New Liberty Candidate, Justin Amash, Files for Congress in Michigan (CD-3)

[enrique]

My friend and state representative, Justin Amash, announced this afternoon his intention to unseat our 16 year incumbent Republican congressman, Vern Ehlers. Amash will be running in the third congressional district. He is an unabashed supporter of free markets, strictly limited intervention, and individual liberty. I have watched him for 2 years in the Michigan House of Representatives and he has not had a single vote to which I disagreed with. I've never been this excited about a libertarian Republican running for office since the '08 Ron Paul campaign!

Be sure to visit his website (http://www.amashforcongress.com) that was just launched today. You can read a little more about him and see his speech to the Tea Party last April here (http://redstateeclectic.typepad.com/redstate_commentary/2010/02/justin-amash-announces-bid-for-congress.html).

Justin probably has one of our best legitimate shots at getting someone to help out Ron Paul in the House of Representatives.

[Son of Detroit]

Where is this? Grand Rapids area?

[enrique]

It consists of almost all of Kent County and then all of Barry and Ionia counties.

[dr. hfn]

thats like schiff's website

[enrique]

Yeah, it must be the same platform.

[K466]

The site is similar to Schiff's but much better. Peter needs to get his site updated!

[UtahApocalypse]

I am in Muskegon so cannot vote for him but will come help whenever possible

[Nathan Hale]

Nice web site, this guy looks like a good candidate.

[UtahApocalypse]

16 year incumbent Republican congressman, Vern Ehlers announced today that he will not seek reelection which now leaves this race wide open.

[keh10]

16 year incumbent Republican congressman, Vern Ehlers announced today that he will not seek reelection which now leaves this race wide open.

Very Nice! That's great news.

[TheState]

MI 3rd CD http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan's_3rd_congressional_district

Are there any other announced candidates yet?

[angelatc]

16 year incumbent Republican congressman, Vern Ehlers announced today that he will not seek reelection which now leaves this race wide open.

HOLY SMOKES!!! That's awesome news!

[erowe1]

I haven't looked into Amash yet. But if he's as good as it sounds, then this is great news. I remember having some phone conversations with some of the leaders of the Ron Paul meetup from the Grand Rapids area, and they were definitely high quality volunteers. If they're involved in the Amash campaign, then he'll be a contender for sure, especially now that it's an open seat.

Edit: Just read over his issues page, and I definitely like what I see. I think this race deserves some serious support from Ron Paul supporters.

[angelatc]

I haven't looked into Amash yet. But if he's as good as it sounds, then this is great news. I remember having some phone conversations with some of the leaders of the Ron Paul meetup from the Grand Rapids area, and they were definitely high quality volunteers. If they're involved in the Amash campaign, then he'll be a contender for sure, especially now that it's an open seat.

Edit: Just read over his issues page, and I definitely like what I see. I think this race deserves some serious support from Ron Paul supporters.

He is definitely one of us, and he allegedly mentors other young liberty candidates too. I was filled with joy when I saw that the incumbent was stepping down - this guy has a real chance.

[winston_blade]

Great. Might have another couple RP's in the congress this year.

[AdamT]

Adding him to our CPAC R3V candidate's brochure. Good timing, this thing is going to print tomorrow.

[enrique]

Amash scared Ehlers out of the race and now a lot of other people who have been waiting in the wings are going to jump in. We need to raise a lot of money (http://www.amashforcongress.com) fast for this guy becuase he is the real deal. I don't know how better to express that than go to the link to RSE and watch his Tea Party speech back in April.

ERowe: I think we spoke back in the heady days of RP '08 (you were in the Michiana group?). Yeah, Justin is a winner and has the right connections to win as well. The best part is that he has really launched an explosion of viable liberty candidates in West Michigan and even other parts of the state.

Spread the word. This is a safe Republican seat so if he gets out of the primary he wins. This is probably one of our best 3 chances to get someone elected to serve with Ron Paul.

[Imperial]

I don't think this race will be quite that easy in the general. It is now open, and in the 08 presidential election it was 49-49 for Obama-McCain. So it is going to definitely be competitive to the end.

[enrique]

This is a safe district. Maybe, maybe it would be competitive in another Obama year with a great Democratic opponent but it is usually a 60-40 district. Whomever wins the primary for the Republicans should sail through the general.

One big name, Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, has huge name ID but announced that she will not run. So probably a former State Senate majority leader (4 yrs ago) Ken Sikkema, and current state senator Bill Hardiman. The race is surprisingly becoming less competitive as time goes by. It might just be Amash versus a couple state senators and Tea Partier Mike Van Kleeck.

How do we add Justin Amash as a forum? I really think he should have one because he has a legitimate chance of winning.

[MelissaWV]

You can contact the site admins, Bryan and JoshLowry (you can try private message), or you could add it to the "Forum Feedback" subforum.

I'm worried about all the "stepping down" I'm seeing nationally. It seems like a lot of liberty candidates see their opponents shift and change at the "last minute" (it's not really the last minute, but you get what I mean). Is this part of a process to seem to change the old guard, while achieving the goal of keeping the new guard out of office? It seems like a trend.

[erowe1]

Amash's web site says his campaign already has $74k. How'd they pull that off? Anybody know? Is most of that left over funds from his last state house race?

[Shotdown1027]

Hopefully someone is going to run for Amash's old seat, too.

[enrique]

I don't think he had anything in his campaign fund. He had only run one race so I doubt he had accumulated much. You only spend about $80,000 for an entire state house campaign in MI so I would guess the bulk are new contributions. He actually launched the site with I believe $60,000 or so on the 9th. He must have had some early contributors before his official announcement. But that means he's raised $10k + since Tuesday.

I totally see your point about the old guard stepping down to allow new establishment candidates take their place. That's just typical politics and why we need to be engaged at the ground level and running for seats like state house so when opportunities present themselves we can take advantage.

[cac1963]

Amash scared Ehlers out of the race and now a lot of other people who have been waiting in the wings are going to jump in. We need to raise a lot of money (http://www.amashforcongress.com) fast for this guy becuase he is the real deal. I don't know how better to express that than go to the link to RSE and watch his Tea Party speech back in April.

ERowe: I think we spoke back in the heady days of RP '08 (you were in the Michiana group?). Yeah, Justin is a winner and has the right connections to win as well. The best part is that he has really launched an explosion of viable liberty candidates in West Michigan and even other parts of the state.

Spread the word. This is a safe Republican seat so if he gets out of the primary he wins. This is probably one of our best 3 chances to get someone elected to serve with Ron Paul.

Amash is one of the 32 beneficiary candidates in the http://libertyslatemoneybomb.com Feb 17 multi-candidate moneybomb.

[enrique]

Amash just got about the biggest endorsement you can get in West Michigan. The DeVos family, who are part owners of Amway Corp. are very big contributors to the GOP. This will probably pare down the field a bit as many potential candidates will see the risk of trying to raise money with the heavy hitters now on Amash's side. The DeVos family have long been supporters of school choice and education reform so they certainly have some small government beliefs (although how much is hard say).

Here's what their spokesman said:"They enthusiastically support and endorse his candidacy and believe he has a strong record of standing up for smart but limited government," said a spokesman for the DeVoses.

[angelatc]

Amash just got about the biggest endorsement you can get in West Michigan. The DeVos family, who are part owners of Amway Corp. are very big contributors to the GOP. This will probably pare down the field a bit as many potential candidates will see the risk of trying to raise money with the heavy hitters now on Amash's side. The DeVos family have long been supporters of school choice and education reform so they certainly have some small government beliefs (although how much is hard say).

Here's what their spokesman said:"They enthusiastically support and endorse his candidacy and believe he has a strong record of standing up for smart but limited government," said a spokesman for the DeVoses.

You know what this means, RPF people? This means that there is a billionaire behind Amash. :)

[enrique]

The other confirmed candidate in MI-3 was Michael Van Kleck (http://www.michaelvankleeckforcongress.com/home.php) who had turned in the proper number of petition signatures. Van Kleck officially dropped out and fully endorsed Justin Amash. We will have to wait to see if someone jumps in the race. It is pretty surprising that people are so slow to announce their intentions for this open seat in a solidly Republican state. Spread the word!

[angelatc]

The other confirmed candidate in MI-3 was Michael Van Kleck (http://www.michaelvankleeckforcongress.com/home.php) who had turned in the proper number of petition signatures. Van Kleck officially dropped out and fully endorsed Justin Amash. We will have to wait to see if someone jumps in the race. It is pretty surprising that people are so slow to announce their intentions for this open seat in a solidly Republican state. Spread the word!

Was he a liberty candidate too? His web page says " I propose that Congress has lost sight of its purpose: that being, the liberties of the people."

[UtahApocalypse]

Added him to my Liberty Candidates list on twitter. see my sig for details.

[enrique]

Mike is a passionate supporter of the US Constitution and he dropped out because he felt Justin had the best chance to win. Pretty big of him. Here's the post (http://redstateeclectic.typepad.com/redstate_commentary/2010/02/amash-opponent-van-kleck-drops-out-of-race-and-enters-state-house-campaign.html) I wrote about him dropping out. Check out his press release. (http://www.michaelvankleeckforcongress.com/home.php)

[GeorgiaAvenger]

We need to help other people like this get into Congress

[Miguel]

We need to help other people like this get into Congress

http://www.karenkforcongress.com/

[Nate]

We need to help other people like this get into Congress


http://www.karenkforcongress.com/
+rep

[Charlie Harris]

The only thing about Amash that I don't like is he endorsed Hoekstra.