edmartinforcongress.com Press Release

(ST. LOUIS, MO.) Nov. 3, 2010 –There are a number of questions surrounding the votes in Missouri’s 3^rd district race. The people deserve to have these questions investigated and answered so they are assured our election process is fair and their votes are counted.

The three glaring factors which stand out involve the Secretary of State’s office, the sole decision of a newly appointed Democratic chair at the City Elections Board, and an unprecedented number of votes coming in late from the city.

The Secretary of State first of all is Congressman Carnahan’s sister, Robin Carnahan. She reported having irregularities and computer glitches early in the day. We have heard from countless voters who want those problems scrutinized. Many point out that the Department of Justice pursued, for three years, a case against Missouri for failing to clean up the process. “When filed in 2005, one-third of Missouri counties had more registered voters than voting-age residents. What’s more, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan,… contended that her office had no obligation to ensure individual counties were complying with the federal law mandating a cleanup of their voter rolls.” (Wall Street Journal, John Fund, July 8, 2010)

People also question the motive behind a newly appointed St. Louis City Board of Elections Democratic Chairwoman, Eileen McCann, hiring a security company with close ties to Congressman Carnahan. Special Services was called on by Congressman Carnahan to do security for him as recently as August 26^th. Carnahan paid the company $1400 at that time which can be seen in a quick review of his FEC filing.

Then just before midnight seven precincts within the city and county delivered an astounshing late night dump of votes. In such a hotly contested race and with so many voters concerned it only makes sense to make sure in fact every vote counts. Since Missouri’s Secretary of State is in fact Congressman Carnahan’s sister it is suggested she recuse herself from the investigation and appoint an independent investigator to look into these three main points of question.

“The people of this district want to make sure their voices were in fact heard and I pledged to them that I would fight to ensure it happens. We need to make sure the election process was in fact fair and that the numbers are correct. I saw several issues in my time at the St. Louis City Board of Elections and serious issues like this should and need to be addressed,” said Ed Martin.

We have been hearing about voting irregularities from a large number of constituents and are looking into all of these matters. We ask anyone who may have witnessed any sort of questionable acts regarding votes, ballots and the general election that they contact our office.

Senator Elect Roy Blunt of Missouri – Listen to our interview with Roy

Representative Elect Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina – Listen to our interview with Mick

Representative Elect Dan Benishek of Michigan – Listen to our interview with Dan

Special thanks to Chuck DeVore, Mark Shurtleff, Danny Tarkanian, Peter Mills, Alex Hammer, Sammie Bailey, John Dennis, Ari David, Ed Martin, J.D Hayworth, and Angela McGlowan for taking part in this Podcast Series.

Craig Edwards

Dem Russ Carnahan Wins, GOPer Ed Martin Alleges Shenanigans

The Associated Press called Missouri Rep. Russ Carnahan (D) the winner after a long night in his St. Louis-area district. Carnahan got 48.9 percent to Republican Ed Martin’s 46.7 percent.

The winning percentage is critical because a candidate who loses by less than one percent in Missouri is allowed to ask for a recount. Since Martin lost by 2.2 percent, he won’t be able to ask for one.

So Martin is pursuing another route. In an e-mail to supporters Wednesday morning he wrote that he thought there may have been irregularities in Tuesday’s voting process. He pointed to three issues. He said election computer systems were down part of the day, the Board of Elections hired a security firm with ties to Carnahan’s campaign, and a “mathematically implausible” number of votes in favor of the Democrat came in late in the evening.

“Missourians deserve to have their elections free and fair, and unfortunately Robin Carnahan’s office has not pursued the sort of clean voter rolls needed to have complete faith in an electoral outcome,” Martin wrote. “We will investigate, and keep you posted.”

Taken from QC Politics

EDITORS NOTE:  So how was it that Martin finished so strong, Canahan is booed at parades, doesn’t bother to show up to debates, quits campaigning… and wins? The Canahans have decided keeping it in the family was worth killing your right to our Democracy.  Harry Reid now Russ…. PATHETIC!

Craig Edwards

We’ve all used excuses before, ‘The Dog Eat My Homework’ or the classic ‘Officer, I Didn’t Know I Was Going That Fast’….. But as Speaker of the House facing re-election, Speaker Pelosi feels there is no need to debate Republican John Dennis as ‘Time Is Money’.

Some critics have labeled Dennis a RINO, even Dustin Reid at the Huffpo gave him the thumbs up over Pelosi!  Dennis has spoken to us here at Solid Principles as part of our Podcast, and I would answer those critics by saying, who would you rather have Pelosi or Dennis?

Craig Edwards

RELATED LISTENING: John Dennis Interview Solid Principles Podcast – Episode 21

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
Published: October 12, 2010

This year, Mr. Spratt faces not only a potential anti-incumbent wave but an aggressive challenge from Mick Mulvaney, 43, a state senator who is riding that wave on a Tea Party surfboard. At the same time, Mr. Spratt’s presence at events is somewhat diminished by his Parkinson’s disease, as his right hand trembles and his speech is sometimes slurred, though he remains mentally sharp.

At a debate here Tuesday at the Fort Mill Golf Club, Mr. Mulvaney shrewdly reframed Mr. Spratt’s carefully built career and cast his one-time political assets — his green-eyeshade expertise with the budget, his ability to work across the aisle, his success in bringing home the bacon — as crushing liabilities.

“People always ask me, ‘What kind of congressman will you be?’ ” Mr. Mulvaney said. “I say, ‘I want to be the kind of congressman John Spratt was in 1997,’ ” when he helped President Bill Clinton balance the budget.

But now, he said, Mr. Spratt is in the leadership of a big-spending Congress where the budget process has ground to a halt.

“The congressman of 1997 balanced a budget; the chairman in 2010 refused to even offer a budget — the first budget chairman ever to fail to offer a budget,” Mr. Mulvaney said. “This is not the bipartisan John Spratt that you’ve heard of from the late 1990s and early 2000s; this is the John Spratt that voted with Nancy Pelosi 98 percent of the time.”

COMPLETE ARTICLE: nytimes.com

RELATED LISTENING: Mick Mulvaney Interview Solid Principles Podcast – Episode 25