Ron Paul's Michigan Campaign Chief Endorses Gary Glenn

Gary Glenn

LANSING, Mich. -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Gary Glenn Tuesday welcomed an endorsement by Adam de Angeli, the leader of Rep. Ron Paul's GOP presidential campaign in Michigan.

"I'm grateful to Adam for his endorsement and share his passion for the cause of economic liberty and restoring fiscal sanity in Washington that he and the Ron Paul campaign have championed over the last year," Glenn said in a statement. "I welcome and invite other Ron Paul supporters to stand and fight alongside me to help save our country from bankruptcy and socialism."

Glenn said he hoped the endorsement will attract support from the thousands of young people across Michigan who de Angeli helped mobilize for Paul, and that de Angeli's endorsement is indicative of his campaign's ability to appeal to a broad spectrum of Republican primary voters once they learn of his record and stand on the issues.

In addition to winning the support of Ron Paul's state campaign manager, Glenn has been endorsed by Right to Life of Michigan and has the support of many Christian conservatives who supported former Sen. Rick Santorum and admire Glenn's leadership the last twelve years as president of the American Family Association of Michigan. Rep. Mike Shirkey, R-Jackson, Glenn's Jackson County campaign chairman, supported former Gov. Mitt Romney in the GOP presidential primary. Glenn has also been endorsed by a statewide coalition of close to 50 local TEA Party groups and by former Gov. Mike Huckabee, National Right to Work PAC, and Term Limits America PAC.

de Angeli, coordinator since last September of Paul's 2012 campaign in Michigan and a veteran of Paul's 2008 campaign, wrote late Monday on his Facebook page that "in a political season marked by turbulence, confusion, and unease, I heartily endorse Gary Glenn for U.S. Senate, with most heartfelt wishes for his success."

Citing Glenn's record in support of Right to Work legislation, reduced federal spending, and auditing the Federal Reserve -- all issues that have been at the forefront of Paul's presidential bids -- de Angeli wrote that "Gary has run his campaign such that win or lose, just by making the fight, he is advancing our movement and our goals. He is building a bloc committed to our issues."

"Gary Glenn has always been an outspoken supporter for Right to Work, for Michigan and nationally," de Angeli wrote. "This is truly the litmus test of a conservative. The so-called 'right' for labor unions to...extract tribute from all employees under threat of termination -- literally billions that they then spend on politics -- is the transmission belt of the Left. It is abundantly clear that any serious conservative must support Right to Work as a fundamental freedom and as a shutdown of the left-wing racket that forced unionism is."

He wrote that Glenn's campaign "is humiliating" former nine-term Congressman Pete Hoesktra over Hoekstra's votes for the Brady Bill gun control law, for raising the debt ceiling five times to $11 trillion, for the $850 billion Wall Street bailout and the $192 billion stimulus bill, and for Hoekstra's opposition to both state and national Right to Work legislation, depending on which office Hoekstra was running for at the time.

Glenn led the successful 1980's campaign to enact a Right to Work law in Idaho and is a founding member of Michigan Freedom to Work, a group pushing the same legislation to legally prohibit compulsory union membership or financial support as a condition of employment at unionized workplaces in Michigan.

"I support Gary because he truly understands and is prepared for the challenges he might face as a Senator," de Angeli wrote. "Gary has spent literally decades fighting effectively for conservative causes, no matter how controversial. ...I know him by his record to be a man of honor, conviction, and determination, qualities almost never seen in politicians.

"Gary Glenn didn't just pay his dues. He was a leader, a pioneer, on Right to Work, on the Fed, on the budget. He has a proven record, in a field of establishment-sanctioned men with power in their eyes. ...The choice could not be clearer," de Angeli wrote.

See full statement on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/adam.deangeli