Patrick Ziegler said he is the first republican congressional hopeful to earn a county endorsement. On Monday, March 15, all four conservative candidates for 20th District gave presentations to the Warren County, Washington Country and Essex County Republican Committees and answered questions about both domestic and foreign issues. Ziegler, of Ballston Spa, said he narrowly defeated Queensbury Supervisor Dan Stec and came in far above Chris Gibson of Kinderhook and former Saratoga County District Attorney David Harper.
Last night was evidence that I bring a thorough understanding of the issues facing us, domestic and foreign. I bring constitutional, fiscally conservative solutions to this race, said Ziegler.
All candidates were asked to speak for about seven minutes about their background, why they were running and how they got there, said Ziegler, to give the committees a feel for who they were. They were then asked a series of about 15 canned questions regarding healthcare, war, reliance on foreign oil and other big ticket issues important to Americans. Ziegler said this was interesting because the candidates got a chance to see where each stood and how much they knew.
`It was a good format for me because I enjoy studying policy and I want to be the candidate to propose meaningful solutions that will benefit the average American,` said Ziegler.
To find these solutions, Ziegler is touting three big issues as his main platform`more jobs, less taxes and greater freedoms.
`Many people in this district and across the country are concerned about the fact it took this administration and Congress a solid year to realize what they should have addressed first, which was the economy and jobs, not healthcare and everything else. Unemployment is affecting more than just those people who are officially unemployed, you have to count the people that are underemployed and making half the income they were making before, while struggling to put kids through college or fund retirement,` said Ziegler.
Ziegler said taxation is a big issue because the country `won’t be able to spend ourselves out of this $14 trillion national deficit.` He wants to make it easier for entrepreneurs and small businesses to pay the bills on a monthly basis and invest in the stock market, so they can both thrive and help create more jobs.
Greater freedoms, said Ziegler, have been imposed on by both liberals and conservatives over the past few years, whether it was being forced to purchase healthcare or the passing of the Patriot Act, putting Americans at risk of illegal and unconstitutional wire taps.
`Everyone is concerned about some actions taken by Washington in the past years and we need to make sure whatever we do to address national security doesn’t undermine constitutional freedoms,` said Ziegler.
Ziegler said he is confident he has the necessary support behind him to give now-Congressman Scott Murphy D-Glens Falls a serious run.
`I believe I have the support of many tea party groups and other organizations around the Capital District and bring both Republican and the middle American uprising together. With tea party support, I won’t lose to a Democrat in any theoretical race,` said Ziegler.
Ziegler is a Town of Ballston Committeeman, a volunteer state coordinator for HuckPAC and one of the founders of the NY Liberty Council, a coalition of grassroots organizations committed to constitutionally-limited government, fiscal conservatism and local control over issues, according to information from his campaign. Ziegler said he also brings recent first-hand experience with the subprime mortgage crisis and ensuing credit crisis, something he thinks is valuable and necessary.
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