GOA/30 Elected Officials Endorse Leatherwood

[Pat McGarrity]

GUN OWNERS OF AMERICA
POLITICAL VICTORY FUND
A PROJECT OF GUN OWNERS OF AMERICA

8001 FORBES PLACE /SUITE 102 / SPRINGFIELD, VA 22151 / 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408

July 15, 2008

The Honorable Tom Leatherwood
Tom Leatherwood for Congress
PO Box 738
Arlington, TN 38002

Dear Mr. Leatherwood:

Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund is pleased to endorse your campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Tennessee’s seventh congressional district.

We appreciate your staunch support for the Second Amendment throughout your public career, and in your responses to the Gun Owners of America candidate’s questionnaire.

We are particularly eager to see an energetic effort to overturn the Veterans Disarmament Act which keeps some 150,000 veterans from owning guns. Based on a psychiatric diagnosis (that does not correlate to committing crime any more than the rest of the population) these veterans lost their rights without their day in court. They did not face their accuser, they had no attorney, and nobody proved in a court of law that they were a danger to self or others.

This is an issue that distinguishes you sharply from your opponent.

Sincerely,

Tim Macy


Thirty Elected Officials Endorse Leatherwood
for Congress in the 7th District Republican Primary


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, July 14, 2008

Contact: Chris Wilson at 901/ 652-8487

Arlington, TN – The list of area elected officials endorsing Tom Leatherwood for Congress in the 7th Congressional District is now at 30, with supporters including Shelby County and Fayette County Commissioners, city and county mayors and aldermen, Board of Education members, and members of the state legislature and Memphis City Council. Leatherwood is challenging incumbent Marsha Blackburn in the August 7 Republican Primary.

“The incumbent hasn’t been there when students and taxpayers needed her help to cut red tape and deal with the Washington bureaucracy,” said David Pickler, Chairman of the Shelby County Board of Education. “Representing the people of your district in their dealings with the federal government is important. Tom Leatherwood understands this.”
Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald added, “I think Tom is in tune with the needs of Bartlett and other towns in the 7th District. I know him and I trust him to do a good job in Washington.”

According to Germantown Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy, “Tom has demonstrated the willingness and ability to make government work more effectively and efficiently. In these economic times we need those skills in Washington.”
“I’m honored that so many of my colleagues have joined in my campaign and I’m excited that the list is growing daily,” said Leatherwood, the Shelby County Register of Deeds. “It means something when people you work with regularly give their public endorsement.”

In addition to Pickler, McDonald, and Goldsworthy, Leatherwood earned endorsements from Henderson County Mayor Dennis Ray McDaniel, Former Shelby County Mayor Bill Morris, and Arlington Mayor Russell Wiseman.

Also endorsing are Shelby County Commissioners Wyatt Bunker, George Flinn, and Mike Ritz as well as Fayette County Commissioners Joann Allen, Ed Allen, Ron Gant, and David Lillard, Sr. Fayette County Trustee Barbara Parker and Fayette County Register of Deeds Eddie Pattat have endorsed Leatherwood as has State Representative and Shelby County Board of Education Member Ron Lollar.

Other officials endorsing Leatherwood are Anne Edmiston, a Shelby County Board of Education Member, Ernest Chism, also a member of the Shelby County Board of Education and a Germantown Alderman. The endorsements from Shelby County include William R. “Bill” Key, Criminal Court Clerk, Jimmy Moore, Circuit Court Clerk, Debbie Stamson, County Clerk, Steve Stamson, Juvenile Court Clerk, Chris Thomas, Probate Court Clerk, and Chris Turner, General Sessions Court Clerk.

Also endorsing Leatherwood are Arlington Vice Mayor Harry McKee and Arlington Aldermen Glen Bascom, Hugh Lamar, Gerald McGee, and Brian Thompson.

In his current position as Register of Deeds for Shelby County, Leatherwood has returned money to the Shelby County budget every year, while serving as a leader in making information available at no cost to the public. He began his career in elective politics in 1992 when he defeated incumbent State Senator Leonard Dunavant, an advocate for a state income tax, in the Republican primary. Leatherwood went on to win in November and played a leading role in opposing a state income tax.

A geology graduate of the University of Memphis, he worked in energy exploration and as a Shelby County schoolteacher. Leatherwood is married to the former Melissa Mills, the daughter of educators who served in Hardin and McNairy Counties. They have four daughters. Additional information is available at http://www.votetomleatherwood.com, by calling 901-867-7780 or by emailing Leatherwood at tomleatherwood@bellsouth.net.

Paid for by Tom Leatherwood for Congress, Chris Thomas Treasurer

Local Officials Support Tom Leatherwood for Congress
in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District
(As of 12 noon, July 14, 2008)

Ed Allen, Fayette County Commissioner
Joann Allen, Fayette County Commissioner
Glen Bascom, Alderman, Arlington
Wyatt Bunker, Shelby County Commissioner
Ernest Chism, Germantown Alderman and Shelby County Board of Education
Anne Edmiston, Shelby County Board of Education
Dr. George Flinn, Shelby County Commissioner
Ron Gant, Fayette County Commissioner
Sharon Goldsworthy, Mayor of Germantown
William R. “Bill” Key, Criminal Court Clerk
Hugh Lamar, Alderman, Arlington
David Lillard, Sr., Fayette County Commissioner
Ron Lollar, State Representative and Shelby County Board of Education
Scott McCormick, Chairman, Memphis City Council
Dennis Ray McDaniel, Henderson County Mayor
Keith McDonald, Mayor of Bartlett
Gerald McGee, Alderman, Arlington
Harry McKee, Vice Mayor, Arlington
Jimmy Moore, Circuit Court Clerk
Bill Morris, former Shelby County Mayor
Barbara Parker, Fayette County Trustee
Eddie Pattat, Fayette County Register
David Pickler, Chairman, Shelby County Board of Education
Mike Ritz, Shelby County Commissioner
Debbie Stamson, County Clerk
Steve Stamson, Juvenile Court Clerk
Chris Thomas, Probate Court Clerk
Brian Thompson, Alderman, Arlington
Chris Turner, General Sessions Court Clerk
Russell Wiseman, Mayor of Arlington