DCCC Statement on Joe Bock Primary Win in IN-02

 From Brandon Lorenz of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee:

“Whether it’s her support to privatize Social Security and gamble with the retirement of Hoosiers on Wall Street or her votes to end the Medicare guarantee and raise costs on seniors, Congresswoman Walorski has made it clear she marches in lockstep with the Tea Party and its reckless agenda. Joe Bock will be a fighter for the middle class and hold Congresswoman Walorski accountable for her decision to shut down the federal government and put insurance companies in charge to deny care and raise health care costs.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 7, 2014
CONTACT: J.P. Duffy or Darin Miller

FRC Action, Pro-Family Coalition Score Huge Wins in Indiana Legislative Races

Big Price to Pay for Abandoning Natural Marriage

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council Action (FRC Action) joined a coalition of pro-family groups in praising Indiana voters for sending a powerful message at the polls yesterday that there is a price to pay for refusing to preserve marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Two Republican House members - Kathy Heuer and Rebecca Kubacki - lost their races by huge margins after voting to deprive voters of the right to vote on the future of marriage. FRC Action partnered with the National Organization for Marriage, CitizenLink, Indiana Family Institute, Indiana Family Action, and American Family Association of Indiana to spread the word about how these incumbents disenfranchised voters.

FRC Action President Tony Perkins released the following statement:

"Indiana voters sent a powerful message that there is a price to pay for denying voters the right to decide the future of marriage. By removing State Reps. Kathy Heuer and Rebecca Kubacki, voters made it very clear that leaving the definition of marriage to activist judges is unacceptable.

"The election outcome reinforces the findings of an FRC-commissioned survey released last month showing three-quarters of Republican voters want their elected officials to uphold natural marriage as the national standard. Voters in Indiana and across the country are now realizing that much more than marriage is on the line. Elected officials can no longer avoid the reality that the redefinition of marriage leads to the loss of our most basic freedoms.

"Redefining natural marriage is about far more than the marriage altar; it is about fundamentally altering society. In the wake of same-sex marriage, religious freedom and parental rights have been lost. Business owners, like florists, bakers and photographers, have been hauled into court, fined and even put out of business for simply refusing to participate in a same-sex wedding. But it doesn't stop there; university professors, sportscasters and even members of the military have been demoted or fired for simply believing marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Families have been impacted as parents have lost the right to determine whose values are taught to their children," concluded Perkins.

Josh Duggar, FRC Action's executive director, said:

"Having spent time at the State Capitol during the debate on the Marriage Protection Amendment, I was saddened to see how some legislators were quite disconnected from the people they represent. Indiana voters did the right thing by holding these elected officials accountable. Voters clearly want to see their elected leaders stand strongly for the very core values that gave rise to our great country," concluded Duggar.

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Secretary of State Releases Primary Election Voter Turnout Report

Early voting continues to rise in Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS (June 2, 2014) — Today, Secretary of State Connie Lawson announced that 13 percent or 617,156 of Indiana’s 4.5 million registered voters cast a vote in the May 6 Primary Elections. Indiana saw more Hoosiers opt for early voting during the 2014 Primary Election. During the primary, 16 percent of voters who cast a ballot voted early, compared to 12 percent in 2012 and 11 percent in 2010 and 2008.

“I believe our actual voter turnout numbers may be higher than 13 percent,” said Secretary Lawson. “We are currently in the process of updating our voter list, which will give us clear data on Indiana’s real voter turnout numbers in future elections.”

Indiana saw an increase in the number of counties moving to the cost-saving vote center model. During the primary election, 16 counties chose to use vote centers compared to 7 in the 2012 election cycle. As a state senator, Secretary Lawson authored legislation giving counties the option to establish vote centers, which has the potential to significantly improve efficiency and reduce county election costs. Vote centers consolidate multiple precincts into a single location, allowing counties the opportunity to save on costs associated with hiring poll workers and purchasing voting machines and supplies. Vote center counties also had 13 percent of voters cast ballots in the Primary Election.  

“As I traveled throughout Indiana on Election Day, I was impressed with how counties have deployed their vote center operation plans,” said Secretary Lawson.  “Voters showed a positive reaction to the change and appreciated the flexibility in choosing where to vote.”

The complete 2014 Primary Election Turnout and Absentee Chart with voter statistics for each county can be viewed online at http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/primary14/2014PrimaryTurnout.pdf. The report was compiled by the Election Division of the Secretary of State’s office from voter data gathered in Indiana’s 92 counties.

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• Teachers Don’t Care About Kids – He gutted education and froze teacher pay, and even once suggested that teachers “don’t care about kids. They don’t care about classrooms. They only care about their jobs and their pensions.”
• Whining Losers – In attempt to defend his destructive agenda in the face of the throngs of teachers, parents, students, seniors, women, minorities and middle-class families who turned out to protest it, Tillis brushed off their concerns just as quickly as he did during session. Tillis said “what I see from the folks who are opposing our agenda is whining coming from losers.”
• Divide and Conquer – Tillis was caught on tape in Asheville hashing out his desire to “divide and conquer the people who are on assistance” suggesting that we ought to get certain people “to look down at” unwed mothers who “choose” to be dependent on government. He continued on the topic of single mothers by explaining that “we may end up taking care of those babies, but we are not going to take care of you.” 

• Cutting public education by nearly $500 million (perhaps his top and most immediate liability)
• Handing out tax cuts to the wealthy instead of funding pay raises for NC teachers, who rank 46th in the nation in pay (that tax plan caused a $445 million shortfall that Tillis will have to plug in the session that begins May 14)
• Killing an equal pay bill to help end gender discrimination in pay
• Defunding Planned Parenthood and ramming through a bill aimed at closing women’s health clinics under the guise of a motorcycle safety bill
• Passing a voter access bill that was called the most restrictive in the nation
• Gutting unemployment insurance for 170,000 North Carolinians
• Rejecting health care for 500,000 North Carolinians

• Opposing the federal minimum wage, and even calling an increase that would benefit one million North Carolinians “dangerous”
• Advocating for the elimination of the Department of Education
• Admitting he believes states have the authority to ban birth control and supporting a so-called Personhood Amendment that could make some forms of birth control illegal
• Disagreeing with 97% of scientists in asserting that climate change is not a fact

 
The fundraiser’s host laid it out clear as day, explaining, “Did [Tillis] help us? Yes. So I support him.”
 
Caught Lying About Scandal
 
In 2012, two top Tillis staffers were forced to resign after they were found having extramarital affairs with lobbyists. One of the staffers was Tillis’ chief of staff and shared an apartment with Tillis, but Tillis denied any knowledge of the affair.
 
Tillis allowed the staffers to resign and, despite the cause of their resignation, Tillis rewarded them with generous taxpayer-funded severance packages worth almost $20,000. At the time, Tillis defended the payments saying it was important to consider the “human side” and the “difficult transition period” for the disgraced staff.
 
Fast forward to 2014 and Tillis is attempting to rewrite history, saying he “fired” the staffers in an ad. But despite trying to lie about his scandal-plagued staff, Tillis was called out by PolitiFact, FactCheck.Org, the Washington Post Fact Checker, the Asheville Citizen-Timesand the Charlotte Observer.
 
Over the next 6 months, as general election voters tune it to learn more about Thom Tillis what exactly will they find? A long record of offensive and disturbing comments, an agenda that devastated the middle class, a laundry list of out-of-touch positions, and a history of scandal and pay-to-play

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee National Press Secretary Justin Barasky issued the following statement on Thom Tillis and the Republican primary in North Carolina:

“The Koch brothers, Karl Rove, and other Washington special interests spent millions to drag Thom Tillis over the finish line tonight to reward him for implementing an anti-middle class agenda in the North Carolina state legislature.  No one in the country has done more for the Koch brothers than Thom Tillis – cutting public education nearly $500 million, cutting taxes for the wealthy while refusing pay raises for teachers, and killing an equal pay bill.