Barry Welsh Endorses Tom Henry

Sixth Congressional district candidate Barry Welsh has endorsed Tom Henry while simultaneously slamming Congressman Mike Pence for his support of Matt Kelty. Pence has become a caricature and his support for Kelty should not surprise anyone considering he has a history of interacting with individuals of questionable character.

October 31, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Andrea Simon
andrea@levelsixpr.com
(317) 863-2550

Welsh Endorses Henry in Ft. Wayne Race/Pence Support of Kelty Raises Character Questions

CONNERSVILLE, IN - The contentious Fort Wayne, IN mayor's race has been a political flashpoint for Indiana Republicans in this year's municipal election season, with indicted Republican candidate for mayor Matt Kelty faced with wholesale defections from his campaign, lackluster support from his own party members and in a particularly embarrassing moment, withdrawal of the support of Indiana 3rd Congressional District Representative Mark Souder's endorsement.

In contrast to Souder's retracted endorsement, Representative Mike Pence, as he does with President Bush, stands in lock step with Matt Kelty, once again bringing Pence's alignment with politicians of questionable character into the public eye.

Democratic challenger Barry Welsh, the nephew of former Indiana Governor Matt Welsh and a United Methodist Minister on sabbatical to campaign full time in the rematch with Congressman Pence, has dogged Mr. Pence in recent years by raising questions about his choices; from Mr. Pence accepting contributions from and support of disgraced former Speaker of the House Tom Delay, for his fundraising dinners at convicted felon Jack Abramoff's exclusive restaurant Signatures in 2003, and also for his support of such recent scandalous luminaries as Idaho Senator Larry Craig, talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, child predator ex-Congressman Mark Foley, and now the indicted Fort Wayne GOP mayoral candidate Matt Kelty who's November trial on felony campaign finance irregularities will soon begin.

At a GOP fundraiser held in Fort Wayne on Monday night, according to a story in the October 30th Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Pence was the only speaker at the event to publicly embrace Kelty after several speakers rose to speak while avoiding mention of the mayoral election. Pence praised Kelty for "persevering in his campaign with grace under fire" [1] according to the Journal-Gazette.

Barry Welsh said in response, "Congressman Mike Pence's support for Matt Kelty is merely the latest in a series of bad judgments and questionable associations. He tells us Iraq is like Indiana, and then on the heels of his support of President Bush's veto of the SCHIP children's health program Mr. Pence further displays his blind party loyalty and all but total disregard for his constituents by supporting a candidate in Matt Kelty that has already violated citizen trust by questionable campaign activities. When Hillary Clinton learned of illegal campaign funds, she returned them. Congressman Pence refused to return the tainted funds from Tom Delay, and now stands alone in support of Matt Kelty, and the citizens of this district can clearly see the difference in the two political parties and they also see the constant mistakes Congressman Pence is making. "

Congressman Pence apparently is still supportive of the embattled Kelty campaign and continues to endorse and praise him at every opportunity. His letter of encouragement continues to be displayed on the Kelty campaign website [2] and this most recent statement in public raises concerns that Pence lacks the judgment necessary to serve as the 6th District's representative to Congress. Questionable judgment, a record of ignoring his constituents, and associations with morally repugnant and unsavory personalities clearly show that Pence's

judgment is flawed and will force voters to question if he is the kind of person who should be entrusted with power.


Voters have a moral alternative on the ballot in Fort Wayne's mayor's race this year in Democratic candidate Tom Henry and will have Barry Welsh on the ballot in November 2008 to make the right decisions. Barry Welsh endorses Tom Henry for mayor of Fort Wayne and is in complete support of his candidacy. "I am proud to support the honorable Democratic candidate Tom Henry and endorse his candidacy for mayor of the Summit City of Fort Wayne" Welsh said.

For more information please contact Andrea Simon at (317) 863-2550 by telephone or via email at andrea@levelsixpr.com. You may also learn more about Barry Welsh at his website at http://barrywelsh.org [3], on his blog at http://blog.barrywelsh.org [4] or via his various social network profiles accessible from the front page of BarryWelsh.org.

[1] http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071030/LOCAL/710300305
[2] http://www.mattkelty.com/mattkelty/endorsements.cfm
[3] http://barrywelsh.org
[4] http://blog.barrywelsh.org