Joe Walsh Running in the 14th, Will Face Randy Hultgren in GOP Primary

Illinois Democrats have succeeded in one of their goals–making sure at least one of the five freshman Congressman won’t return to Washington.

The following email to friends and supporters of 8th District Congressman Joe Walsh announces that he will be running the the 14th District, which is where both he and Randy Hultgren were placed after redistricting.

Up until this announcement, it had been unclear to this observer whether Walsh would run in the 8th or 14th District.  He attended the Schaumburg Labor Day Parade and held his Small Business Jobs Forum on the night President Barack Obama gave his “jobs” speech to a Joint Session of Congress in Schaumburg.  Both are in the new 8th District.

Friends and Supporters,

Joe Walsh at his Wauconda Town Hall Meeting during the summer recess.

I want to let you all know that I’ve made my decision as to where I’ll be running in 2012.

As you know, the Democrats controlled the entire redistricting process in Illinois and they’ve drawn a map which attempts to overturn the 2010 election. The Republicans have filed suit to challenge the Democrat drawn map and have presented the court with their own fair map. We should get an answer from the Court in November but I didn’t want to wait that long to let you all know what I’ll be doing.

No matter which map prevails, I’ve decided to run for re-election from the district in which I live and where I represent most of my current constituents. If the Democrat map stands, I will be running in what is the new 14th district which entails a good portion of Lake County, almost all of McHenry County, Kane County, Kendall County, and some of Will and DeKalb Counties. I live in McHenry and my current District office is in Northern Lake County. This area is home.

I understand that there is another Republican Congressman drawn into this new district, Randy Hultgren, and it would be unfortunate if we had to run against each other.

But the new 14th District, if it stands, doesn’t belong to any Incumbent or any politician.

The district belongs to the people of this district and they will have to decide who their next representative is.

Randy Hultgren

And if they have to decide between two Republican Incumbents, so be it – in many ways Randy and I are both good conservatives who share many of the same values but there are also healthy differences between the two of us, we’ve both had a very different initial tenure in Washington, and the voters in the new district will decide which one of us will best be their voice in DC.

I decided to run for Congress almost exactly two years ago because as I said at one of my first events,

“I felt like I was losing my country and I was angry at both political parties for putting us on a path which would bankrupt future generations and suffocate the freedoms we’ve always revered.”

I proudly said I was a child of the growing tea party movement, a movement of patriotic folks intent on stopping the growth of government and restoring our most basic freedoms.

ABC reporter asks, "Are you going to be a one-term wonder?"

I said during the campaign I was going to go to Washington and scream from the mountaintop about the frightening direction our country was heading and that’s what I’ve done, becoming one of the most outspoken voices in Congress.

Friends, we’re in a fight, a fight we can’t lose.

This President doesn’t understand what makes America great.

His policies are destroying what makes this the greatest and freest country in the history of this planet, and the only way we will defeat him and those who agree with him is to respectfully fight him with everything we’ve got.

Now is not the time to have career politicians in Washington who will just get along, compromise too much, and do what their party leadership tells them to do.

We need members of Congress right now who will fight for the folks back home, do what’s right, and not worry about the next election.

I went to Washington because I believe America is going through a revolution over her very soul and I wanted to do my part to help win this fight.

  • It’s why I’ve been so vocal this first year,
  • it’s why I’ve been a leader in the fight for the balanced budget amendment,
  • it’s why I was one of 22 Republicans who voted against my own Speaker’s final debt ceiling compromise,
  • it’s why I sleep in my office,
  • why I’ve limited myself to no more than six years in Congress,
  • it’s why I turned down my Congressional health and retirement benefits, and
  • it’s why I did not attend President Obama’s joint session speech the other week and instead came home and listened to 100 small business owners, the real job creators in this country.

We are at a crucial point in our country’s history and our side — the side that believes in freedom and limited government — has to win.

I do hope we overturn the Democrat drawn map, but if we don’t, I will be running where I live and I invite you all to join me in continuing this fight.

I also look forward to meeting fellow “revolutionaries” in Kendall, Kane, Will, and DeKalb Counties.

I said during the Campaign that I am a tea party conservative first, and a Republican second.

You see, I believe the tea party movement is bigger than either party — it consists of every American frustrated, concerned, angry and scared with how big government is getting and the debt we’re placing on ourselves and future generations.

This “silent majority” has put their faith in the Republican Party one last time to get it right.

We took a good first step in getting it right this past year. Let’s make sure we Republicans continue to do what’s right. Go to www.walshforcongress.com and join us in this fight.

Thank you,

Congressman Joe Walsh


Comments

Joe Walsh Running in the 14th, Will Face Randy Hultgren in GOP Primary — 15 Comments

  1. Nutty or Nuttier – hmmm – since suicide is out of the question and I can’t move because my mortgage is underwater – what is a sane person to do? Both think Hoover was a swell president and agree that child labor laws are job killers. Is anyone running in the GOP for IL-14 that aren’t the poster boy for conservative humorist PJ O’Rourke’s famous quip: “Republicans insist that government doesn’t work and then get elected and prove it.”

  2. Knowing that a Republican will be representing this district no matter what – I should back Walsh. He is the more extreme and crazier of the 2. However – Rep Walsh faces his constituents regularly. And not for show either – he takes the criticism along with the praise and doesn’t duck the detractors. He means what he says and while that may be horrifying and deadly to the economy – at least you know what you are getting. He’s also frequently on tv…plus his hair looks great.

  3. Eric,

    My hair isn’t as coiffed as Joe’s, but it is still a full head of hair.

    Check out my old Facebook campaign page: http://www.facebook.com/RisingTideCampaign

    I’m looking for people who could help kickstart a campaign to give GOP primary voters an alternative to the two “Tea Party” candidates.

    Not that I have anything against tea or a good party — it’s just that I’m more of a diet cola guy for my caffeine jolt.

    Maybe you know some people who wants to join my “Cola Party” campaign? Maybe even you?

    Bill Scheurer

  4. Eric, please be serious. The instant you suggest anyone would change Child Labor laws your entire rant goes off the rails. What utter nonsense. Reevaluating the way our government does business is a bipartisan effort led by our President. The fact Hultgren and Walsh also have a responsibility to their constituency and take this responsibility seriously in Washington does not make them “crazy”. In fact, it makes them quite main stream. You may have an argument somewhere in your head but it sure didn’t come out here. Try again.

    Bill, if you are soliciting support and endorsement from a person who writes as wantonly as Eric you may want to reevaluate your run for national office. Please try with a School Board or County Board run before you involve yourself with people seriously interested in this nation, her direction and the conversation involved in getting her righted. I would invite you to grow a bit in knowledge and involvement so the voters may take you seriously. I’ll look forward to watching you grow. Good luck.

  5. Priest,

    Have you ever read or listened to the astonishingly “wanton” writings of Joe’s supporters? I congratulate you for trying to upgrade the tone of our conversations — but please do not tar the candidates with every statement of their supporters or would-be supporters. Really, Eric’s tone is quite mild (and as you may have missed, fondly ironic) compared with the genuine “rants” we heard in 2010 from the partisans.

    And, as for school board or county board, the only campaigns that have ever interested me are Congressional campaigns. For all the good or harm state and local governments can do (which is considerable, and which I respect) — school boards and county boards can’t print money and can’t start a war. I have no interest in climbing a political ladder. My only concern is our country.

    Bill

  6. I am a conservative and I also believe in honor and integrity. Walsh has neither and is a poor “so called ” representative of the people. Though what he says may sound right, anyone can say it and so it comes down to how does this person live his life ? Research him. See what a fraud he is and my goodness people, do not trust him. He cares about one thing and one thing only Joe. He wants to be noticed, a sort of celebrity and this is his ticket. If we hold the liberals accountable for thir actions and character, then we certainly must also do the same for those who “claim” to be one of us….period. I will support the credible, honest, hard working conservative who challanges him. Walsh is none of the above and his clownlike behavior and dishonesty is a nasty stain on the tea party and conservatives.

    To Mr. Scheuerer, for the good ofthe people, please stay out of the race, you will only hurt the chances of us getting someone who is genuine and can actually win this race. Run for something else, but please stay out of this race.

  7. I will do everything in my power to reelect Joe Walsh…he is energetic and gets it…our Nation is in a full fledged revolution, but it is lawful and orderly…Joe has done everything he said he would and then some…he does represent my interests and those of many others I associate with… this is absolutely no reflection on Mr. Hultgren who I do not know…JB

  8. Interesting Mr. Scheurer… I make a comment about you taking time out of your day to devalue your own stock by soliciting a person who writes unintelligent banter on a blog and your best response is to ask me to not tar the candidate with their supporter’s drivel. Mr. Walsh(or Mr. Durbin or Ms. Pelosi….), as far as I know, does not bother to solicit support from people who are incapable of a cogent argument on a blog. You do. I merely suggested you may want to gain a bit of political sophistication through service in meaningful and profoundly local involvement and you just told the voting populace you think their children and their neighborhoods are unimportant to you. Congratulations. I tried to steer you out of this territory and allow you to distance yourself from your previous comment unscathed and you don’t just own the comment but you tell us all how little you think of us. Goodness gracious. I hope you have a good safe job. You won’t ever be capable of national office at this rate.

    Sheryl… Well put. This is the kind of argumentation useful to the race. If you respect a human being who is fractured and broken who has moved forward and decided to serve The People’s interests in a fashion he communicates clearly to his constituency in spite of his mistakes then Mr. Walsh is your man. If you want someone who has played it straight and won’t understand people who make mistakes but will serve admirably, if without distinguishment, for the conservatives then Mr. Hultgren is your man. As for many who have made mistakes in their lives and have had financial difficulties in this economy we know who represents them. For many who have paid their bills and led a very good life Mr. Hultgren represents them. Thank you for delineating the battle lines so clearly.

  9. The reason Walsh skipped the jobs speech by Obama and flew back to Illinois, (on tax payers money) to listen to business owners, because he’s going to be out of a job very soon. I’m sure he handed them his resume too.

    I hope Schuer runs again. The more competition the better.

  10. Since Rep. Walsh won’t run in the new 8th Dist., that race will be won by Rich Evans, a conservative Republican who has been campaigning since June 20.

  11. I don’t consider Randy Hultgren a “Tea Party” candidate as Bill Scheurer states.

    Randy’s complaints are unreasonable for Joe’s decision on running in the 14th.

    Although Joe may have financial issues in his private life, it has not affected the Joe he is doing as a Congressman.

  12. oops – meant to say: it has not affected the job he is doing as a Congressman.

  13. Saying that Joe is only looking out for Joe is a pretty poor argument. Aren’t we all just looking out for ourselves? Does it really affect me that people don’t have jobs? I have one, and that’s all I’m worried about. Any politician in office, any person, is looking out for him or herself first, it’s just human nature. Joe does a pretty good job at listening to anyone who is willing to talk to him. He listens to all kinds, and then takes the information to Washington. Is every single person going to be happy, nope, impossible.

    I also think that we need not worry about whatever is happening in his personal life, it is his personal life. I don’t care what happened with Monica and Bill, he wasn’t my husband.

    As far as the 14th district goes, don’t blame Joe. He lives there, if you want him in another district, maybe everyone should chip in on a new house.

  14. Does integrity, paying your bills (mortgage), responsibility to your children (child support), and honor mean anything in our party anymore. But hey we like him, he yells alot and he has alot of town hall meetings, so forget about and ignore who is this man really, a con (which by the way always say the right things, that’s why their con works). Anyone can say the right things and have a townhall everyday, but I want a person that I’m proud to call my rep, not a cheat (girlfriend first, child support never, foreclosed and didn’t pay his debt, and now my home value has declined because of irresponsible people like him). HIS Job is to make legislation, which he hasn’t.

    So, now the district is not good enough to work hard for and get everyones vote. Instead he wants to kick another repub out of office. One word, selfish!

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