Jay Riemersma For Congress

Date: March 3^rd, 2010

For Immediate Release

Riemersma Wins Ottawa County

GOP Straw Poll

Holland, MI – Today Jay Riemersma commented on his victory last night in the Ottawa County GOP Straw Poll:

“I am thrilled with the results of the Ottawa County GOP Straw Poll and the momentum that is building behind our campaign,” said Jay Riemersma.  “Thank you to the Ottawa County Republicans for a great event and everything they do to grow the party in West Michigan.”

Riemersma also won the Muskegon County Straw Poll a couple weeks ago.

Official Results from Ottawa GOP Straw Poll:

Date: February 1st, 2010

For Immediate Release

Riemersma Outraises Competition More than Two to One!

Holland, MI – Today campaign finance reports were released showing that Jay Riemersma outraised the competition more than 2-1. He raised $115,925 and his closest competitor raised under $58,000. He also has total receipts far outpacing the competition.

Jay Riemersma commented on the strength of his campaign finance report relative to the other campaigns:

“Our children and grandchildren’s future rests on the leaders that we elect. I am offering an outsider perspective that is not part of the status quo.

The strength of our report shows that are earning the support of the people of West Michigan who do not want to bring Lansing’s problems to Washington DC.

Candidates who voted for the Michigan Business Tax are having difficulty gaining support in the community, and rightfully so. Congress will eventually be asked to raise taxes to pay for President Obama’s spending spree. When faced with a similar decision in Lansing, some of the other candidates voted to increase taxes.

Voters are responding tremendously well to our message of cleaning up the mess that career politicians have created in this state and in our country and bringing strong, conservative leadership to West Michigan.”

2009 Total Receipts $351,750

2009 Q4 Total Receipts $115,925

2009 Q4 Candidate Loans: $0

2009 Total Donors: 3000+

The Riemersma campaign previously released support from several community business leaders including Jack DeWitt, Ambassador Peter Secchia, Jim VanderKolk, Dick Haworth, John Canepa, Keith Brophy, Luciano Hernandez, David Hooker, Joel Langlois, Arlyn Lanting, Dave Mehney, Dan Pfeiffer, and Mike Teeter.

They made the following statements when endorsing Riemersma in 2009:

“The MBT is unfair to small business and could be the worst tax in the country. It should never have passed the Michigan legislature,” said Ambassador Secchia. “West Michigan job providers need to unite behind Jay Riemersma so that the 2nd district has a Congressman who will not raise taxes when he gets to Washington DC.”

“We need a Congressman who will fight for sound economic decisions and the creation of more jobs in our state and country,” said Dick Haworth. “Jay Riemersma will not buckle under pressure to raise taxes to pay for more government expansions when our need is for less government that is more efficient.”

“Jay Riemersma has the leadership qualities we need in our next Congressman, and I believe he’ll make a positive impact for our values from his first day in office,” added Jim VanderKolk. “Jay has been a leader throughout his career at Zeeland High School, at the University of Michigan, in the NFL, at Family Research Council, and he will be a leader for West Michigan in Washington DC.”

Wednesday January 27, 2010

Holland, MI – In an interview on WZZM TV13 Jay Riemersma announced that he would be rallying support for Tim Tebow’s appearance in an advertisement for Focus on the Family. As Jay explained in a recent statement posted on YouTube, Tim’s pro-family, pro-life message is one we can all cheer about.

“We should show our support for Tim Tebow for having the courage to stand for his conservative convictions,” said Jay Riemersma. “He is a living example of why the right to life is worth fighting for.”

“Jay Riemersma deserves a special ‘thank you’ for his leadership on this important issue,” said Jerry Zandstra, President of the Pro-Life Federation of Michigan.

Jay is a candidate for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District of Michigan and former Executive with the Family Research Council.

The following press release was produced by Americans For Prosperity on January 26:

Americans for Prosperity Applauds U.S. Congressional Candidate Jay Riemersma

-Signs No Climate Tax Pledge-

LANSING—The Michigan chapter of the grassroots free market group Americans for Prosperity (AFP-MI) today applauded U.S. Congressional candidate Jay Riemersma (2nd District) for signing the group’s “No Climate Tax Pledge.” Riemersma joins more than 325 legislators and candidates on the federal, state and local levels pledging to “oppose legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in federal revenue.”

“The one thing elected officials should be able to agree on is that global warming shouldn’t be used as an excuse to hike taxes on citizens and businesses,” said AFP-MI State Director Scott Hagerstrom. “We encourage all of Michigan’s elected officials and candidates for office to sign the pledge.”

Other Michigan congressional candidates who have signed the pledge include: Tim Walberg (7th District), Paul Welday (9th), and State Sen. Wayne Kuipers (2nd District).

Cap-and-trade took its first step toward enactment last year when the U.S. House narrowly passed the Waxman-Markey energy tax bill, which escaped the lower chamber by a scant seven votes despite significant bipartisan opposition. The U.S. Senate has struggled to pass companion legislation, with several key Democratic senators openly expressing opposition to attempting to pass the energy tax bill.

President Obama has made no secret of his support for the bill, which would be the largest tax increase in American history. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has scored the House plan as an $846 billion increase in federal revenue, a burden that will be borne by taxpayers and consumers for decades to come.

“Using the guise of climate change to transfer dollars from hard-working citizens to big government is unacceptable,” said Hagerstrom. “Regardless of their stance on global warming, this should be common ground for all of our elected officials at all levels of government.”

The pledge is available online at www.NoClimateTax.com. AFP does not endorse candidates. All elected officials and candidates are encouraged to sign the pledge and go on the record in opposition to using the climate change issue to increase taxes and grow the size of government.

Jay recently blogged about health care reform on Rightmichigan.com. His article presents both the problems with the current legislative approach and offers sound alternatives. Read the full article here.