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| Gary Glenn |
Gary Glenn today won the unified support of more than 40 grassroots TEA Party, 9-12 and Patriot organizations gathered in a first of its kind convention in Michigan. The coalition known as Michigan 4 Conservative Senate (MI4CS) pledges "boots on the ground" in his campaign to unseat the liberal and vulnerable Democrat, Debbie Stabenow.
With eight candidates on the initial ballot, in the first round five of the candidates were eliminated due to a tie with the lowest number of votes received. The three candidates moving forward to the second round were Clark Durant, Gary Glenn, and Pete Hoekstra. Pete Hoekstra lost in the second round of voting which brought the race down to a battle between Clark Durant and Gary Glenn.
In the final round Gary Glenn won the overall endorsement of MI4CS to a roaring and applauding crowd of 200 TEA Party leaders and members from around the state. After he was announced the winner, Glenn spoke to the audience and shared that the reason he is running for senate is his love of country and freedom instilled in him by his late father, a marine veteran who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. Glenn has been a TEA Party member and speaker since the TEA Parties began in 2009. He is president of American Family Association and co-author of the Marriage Protection Amendment in Michigan. He has ben endorsed by Mike Huckabee and recently the National Right to Work.
TEA Party leader Katherine Herrington said about the event “Unity and teamwork for the cause of individual freedom, it doesn’t get better than that!”
With eight candidates on the initial ballot, in the first round five of the candidates were eliminated due to a tie with the lowest number of votes received. The three candidates moving forward to the second round were Clark Durant, Gary Glenn, and Pete Hoekstra. Pete Hoekstra lost in the second round of voting which brought the race down to a battle between Clark Durant and Gary Glenn.
In the final round Gary Glenn won the overall endorsement of MI4CS to a roaring and applauding crowd of 200 TEA Party leaders and members from around the state. After he was announced the winner, Glenn spoke to the audience and shared that the reason he is running for senate is his love of country and freedom instilled in him by his late father, a marine veteran who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. Glenn has been a TEA Party member and speaker since the TEA Parties began in 2009. He is president of American Family Association and co-author of the Marriage Protection Amendment in Michigan. He has ben endorsed by Mike Huckabee and recently the National Right to Work.
TEA Party leader Katherine Herrington said about the event “Unity and teamwork for the cause of individual freedom, it doesn’t get better than that!”
Today's endorsement culminated an enormous grassroots effort begun in August 2011, when Cindy Gamrat attended a meeting of TEA Party leaders from across Michigan and persuaded attendees that a statewide coalition was needed to avoid the nomination of an establishment RINO.
The effort, organized by Congressional Districts and representing over 10,000 conservatives throughout the state, established four committees: a Vetting/Questions Team, a Debate Team, a Writing Team and a Prayer Team.
Randy Bishop, a founder of both the Northern Michigan Patriots and the Traverse City TEA Party Patriots explained the process:
Each group participated in weekly conference calls that typically lasted for 2 hours,...and sometimes over 3 hours.
Someone volunteered to create the MI4CS website, where information could be posted and communication between participating members could be shared about the candidates and the MI4CS effort.
After the "Vetting/Questions Team" received over 100 questions from members across the State, their Team Leader - Don Jakel (West Michigan TEA Party and I-Caucus State Director) reviewed the questions to make sure that they were not redundant and relevant to the U.S. Senate position.
The team then debated and reduced the questions down to a list of questions that the candidates were sent and asked to answer.
A very well conducted "Candidate Forum/Debate" was held at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, MI on Saturday, January 14, 2012. It was very well attended by groups from across Michigan, carried live on the internet via Patriot Voice Radio, and was filmed and posted on UStream.com on the internet.
During this entire process, many groups held their own "Candidate Forum/Debates" across Michigan. The candidates that participated thanked the groups for conducting these events and for being so involved in this vetting process.
Many MI4CS members attended Republican Party sponsored events to make sure that they we able to hear all of the candidates and get to know their positions on the issues.
After that exhaustive process, over 150 people from across Michigan, with two voting delegates from each participating organization, today committed to providing Gary Glenn the resources he needs to win the GOP Republican Primary on August 7, and the election on November 6, 2012.
In our opinion, all of America is indebted to these Michigan patriots. They have provided a remarkable example of how "WE THE PEOPLE" can take back our country from those who have so badly mismanaged it. With candidates like Gary Glenn, there is hope that our republic will once again be what Ronald Reagan described as a "shining city upon a hill."
Congratulations to Mr. Glenn, to all who worked so diligently, and participated in the process.
ReplyDeleteWe have much work yet to do.