TEA Party hears from Congressional, Senate candidates

Members of the Highland County TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party welcomed candidates running for Ohio's Second Congressional District, which will soon include Highland County, to an open forum Monday evening at the Hi-TEC facility in Hillsboro. 

Tony Brush, Lt. Col. Dr. Brad Wenstrup, and Lt. Col. Fred Kundrata, J.D., are Republicans seeking the congressional seat, and each spoke to the crowd of more than 50 people. 

Ohio 86th District Representative Cliff Rosenberger (R-Clarksville), who is running for the new 91st Ohio House District seat against Democrat Pete Pence of Hillsboro, spoke to the crowd. 

Eric LaMont Gregory, a Republican who is running for U.S. Senate against Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, Michael L. Pryce, David W. Dodt, Donna K. Glisman and write-in candidate Russell P. Bliss, Jr., was scheduled to speak but arrived late to the forum. He stayed to speak with several TEA Party members following the event. The winner of this race will face the winner of the Democratic primary between incumbent Sherrod Brown and write-in candidate Mark A. McGinnis.

Rosenberger told the crowd that even though they have heard it before, the upcoming presidential election "will be the most important election in the history of the country." 

To leave Democratic President Barack Obama in the office, Rosenberger said, would be to continue down a path toward socialism, and voters need to choose "to live in a free market society." 

In 2008, according to Rosenberger, Obama "stood on the steps of the Ross County Courthouse" and made promises that he hasn't kept because "he doesn't know what the hell he's doing." That statement was met with a round of applause by audience members. 

"To know where we're at, we have to look at where we've been," Rosenberger said. "We were at 600,000 jobs lost, an $8 billion budget deficit, over regulation. We were just floundering. We were not leading."

The state is now on track, and "we're ready for the jobs that are coming." 

Wenstrup discussed his military career, his work as a doctor and his conservative values. 

Wenstrup enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves in 1998, after witnessing what he described as signs of America's freedom being threatened. He accepted an officer’s commission and served in the Medical Service Corps. In 2005, he was deployed for a year of active duty in Iraq, where he served as a combat surgeon with the 344th Combat Support Hospital. For his service and actions in Iraq, Wenstrup was awarded the Bronze Star and Combat Action Badge. He served in the Army for 14 years and has been a physician for 25 years. 

"I want to turn this country into what I knew it was growing up and what it still can be," Wenstrup said. "Let's get it back to 'We the people.'" 

Wenstrup said, "Freedom works every single time," but since the adoption of the Constitution, there have only been three times in U.S. history when citizens have been given more freedoms. 

"We've been losing our freedoms," Wenstrup said. "Suffrage, the abolition of slavery and (implementing) civil rights and repealing prohibition are the only times we've been given more freedom. Everything else has been taking away." 

Because of his work as a doctor, Wenstrup said he is in a position to understand how health care issues affect his fellow physicians, patients and the industry. 

According to his website, Wenstrup said, "As a doctor, I can tell you that ObamaCare is bad policy and bad medicine. It hurts patients and will hurt our ability to recruit and retain doctors in our communities. Sadly, too many politicians claim to oppose Obamacare but stand idly by while others step up and take action to stop it. We must all work to repeal ObamaCare and replace it with patient-centered solutions, such as the ability to keep insurance between jobs and states. We need to encourage more Health Savings Accounts for routine office visits and minor medical expenses. And we must adopt additional lawsuit abuse reform to make sure good doctors can afford to treat patients."

Fred Kundrata addressed the TEA Party members, speaking about his 11 years of service in the Air Force and USAF Reserves, his work with the Pentagon, experience as a small business owner and his graduation from law school in 2011.

According to his website, Kundrata moved to Dayton in 1995, "and he became a member of the Cincinnati community in 1997 when he became a pilot for Delta Air Lines, where he was based in Cincinnati at the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. Fred continues today as a 14-year veteran commercial pilot flying international aircraft for Delta Air Lines at America’s largest international airport, New York’s JFK. He has traveled to four continents, over 60 countries in the world and to every state and several territories of the United States. Fred has fostered friendships with people from around the world and plans to leverage those contacts here in Ohio and the 2nd District to promote global business initiatives."

In 2000, he "transitioned from USAF pilot duties to leadership assignments as a staff officer at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio and then to the Pentagon in Washington D.C. In his Pentagon experience, he held positions in organizations under the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition and the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Air Force. Fred was credited with saving the government $11 million as a member of the acquisition team to select the next air refueling tanker of the Air Force, a $50 billion program. In 2007, (he) served in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in the war zone of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), where he was the Director of Operations and Chief of Staff of a Joint Task Force."

Kundrata is a small business owner in Cincinnati, owning an apartment business in Hyde Park. He said that he knows what it is like to have businesses fail and succeed and understands the struggles of what business owners face today. Kundrata said that he will work for deregulation of the obstacles that hinder business growth. 

Tony Brush said he is "pro-God, pro-America, pro-gun, pro-liberty, and pro-personal responsibility." 

He was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps. Brush has lived across the United States and moved to Clermont County in 2003. He currently works as a project manager for Tata Consultancy Services. 

The issues that he feels are most important for the office are seeking the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, reducing the national debt and to "restore faith in our elected officials." 

According to his website, Brush said that he wants to "enact term limitations in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. It is imperative that faith in our elected leaders be restored to the citizens of this great nation. Congress’ sole purpose is to serve the needs of their constituents. Instead, there is growing fear and mounting disdain for politicians whose only goals seem to be growing their personal wealth and power. Limiting Congressional terms to 12 years per seat will reduce the impact and control of lobbying groups, as well as eliminate Congressional worries concerning where their next campaign contribution will come from. This will empower our elected representatives to make courageous decisions to move this country forward and upward."

“When I entered this political race, I wasn’t sure what I would find as I traveled throughout Southern Ohio,” Brush said on his website. “I have found that every community is confident that their economic and social solutions can be realized one job or one person at a time. I am hopeful that this event can provide a spark to ignite and showcase these solutions.”