Ed Gillespie Makes it Official

Former RPV and RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie has officially announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in 2014.

Let the games begin!  Full text of the press release is below:

Ed Gillespie Announces Campaign for United States Senate in Virginia

Video Message

Video Message in Spanish

ALEXANDRIA – Alexandria communications consultant and former White House aide Ed Gillespie today announced his campaign for U.S. Senate in a video message. Further announcements regarding the Ed Gillespie for Senate campaign will be made in the days and weeks ahead. A brief biography of Ed Gillespie is available at http://edforsenate.com/about/

A transcript of the video is available below.

Hi, I’m Ed Gillespie and this is my wife Cathy and our family.

My father came to this country from Ireland because his father found work as a janitor here.

My parents never went to college but they’re two of the smartest people I’ve ever known.

And the hardest working.

They ran their own grocery store, and I grew up working in it with them.

They insisted that I get a college education. And I helped pay for it, as a U.S. Senate parking lot attendant. Over the years, with lots of people’s help and advice, I rose from that parking lot to the West Wing, serving as counselor to the President of the United States.

I’m running for Senate because the American Dream is being undermined by policies that move us away from constitutional principles of limited government and personal liberty.

Cathy and I have raised our family near historic Mount Vernon. And if our nation doesn’t change course, then our children, and yours and theirs will not enjoy the freedom and prosperity of previous generations.

If elected, I’ll be a servant of the people of Virginia. And a leader for policies that grow the middle class and foster upward mobility, enabling people to lift themselves out of poverty.

Policies that will make life better for working families and those who want to work but can’t now find a job.

That includes replacing Obamacare, which kills jobs and costs families the insurance and doctors they like. Senator Mark Warner cast the deciding vote for it. If I were a Virginia Senator, it would not be law today.

Senator Warner promised us fiscal responsibility, but he’s voted for nearly $1 trillion in new taxes and $7 trillion in new federal debt. Meanwhile, Virginia’s share of the national debt has gone up by more than $50,000 per household and incomes down.

It’s time we bring down our debt, raise up our incomes, and reduce unemployment. Some say our weak economy is the new normal. Well it’s the old mediocre, and we can do better.

It begins here in Virginia. And it begins now. I hope you’ll join us.

Background:

Mark Warner voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

(H.R. 3590 as Amended, 12/24/09)

Mark Warner voted for $1 trillion in new taxes

(CQ Vote #92, 3/23/13; Politico, 3/12/13)

Warner voted for $7 trillion in new federal debt
(CQ Vote #92, 3/23/13; Politico, 3/12/13; S.Con.Res.8, Introduced 3/20/13)

Virginia’s share of the national debt has gone up by nearly $50,000 per household
(U.S. Department Of Treasury, www.treasurydirect.gov, Accessed 1/9/13; U.S. Census Bureau Website, www.census.gov, Accessed 12/12/13)

Incomes have gone down – the median income in the U.S. has dropped $2,268 since 2009

The median income in the U.S. in 2012 was $51,017.
(Carmen DeNavas-Walt, Bernadette D. Proctor, and Jessica C. Smith, Income, Poverty, And Health Insurance Coverage In The United States: 2012,” The United States Census Bureau, September 2013, p. 33)

The median income in The U.S. in 2009 was $53,285.
(Carmen DeNavas-Walt, Bernadette D. Proctor, and Jessica C. Smith, Income, Poverty, And Health Insurance Coverage In The United States: 2012,” The United States Census Bureau, September 2013, p. 33)