

Two RLC-endorsed candidates for Governor, Paul LePage of Maine and Nikki Haley of South Carolina, were elected. LePage and Haley come from very different backgrounds and from different parts of the country, but are united in their strong belief in the individual and faith in the free market system.

Other key RLC victories and races we are still watching are below.

Arkansas: State Rep. Mark Martin, a RLC endorsed candidate, won his bid for Secretary of State. He is the first statewide Republican elected official since former Gov. Mike Huckabee left office.

California: Despite losing on the RLC-endorsed Proposition 19 to legalize marijuana in California, the RLC’s positions on Prop. 27 (no to eliminate the state redistricting commission) and Prop. 21 (a vehicle license surcharge to fund state parks) were adopted. Additionally, the RLC’s positions on Prop. 20 and 26 were adopted. These propositions related to Congressional redistricting and the process to impose state/local fees. See the proposition results here and view the RLC’s positions on each of the proposals here.

Arizona: 55 percent of state voters supported an amendment to the state constitution disallowing the Obamacare individual mandate to take effect in Arizona. Voters also approved medical marijuana.

Colorado: Despite Ken Buck’s Senate loss, RLC-endorsed candidate Donald Beezley defeated an incumbent and is now an elected State Representative from Broomfield.

Idaho: RLC-endorsed candidate for Bonner County Commissioner in District 2, Mike Nielson, won election on a platform of transparency and balanced budgets. Nielsen said he was eager to start getting more detailed budget information on the county website and wants to get a head start on the 2012 spending plan, according to The Bonner County Daily Bee.

Indiana: Republican Liberty Caucus member Steve Davisson was elected State Representative in Southern Indiana’s 73rd district. Congratulations, Hoosiers!

Kentucky: In addition to Rand Paul’s victory, RLC-backed candidate Thomas Massie was elected Judge Executive in Lewis County.

Maine: In addition to the victory of Paul LePage for Governor, RLC candidates for State Rep. and State Senate also found success. State House Challengers Michael McClellan, Ryan Harmon, Richard Malaby, Beth O’Connor, and Eleanor Espling (pictured, above left) — each endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus of Maine — won election. Additionally, former State Senator Lois Snowe-Mello won her old seat back and State Rep. Doug Thomas was elected to the State Senate. The RLC had a great day in Maine yesterday!

Maryland: Cindy Jones, a RLC member and delegate at our 2009 Convention in Florida, was elected to the St. Marys County Commission. Among all of the county commissioner races, Mrs. Jones had the largest margin of victory and the highest vote total. Four of the five Commission seats are now held by Republicans.

Michigan: RLC-endorsed candidate for State Senate Arlen Meekhof was elected to the post. Meekhof wants to repeal the Michigan Business Tax surcharge and bring jobs to the state.

Minnesota: Despite losing the Governors race narrowly, the RLC had its coalition of candidates elected to the State Senate and the State House. Kathy Lohmer (pictured, right), Andrea Kieffer, Doug Wardlow, Kurt Bills, and Sondra Erickson were elected to the House and Dave Brown and Dave Thompson were elected to the Senate. Former Minnesota RLC Secretary Norann Dillon narrowly lost in her race against an incumbent in a Democrat district. Congratulations to these new legislators and to the Minnesota RLC!

Missouri: In The Show Me State, RLC-endorsed candidate Paul Curtman was elected State Representative. He will represent parts of Jefferson, Franklin and St. Louis counties. Additionally, RLC-endorsed candidate Brian Nieves was elected to the State Senate. Two RLC-endorsed incumbent State Representatives, Tim Jones and Shane Schoeller, will be taking over leadership positions in the Missouri House of Representatives. The Missouri RLC is hosting its 2010 Convention on Saturday, November 13 in Springfield.

Montana: In Montana the RLC has an incumbent coalition in the State House and the entire slate of RLC-backed candidates was reelected. Additionally, former State Senator and longtime liberty advocate Jerry O’Neill was elected to the House of Representatives.

New Hampshire: Former Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire Chair Jim Forsythe was elected to the State Senate and State Rep. candidates Cameron DeJong and Andrew Manuse were elected to the State House. RLC Board member Paul Mirski was elected to the State House in Grafton as was former RLC Chair Dan McGuire in Merrimack. Longtime liberty activists Keith Murphy and Seth Cohn won election to the State House from Hillsborough and Merrimack, too. A full list of RLC victories from New Hampshire can be found here.

North Carolina: Republican Liberty Caucus-endorsed candidate Glen Bradley won election to the State House of Representatives. Congratulations to Glen and the North Carolina RLC!

Oklahoma: 65 percent of voters supported a ballot proposition to rebuke Obamacare by not allowing the individual mandate contained in the health care law to be enacted in the Sooner State.

South Carolina: RLC-backed candidate Curtis Loftis, who ousted the incumbent State Treasurer earlier this year in the primary, is now the State Treasurer-elect of The Palmetto State.

Uah: Two new RLC-endorsed candidates won election in Utah — Daniel Thatcher was elected to the State Senate and Ken Ivory won election to the State House. Ivory joins several other RLC incumbents in the House.

Texas: The Texas RLC helped elect two new State Representatives, Jason Isaac and David Simpson. Additionally, former Texas RLC Chairman Melissa Goodwin was elected Justice on the Third Court of Appeals. RLC Advisory Board member Jerry Patterson was re-elected State Land Commissioner. A full list of Texas results are available at our blog.

Wisconsin: In Wisconsin, a coalition of RLC-backed candidates for State House have won election for the first time. The slate includes: Andre Jacque from Green Bay, Jim Steineke from Appleton, Chris Kapenga from Delafield, Evan Wynn of Whitewater, Scott Krug of Black River Falls, Jeremy Thiesfeldt of Fond du Lac, and Roger Rivard of Rice Lake. Mr. Krug beat incumbent Marlin Schneider, who served in the legislature continuously since 1970. Congratulations to the Wisconsin RLC and Badger State voters!

Wyoming: Endorsed State Representative candidate Gerald Gay won election to the legislature for the first time.

These election results show not only the strength of the Tea Party, but also the disgust of average Americans with unresponsive, anti-liberty bureaucrats. The results also illustrate that liberty principles are popular and will make a comeback!

The battle has just begun, so thanks to all of our activists and candidates from across the country. Thanks especially to the state and national officers of the RLC who allow our organization to function.

The Republican Liberty Caucus is a grassroots coalition of liberty-loving Americans.

Won’t you join us in this critical battle to win hearts and minds for liberty and Constitutional restoration?

“With the exception of 1994, the Republican Liberty Caucus has never seen a slate of candidates who have the potential to knock of incumbents like this slate,” said RLC Chair Dave Nalle of Texas. “These candidates are principled and committed to the Republican Liberty Caucus vision of a free nation with limited, efficient government,” said Nalle. In addition to a full slate of endorsed Congressional candidates (including many not mentioned above), the RLC has also endorsed incumbent members of Congress Jeff Flake (AZ), Roscoe Bartlett (MD), Adrian Smith (NE), Scott Garrett (NJ), Jim Jordan (OH), John Duncan (TN), and a slate from the Texas Congressional Delegation.

According to RLC Vice Chair Aaron Biterman, “Justin Amash is a conservative Republican running in a right-leaning Grand Rapids district; Mick Mulvaney is polling even with incumbent John Spratt (D) in South Carolina 5; Steve Chabot is polling even or ahead of Steve Driehaus (D) in a suburban Cincinnati district. Spratt and Driehaus rubber-stamped the entire Obama Big Government agenda and will have to face the voters on November 2.”

Additionally, a Public Opinion Strategies poll from early October showed RLC endorsed candidate Chip Cravaack at 42 percent to incumbent Democrat Jim Oberstar’s 45 percent. RealClearPolitics ranks John Koster’s bid against incumbent Democrat Rick Larson a “toss up” after several polls showed them within 3 points of each other in Washington’s 2nd District. Finally, a Wenzel Strategies poll released last week shows Democrat incumbent Norm Dicks trailing RLC candidate Doug Cloud in Washington’s 6th District.

“If Doug Cloud and Justin Amash in particular advance to Congress, they will be RLC Advisory Board member Ron Paul’s foremost allies in Washington,” said Biterman, adding that, “If our other candidates — Mulvaney, Koster, Cravaack, and Chabot — also succeed, there will be a significantly larger coalition for limited government in Congress.” The Republican Liberty Caucus is urging its members to volunteer for and donate to these candidates in particular.

The Republican Liberty Caucus, founded in 1991, exists to promote individual liberty, limited government, and free enterprise within the Republican Party. The RLC will hold its 2011 Convention in Arlington, Virginia on February 12, 2011 and encourages media, liberty-minded citizens, and other interested parties to attend. Learn more about the organization at http://www.RLC.org/. A full list of endorsed candidates is available at http://www.rlc.org/endorsed-candidates-2010/.

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But with less than two weeks until the 2010 mid-term elections, the Midwest has become the President’s biggest problem area.

The President’s party is poised to lose at least four Senate races in the Midwest (IN, MO, ND, OH) while two others remain tight contests in which the GOP candidate has been consistently leading (IL, WI). Of the four open Midwest gubernatorial contests, the GOP is posting solid results in three of them (IL, OH, WI) with another, Minnesota, still up for grabs.

Looking at swing Congressional races is where you really get an idea of the Democrats’ Midwestern problem. States that rarely have competitive races like Minnesota and Missouri each have several vulnerable incumbents in 2010. Missouri Blue Dog Democrat incumbent Ike Skelton, who has represented central-west Missouri for more than 30 years, is facing perhaps his toughest challenge yet. A similar situation is facing U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, who represents northeast Minnesota. Oberstar has been in Congress consistently for nearly 40 years and is in the race of his life. Tim Walz, a second term Democrat from a southern Minnesota swing district, is facing a tough reelection battle as well.

Wisconsin — which is thought to be liberal but is more accurately categorized as a swing state — currently has only three Republicans in its eight member Congressional delegation but may have just two Democrats in its delegation by January, 2011. Vulnerable incumbents there include Reps. Steve Kagen (D) in the northeastern part of the state and Ron Kind (D) in the west.

Illinois and Ohio have between five and six seats each that are extremely competitive House races while four Michigan and three Iowa and Wisconsin seats are up in the air.

Illinois’ western-most district, represented by second term Congressman Phil Hare, was a seat pundits never thought would be in play. But the rural, gerrymandered district is now a national target of Republicans, who have an excellent candidate in businessman Bobby Schilling. Mark Kirk’s vacated seat in the moderate northern Chicago burbs is also up for grabs and is really the Democrat’s only pickup opportunity in the Midwest this cycle. Reps. Melissa Bean (D) in the western Chicago suburbs, Bill Foster (D) in the southern Chicago suburbs, and Debbie Halvorson (D) in central Illinois are also in tough reelection battles. Halvorson, who doesn’t shy away from any of her votes or support of the Obama agenda, has been down as far as eighteen points in recent surveys.

In Iowa, all three of the incumbent Democrat Congressmen, Reps. Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack, and Leonard Boswell could lose. Indiana’s Joe Donnelly (D) and Baron Hill (D) are facing tough challenges and Brad Ellsworth’s open seat in southern Indiana is poised for a Republican pickup.

The upper Midwest is heavily in play, too. Bart Stupak’s open Michigan upper Peninsula seat is leaning Republican, as are the two northern Wisconsin seats held by the retiring Rep. David Obey (D) and second term Democrat Steve Kagen.

The Democrats are losing rural voters who are deeply concerned about the economy and didn’t see any added benefits after the stimulus and Obamacare.

Voters in rural Ohio districts like the eastern-most districts of Reps. Zack Space (D) and Charlie Wilson (D) may be poised to boot out the incumbents. The same is true of swing districts in Ohio like that of northeast Ohio’s John Boccieri  and central Ohio’s Mary Jo Kilroy, first-term Democrats who rubber-stamped the entire Obama agenda. Suburban districts represented by Steve Driehaus (D) and Betty Sutton (D), which are centered around Akron and Cincinatti, are also in play.

Both the North and South Dakota At Large seats are up for grabs for the first time in many years, too. All told, the entire region is in play — from Skelton’s seat in central Missouri to Wilson’s seat in eastern Ohio and from Kagen’s seat in northeast Wisconsin all the way westward to the Dakotas.

A recent Rasmussen poll showed that voters are angry with Members of Congress who voted for Obamacare, the auto bailout, or the stimulus package. By significant margins, voters do not want to reelect incumbents who voted for these unpopular parts of the Obama agenda.

The Midwest’s economy is suffering and people are out of work. Jobs is the main topic of most Congressional debates in the region. Midwest voters are likely to make significant changes in who represents them in Congress. Whether those changes will help the struggling economy recover and foster job creation in the region remains to be seen.

But one thing is for sure: the Democrats have a Midwestern sized problem.

Congratulations to the below candidates, each of whom is committed to limited government and protecting individual liberty.

U.S. Senate
Ken Buck, Colorado
Joe Miller, Alaska
Christine O’Donnell, Delaware
Dr. Eric Wargotz, Maryland

U.S. House
Roscoe Bartlett (Incumbent), District 6, Maryland
Steve Chabot, District 1, Ohio
Scott Garrett (Incumbent), District 5, New Jersey
Jim Jordan, District 4, Ohio
Charles Lollar, District 5, Maryland
Joel Pollak, District 9, Illinois
Adrian Smith (Incumbent), District 3, Nebraska

Statewide
Martha Dean, Attorney General, Connecticut
Mark Martin, Secretary of State, Arkansas

Local & State
Tracie Nakano Bean, State Senate – District 24, Hawaii
Thomas Massie, Lewis County Judge Executive, Kentucky

INDIANA

Let’s take a look at the race in southwest Indiana’s 8th District. When I was looking at the results, I was floored last night when RLC-endorsed Tea Party “stay at home mom” Kristi Risk was in a very tight race to win the Republican nomination. Ultimately, Kristi ended up losing the race. CQ Politics — geniuses no doubt — reported that “the Republican Party avoided a disaster,” explaining that Risk would not prove to be a challenger to Congressman Joe Donnelly (D) in November. The arrogance of the mainstream media continues to have no bounds. Let’s hope Kristi Risk runs for office again because her campaign clearly lit up the hearts and minds of concerned Hoosier voters.

In the Indiana U.S. Senate race, FOX News’ Carl Cameron reported — long before the polls closed — that Republican Dan Coats had won the race. Again, the media just doesn’t seem to get it: elections are for voters, and every seat is the people’s seat! Coats did win the race, but Marlin Stutzman made it close. My belief is that if either Hostettler or Stutzman were not in the race, the other could have siphoned enough conservative votes to beat Coats in the primary. I believe Indiana is now left with a vulnerable and uninspiring Republican U.S. Senate candidate.

Although he was not endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus, Tea Party candidate and a personal friend of mine, Travis Hankins, had a similar performance to Ms. Risk in the neighboring southern Indiana district. Hankins was running against two others — a former Congressman and an establishment choice — for the right to challenge Congressman Baron Hill in November. Unfortunately, Hankins lost by a few hundred votes. Travis Hankins’ youthfulness — he’s just 28 — and his lack of name recognition — this was his first race — did not seem to cause problems for Hoosier voters. I’m sure we’ll see more of Travis, or his twin brother Aaron, in the future.

On a positive note, RLC member Steve Davisson won his primary and will now advance to the General Election for State Representative in Indiana’s 73rd District — the largest State Representative district in the state that includes much of southern Indiana.

OHIO

There are no positive results to report from Ohio. All of our Republican Liberty Caucus candidates lost their respective races. Beth Lear, running for State Representative, ran a tremendous campaign and got bested by only a small margin of votes for a Delaware County state legislative seat.

The most interesting race in Ohio was perhaps the contest in District 16, whose winner would go on to face vulnerable Democrat John Boccieri — a vocal proponent of government-run health care. Former County Commissioner Matt Miller was the Tea Party candidate and he narrowly lost to the establishment choice, businessman Jim Renacci. Let’s hope Renacci can defeat Boccieri this fall.

NORTH CAROLINA

There were two Republican Liberty Caucus victories in North Carolina. First, but not surprisingly, BJ Lawson won his primary for Congress in District 4. Lawson will face David Price in November in a district that is overwhelmingly Democrat.

Newcomer Jon Hardister won the Republican primary in North Carolina’s 57th District — which includes the city of Greensboro. Hardister will bring youthfulness and common sense if he’s selected by North Carolina voters in November.

Let’s work to help Lawson, Davisson, and Hardister win their races this fall!

Clearly the Tea Party had an impact on these races. Let’s hope its impact is more imprinted on upcoming primary races in Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Utah.

Not only is Minnesota RLC member Norann Dillon running for State Senate, but many RLC members were among the first to rally behind State Rep. Tom Emmer, one of two potential Republican Gubernatorial nominees. Polls show Emmer defeating his Democrat opponents.

The upcoming Minnesota RLC events include:

1) A Second Congressional District Meeting for RLC and Campaign for Liberty members on Thursday, March 18. Among the plans at the meeting are to formalize RLC/C4L participation at the Jason Lewis Tax Rally on May 8 and the Minnesota GOP Convention on April 29. Additionally, the Second Congressional District GOP Convention will occur on Saturday, March 20. PLEASE RSVP to this event.

2) The Minnesota RLC Convention on Monday, April 12. PLEASE RSVP to this event.

3) Outreach at the Minnesota GOP Convention on April 29. Stay tuned for details.

The Michigan RLC recently held a successful Convention with former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. The Nebraska RLC is holding its Convention with Governor Johnson in July. The Illinois RLC recently endorsed several candidates.

Additionally, the Wisconsin RLC and C4L chapters are planning to reach out at the state GOP Convention in late May. Meanwhile, Indiana and Ohio have primaries quickly approaching. The Indiana chapter is working to endorse candidates and Ohio RLC members are working to charter their chapter.

Activists in the Midwest are doing good work to keep liberty alive.

Mitchel claims that the officials violated the oversight responsibilities clearly defined in contracts with private corporations and cites a 2003 BRAC Initiative Agreement with the Dayton Development Coalition as the primary violation of the rules.

The Ohio Revised Code (O.R.C.) clearly states that records related to the BRAC Initiative Agreement are public records and, as such, are subject to public scrutiny. Moreover, through information available in the public domain, Mr. Mitchel has identified a clear money trail starting with Greene County taxpayers’ dollars being passed through the Dayton Development Coalition and un-bid contracts with private consultants, the Greentree Group and PMA (a Washington lobbyist), and then on to former Congressman Dave Hobson and Hobson’s replacement, Republican Steve Austria. Over many years, PMA contributed over $60,000 to the Hobson and Austria campaigns.  According to the Associated Press, PMA is under investigation and will shut down operations by the end of March.

John Mitchel, USAF Ret., has 27 years of military experience, including a B.S. from the U.S. Air Force Academy and experience in Army ROTC and attending the Air Force Institute of Technology. He also holds an MBA from Michigan Tech. University and an M.S. in Economics from Wright State University. Mr. Mitchel also investigated waste, fraud, and abuse with the Department of Defense. He currently serves on the Greene County GOP Central Committee.

Florida: The state RLC is working on a new web site that will debut shortly. Stay tuned.

Idaho: As detailed earlier in the blog, the state GOP Convention saw two rivals fight out debate on the platform and future direction of the party, with our pro-liberty faction coming out ahead. The new state chair is Norm Semanko.

Illinois: The state RLC met at the GOP Convention in Decatur on June 6 and 7. Unfortunately, the libertarian-leaning Steve Rauschenberger was defeated for the state committeeman seat by Pat Brady.

Maine: The state RLC is working on candidate endorsements.

Nebraska: The Nebraska RLC charter has been approved. In celebration of the new charter, the Nebraska RLC will hold its first event on July 11 at 5:30pm at the Double D Ranch (567 County Rd. C) in Ashland, Nebraska. Click here to view a PDF of the event invitation.

Nevada: An alternative GOP Convention was held recently, in protest of the previous Convention. See below post for additional information. The state party-sponsored Republican Convention will reconvene on July 26.

New Hampshire: The state RLC is working on candidate endorsements.

New York: The state RLC is working on candidate endorsements.

Ohio: The RLC has a new state contact in Ohio, retired Colonel John Mitchel. Mr. Mitchel is very involved with his community, is a member of his local GOP Committee, and has nearly 30 years of military experience. He is also an adjunct college professor. We look forward to his active involvement in chartering the Ohio chapter of the RLC.

Utah: The newly chartered state affiliate is working on candidate endorsements.