Signing the Peoples' Pledge!
Dear Friend,
This week there was exciting news on the campaign front. I have already launched my re-election campaign and just this week we secured two campaign offices, one in Mt. Vernon and the other in Carbondale. My campaign supporters will be going door to door to spread my message of traditional family values, fiscal responsibility, and standing up for your Constitutional rights. I am so humbled by the support that you have shown my campaigns in the past few years and I look forward to seeing you in your town very soon.
I take every campaign seriously, and I pledge to you that I will work hard to earn your vote once again in the upcoming November General Election!
TAKE THE PLEDGE - The Peoples' Pledge!
As you may know, I am strongly in favor of term limits, and I have fought against Mike Madigan and the Chicago-led progressive liberal agenda in Springfield. I have supported multiple pieces of legislation since taking office that would establish term limits for all legislators and constitutionally officers in the State of Illinois.
Yesterday I joined Governor Rauner and Representative Dave Severin, and two Republican candidates for the Illinois House in signing a pledge to the people of the State of Illinois. Here's my promise to you: 1. I have never, and will never vote for Mike Madigan for Speaker of the House. 2. I support Term Limits to stop career politicians and I will vote to put term limits on the ball for the people to decide.
Bryant Victorious in Race for 115th District State Representative
Bryant Victorious in Race for 115th District State Rep.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 21, 2018
Contact: State Rep. Terri Bryant - [email protected]
Murphysboro, IL – State Representative Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) has declared victory in the race for 115th district State Representative. Bryant defeated her opponent Paul Jacobs in the Primary Election, and now moves on to the General Election contest.
First, I want to thank my husband Rick, and my entire family for staying right by my side during this tough and spirited campaign,” Bryant said. “I couldn’t do this without them. I also could not do this without the help and support of so many volunteers and supporters. I am honored to have earned the trust and the votes of the people of the 115th district.”
Bryant was targeted during the Primary Election campaign by a Chicago Super PAC, an independent expenditure group that poured hundreds of thousands of dollars of negative advertising in to the campaign both opposing Bryant and supporting Paul Jacobs. Bryant says she believes she was able to withstand yet another high-dollar, Chicago-funded negative campaign because the voters of the 115th district understand that she works hard to put the interests of Southern Illinois first.
“I’m proud to be from this area and I’m proud to represent the needs of the people of my district in Springfield. Despite the big dollars from Chicago that were spent to tell people otherwise, I actually do my very best to vote my district,” Bryant said. “In a Springfield that is sharply divided sometimes, I think the best thing you can do is remember who sent you to Springfield and why. I’m there to stick up for SIU, I’m there to stand up for our health care providers, our hardworking men and women that build our roads, work in our prisons, teach in our schools, and care for the most vulnerable. I believe the voters of my district appreciate that I’m always open and available to meet and discuss issues, and I try to put a premium on providing top notch constituent service.”
Bryant will now shift her focus to the General Election in November, where she will face Democrat Marsha Griffin of Jonesboro. Bryant handily defeated Griffin in 2016, by a margin of over 10%, despite the fact that longtime House Speaker Michael Madigan’s political organizations spent nearly $1 million funding negative advertising and paying for staff from Springfield in support of Griffin’s candidacy.
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Illinois Chamber of Commerce Endorses Terri Bryant for 115th District State Representative
Murphysboro, IL – With the March 20th Republican Primary rapidly approaching, State Representative Terri Bryant (R - Murphysboro) is pleased to announce that she has received the endorsement of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. Bryant says she is humbled and honored to earn the pro-business group’s support.”
“As State Representative, I have worked hard to represent the interests of job creators in Illinois,” Bryant said. “I am pleased and honored to be supported by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce in this campaign. Illinois must change its business climate to be friendlier to job creators. We have to work to bring jobs back to Illinois, and in a new term, economic growth will be my top priority.”
Todd Maisch, President of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, says the Chamber is endorsing Bryant because of her commitment to the legislative priorities of the Chamber.
“Throughout her time in Springfield, the Illinois Chamber has been able to count on Terri Bryant to champion issues that are important to job creators,” Maisch said. “The Illinois Chamber of Commerce is proud to endorse Terri Bryant for re-election in the race for 115th district State Representative.”
Representative Bryant, a current member of several local Chambers of Commerce, is herself a former small business owner, having previously owned and operated the Blue Bell Restaurant.
Facebook: @ BryantforIllinois
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National Rifle Association Endorses Terri Bryant 115th District State Representative
MURPHYSBORO - State Representative Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) has received the backing and endorsement of the National Rifle Association in the race for 115th District State Representative.
“I am very proud of my record of standing up for the rights of law-abiding gun owners,” Bryant said. “My commitment to protecting the 2nd Amendment Rights guaranteed by our Constitution is unwavering. As State Representative, I have always stood strong in my support for our sportsmen and hunters. The NRA has more than I am proud to have their support.”
Bryant, a lifelong hunter and gun owner, has compiled an “A” rating with the pro-2nd Amendment advocacy group. Representative Bryant received a letter from the NRA stating the following:
“On behalf of NRA members in Illinois House District 115, I am pleased to announce your NRA-PVF “A” rating and endorsement for the 2018 Illinois’s Primary Election. This endorsement is a reflection of your support on Second Amendment issues and your responses to NRA-PVF’s candidate questionnaire.
Our members will interpret your “A” rating and endorsement as being a solid pro-gun/pro-hunting candidate who is an advocate for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.”
Facebook: @BryantforIllinois
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Bryant E News March 3 2018
Dear Friend,
This week in Springfield, the radical liberal Democrat progressive forces from Chicago that control the House of Representatives took direct aim at the 2nd Amendment protections afforded to United States citizens in the Bill of Rights on our Constitution.
It can't be said any other way.
I spent the final two days of February in Springfield, battling Chicago Democrat-led attempts to implement a wide-ranging gun control agenda. Within 48 hours, legislation that creates new restrictions on age, ammunition limits, and new costs and licensing requirements on small business owners that sell firearms passed from committees to the House Floor for debate. I voted NO in Committee and on the House floor on all the follow gun grabbing measures.
HB 1465 would increase the minimum age to 21 for purchases of semi-automatic firearms or ammunition like the AR-15, .50 caliber shells, high capacity magazines and a host of other munitions. The bill narrowly passed the House 64-51 over my strong objections. In my view, HB 1465 is a punishing overreach. This type of gun grab is what was in mind when the founding fathers of our country made sure Second Amendment protections were included in the Constitution. Forced compliance with surrendering legally owned weapons is the slickest of slippery slopes. The bill makes law-abiding gun owners into criminals overnight. I VOTED NO!
SB 1657 would create new licensing costs and regulations for small, independent gun dealerships. The bill is probably the most notorious piece of legislation among gun owners and Second Amendment supporters in Illinois, drawing more than 14,000 opponents on the record when presented to the House Judiciary Committee. The bill creates a new fee and additional licensing regulations for businesses that do the majority of their business selling guns and ammunition. The bill would require gun dealers to have a state license for the owner, a state license for the dealer, and possibly a local license in addition to the federal license that is already required. The bill also allows for local governments to impose additional requirements on gun dealers.
Once again, Chicago Democrats are leading the charge to run up costs for law-abiding gun dealers. These new regulations will cost small businesses more time and money while at the same time killing jobs. When Democrats say things like ‘common-sense’ gun regulation, law abiding folks should listen closely to what they're trying to really accomplish. People that don’t own guns or know our culture and history in Southern Illinois don’t appreciate the traditions that we share with generations of our families.
We teach our kids how to hunt and how to responsibly own and use firearms. We don’t need the Federal or State government coming into our communities taking guns from law-abiding folks. I’m going to stand up for my district and vote to protect our Second Amendment rights each and every time.
Tracking Down the Fake News and Exposing Illegal Coordination Between Paul Jacobs and His Chicago Super PAC
In today's over-hyped, social media crazed world, it can be difficult to tell the real news from the fake. That has become especially true in the 2018 Primary Election for State Representative. Across the State, a Super PAC from Chicago is illegally coordinating with various campaigns and candidates for the Statehouse. Unfortunately, the 115th district is one of the places that this collusion is happening. I've gone into great detail in this space before describing how Paul Jacobs, the Southwest Illinois newspaper (fake news), and Liberty Principles PAC funded by a shady Chicago billionaire and his cronies have colluded to plant fake newspaper stories that later end up in illegally coordinated mail pieces and television commercials.
Well this week, Paul Jacobs' Chicago funded smear campaign was back at it with more fake news. This time, Paul Jacobs and his Chicago Super PAC and fake newspaper are claiming that I am refusing to debate Paul Jacobs.
Here are the facts:
1. Yes. Paul Jacobs did in fact send me a letter via certified mail at the end of February demanding three debates.
2. I in fact DID respond to Paul Jacobs' request. I have provided a copy of the letter for you below. Please note the date.
As you can see folks, you gotta watch out for the fake news from Fake Republican Paul Jacobs and his illegally coordinated Chicago Super PAC funded smear campaign.
I also had several questions for the Jacobs campaign in regard to their attacks on me and their positions on the issues. If you have any thoughts on any of these questions, I would love to hear them. See below:
6. In regard to specific issues, if you can not find a suitable date, venue, and moderator to accommodate both of our very busy schedules, I would like you to be specific in answering the following questions:
a. Your criticism of my vote to produce a balanced budget and rescue critical human services, educational facilities, and health care providers has been paramount to your campaign. In the absence of a state budget, it is widely known that a 40% across the board cut would be required to balance revenues with expenditures.
i. IF SIU were to have lost its accreditation, do you believe that would help or hurt our region? If you support 40% across the board cuts, which parts of SIU would you cut? What are your plans to restore funding that has been lost and how would you help stem the tide of declining enrollments at SIU and the overall outmigration of higher education students leaving Illinois?
ii. Do you believe that places like the Carbondale Women’s center should close?
iii. If the State of Illinois did not pass a budget, we would not have been able to consolidate past debts into a lower payment. The budget I voted for gave the Comptroller the authority to save taxpayer dollars on interest payments and allowed health care providers to be paid following a more than 2 year delay in some cases. How would you have addressed the $16 billion bill backlog that we were facing in July of 2017? Which of the state’s bills would you delay paying?
iv. When a Judge ordered the State of Illinois to start making Medicaid payments that we could not afford to make, which of the state’s bills would you have chosen default on in order to make those court ordered payments?
v. When Comptroller Mendoza issued an emergency alert the week prior to the balanced budget passing, she indicated that by mid-August, with no action taken, State employees would begin missing paychecks. As State Representative, in the absence of a budget, would you be OK with State employees not receiving a paycheck?
vi. Your own website indicates that SB 1947 was ‘a good start’, and now you are attacking me using your political PAC backers from Chicago for forcing a ‘Chicago bailout’. How do you explain a recent attack ad that you are running on TV slamming SB 1947 as a Chicago bailout if you also supported the bill? In case you are not sure what I am referring to, I have helpfully included a screenshot of your own website as a reminder of your past support of SB 1947.
vii. You have indicated that you would like to have Illinois’ school district system mirror that of the State of Florida. In order to do that, massive consolidations of schools would have to take place. Which schools, specifically, would you combine together? Are you in favor of one school district per county? One school district per State Representative district? You have repeatedly used this issue as a main tenet of your campaign for State Representative, so I would expect that you would have some detailed plans on which schools you feel should be absorbed into others and which towns you would choose to lose their school district.
viii. Do you support my efforts to re-open the shuttered Murphysboro IYC and do you believe the 100 jobs it will create for our residents is a good thing or a bad thing ?
ix. You are indeed a very busy man. Right now you’re running two optometry offices, a winery, restaurant, and a brewery. With so much going on, how can you reassure the people of the 115th district that you will be a full-time Representative, focused on the needs of the 108,000 residents of the district and their very diverse needs?
REMINDER - Polish Fest Parade Tomorrow in DuBois!
Calling ALL Volunteers! DuBois Polish Fest 2018 Parade This Weekend!
Team Bryant will be marching in the 24th Annual DuBois Polish Fest Parade on Sunday at 1:00 PM! This year, the parade is just part of the fun. Check out this year's schedule!
The Antique Tractor show starts at 9:00 AM at the K of C Hall with show cars welcome.
POLKA Mass starts at 10:00 AM at St. Charles Catholic Church
The parade line up and registration begins at 10:00 a.m. and lasts until 12:30 PM. Team Bryant parade walkers should be in place by 12:30 for lineup and pictures. The parade starts at 1:00 PM .
The DuBois K of C Hall is located at 130 S. 8th Street, DuBois, IL 62831.
We will have plenty of bright green Team Bryant T shirts for our walkers and great goodies to give away. I hope to see you there. If you have an immediate question, send an email to [email protected] and someone will get back with you right away.
Stay Connected!
My office in Mt. Vernon is open Monday through Friday and my office in Murphysboro is open Monday through Thursday, each from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM. You can also contact me directly through the Contact Form on my official website at www.repbryant.com - or visit www.bryantforillinois.com for the latest endorsements in the race for 115th district State Representative.
Your opinions on important topics facing the State of Illinois are invaluable to me. Keep them coming!
Sincerely,
Terri Bryant
State Representative - 115th District