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09 July 2010
In interest of full disclosure, I am the campaign manager for Mark Martin, the Republican endorsed candidate for the 45A side house seat. It is an understatement to say Mark has overcome more obstacles than most candidates to be at this point in the race today, and I am very honored that he has asked me to be his manager.
There has been a lot of talk about what exactly the status of the campaign is in New Hope, Crystal, and Plymouth. In a word: ON. We are game on, and in to win. And getting such a late start, we would greatly appreciate any contribution you could give. We will be door knocking today, Saturday and in the Robbinsdale parade this Sunday. Mark wrote the below statement to explain the situation.
When I requested permission from the US Army to remain a candidate for partisan political office in 2009 while I was still in Afghanistan, I made sure to involve both my chain of command and legal counsel so that I would be on the right side of the regulations and the law. At that time, I was given a set of stipulations which I followed in good faith. Once I returned home, I was told that the previous stipulations from both the chain of command and legal counsel were incorrect, and that I would have to rescind my candidacy. As a result, I was ordered to suspend all campaign operations in May, June and part of July since I was still on Active Duty orders with the US Army.
Additionally, I had previously been a dual-service federal technician with the Minnesota Army National Guard, and if I had returned to that position, I would not have been able to run for office due to the restrictions that are set forth under the Hatch Act of 1939. As a result of these restrictions, I chose to resign my full time position with the Minnesota National Guard and seek civilian employment. Once I did that, my chain of command in the Army agreed that I had done everything they asked and assured me that once I came off of active duty orders on the 8th of July, I would be eligible to actively campaign for the State House of Representatives.
This is great news for both me and Minnesota! Speaking from experience, I know firsthand how stressful it is to be unemployed and looking for work. Unfortunately, our legislature here in Minnesota has not been focused on improving the unemployment rate. Small businesses and mid-sized companies have been leaving the state in droves simply because they cannot afford to do business here.
We are the 4th highest state in corporate tax burdens, which hampers our job growth from the very beginning. If our goal is to balance the budget (which is currently $6-8 Billion in the hole for the next biennium), then we need to focus on spending solutions, not revenue solutions. We’ve all seen the mess we’re in get worse as each progressive spending policy has come down the pike. Every time we turn around our school districts are telling us they need more money, yet our student to teacher ratios are getting worse while retiring superintendents are retiring with golden parachutes costing us millions of dollars.
It’s time to change our approach. On November 2nd, across the state, I encourage all eligible voters to go to the polls and make a difference.
See you on the campaign trail!
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