Public Statement by Republican Candidate for Congress Josh First

May 20, 2010

With the campaign over, it is now time to reflect on what we achieved.

Wow - The Josh First for Congress Campaign achieved a heck of a lot!  We punched way above our weight and obtained 24% of the overall vote, 50% of the vote in Dauphin County, and 51% of the vote in Perry County.  We also did respectably in Lebanon County, thanks to the hunters and outdoors community there, and one couple in particular who volunteered intensively in the county.  For a small grass roots campaign like ours, despite Josh having a natural affinity for the farmers there, Berks County presented logistical challenges, and Schuylkill County posed obvious political challenges (a good sign is that Frank Ryan did well there).

And all this on a budget of $10,000.00 donated by people across America, with no paid professional staff, but with a small army of highly motivated volunteers.  This is the very definition of “grass roots” campaigning, and boy did we make a splash!

Note that the winner got 31% of the vote, beating Frank Ryan by a mere 900 votes.  First was close behind, which begs the question: If we got that close to winning with an underfunded, understaffed, late-starting campaign, then what will the next time look like?  It’s reasonable to expect that we should win big!

The one sad aspect of this campaign was the Patriot News’ deliberate unwillingness to report on PA- 17th Republican campaigns or debates, or on a massive pro-gun rally attended by Josh, and the purposefully aloof attitude the paper’s reporters took toward our campaign irrespective of how much material we sent to them.  Given how extremely liberal the paper is, and the political reporters in particular, I suppose being ignored is really a badge of honor.  Despite five months of unrequited outreach to opinion columnist Laura Vecsey, Josh apparently posed a threat to Holden and was therefore sidelined.

All four candidates, Josh First, Frank Ryan, Allen Griffith, and Dave Argall, conducted a clean and vigorous campaign for the Republican nomination.  We have all gotten to know one another better, and some friendships have developed.

Now that the voters in the Pennsylvania 17th Congressional District have spoken at the polls, and we thank them for their support and for doing their civic duty, it is time to set our shared sights on helping U.S. Mis-Representative Tim Holden retire from Congress.

Tim Holden’s atrocious voting record and two-faced behavior are the reasons that I entered this electoral race.  His radical-Left voting record with Nancy Pelosi is at odds with the all-American culture and people of our beautiful district, and it is at odds with the Holden’s public statements.  Holden takes our tax money and redistributes it as though he personally printed it or earned it.  His earmarks cost us taxpayers money.

That is why I am endorsing David Argall for the general election.  Just because I lost the primary does not mean that I am walking away from this fight.  I want my country back, and kicking the double-talking Tim Holden out of office is my first step toward reaching that goal.

I want to thank from the bottom of my heart my incredible supporters and volunteers across the five counties of this district.  Thank you, thank you, thank you all!  You all worked so very hard for our shared values and vision for this congressional district, for our common love of our great nation, and for our mutual concern that America has deviated far from its core principles, values, and Constitution.

Special thanks and appreciation go to super-volunteers Carl, Marty, Allyce, Jack, Gabe, Don, Lisa, Jason, Joe and Sally, Susan, Dena, Cary, Barb, Aviva, Mickey, Jeff, Keith, Devon, Alan, Ann, Ron and Nina, Sherry, Geoff, Sandy and Sandy, Ivy, Sandra, Joyce, Judy, Jill and Steve, James, Ray, Dave, Ted, Bruce, Laura, Matt, Eric, Gerry, John S., Tim, Rob, and Jill.  Many other volunteers provided their time and effort along the way, and all of us deeply value and appreciate your donation to the greater good. 

Guy “The Mechanic” Crall and Bob Gold each provided key help in a pinch.  Each of you brought intense energy and focus to this effort that sustained me and the entire campaign at the most challenging times.  From our work together over the past six months, I have developed many new friendships that will endure for the rest of my life, and I have also cemented old friendships.  Your dedication has been humbling and inspiring.  I love you guys! 

To the many hunters, fishermen, outdoorsmen, freedom-loving gun owners, rural residents (especially Perry County and Dauphin County), and farmers who so strongly supported me because of my land conservation record and my outspoken belief in rural America as our last bastion of American culture and common sense, thank you.  You have all buoyed me up and carried me on your wings, reminding me of all the good things in life.  When I close my eyes and think back to my happiest childhood memories, and to the most important lessons I learned in life that made me who I am today, they were all from rural Pennsylvania, a place and time that was more innocent and pure.  Those rural landscapes not only sustain us with clean food and water, and with restful scenery hearkening back to the frontier beginning of our nation, but with traditional values and a way of life that are shaped by the landscape.

Farmland and rural living are synonymous with self-reliance, a strong work ethic, responsibility and accountability.  Farmland creates a lifestyle that breeds the kinds of values our nation is built upon and which we so badly need to regain.

My wife Vivian and our three children have had to endure many days and nights without their father, and I am excited to get back to playing ball in the yard and helping Vivian run the family.  However, they understood and supported my speaking across our district’s five counties, carrying a message about the importance of loving the original America, including its farmlands, forested mountains, scenic vistas, wilderness, and the people who inhabit those areas.  They of all people understand that this message is not “conservative,” but, rather, it is quintessentially American.  Their support was essential to being able to carry that message day after day for months.

My clients have been flexible and understanding.  Thank you.

Crystal did an excellent job of keeping up with the website, and I highly recommend her.

Campaigns take money, and although we ran a classic grass roots campaign that was heavy on foot work at the street level and volunteers, money was still essential to projecting our message in basic ways.  Funders have to believe that the candidate is a good investment, and I think that we raised a good amount of money in a very short period of time, which affirmed our premise.  We received donations from donors coast to coast, from like-minded Americans who share our views about re-taking our government, returning America to its essential values and practices, and having a strong foreign policy that is backed with enough muscle to ensure that foreign affairs do not end up as domestic catastrophes.  Thank you to all of our funders, and especially to JBH, John Jr., Michael, Allyce and Mort, Ralphy, Robert, Bradley, and Union Mike.  Getting to know Frank, and Allen and Jeff Griffith was one of the best aspects of this campaign, and I look forward to socializing and working with them in the future to return our nation to its essential roots.