25th Senate candidates sticking to the truth
Time to check the claims made by the candidates for the Republican nomination for the 25th District State Senate seat.
So far, voters have received two mailings from incumbent Chris Lauzen and three from challenger Sean Michels, although Lauzen was preparing a third Wednesday.
Lauzen's fliers have focused on his family and his record, not mentioning his opponent at all. One of Michels' is autobiographical, and lists the local mayors and county politicians who have endorsed him.
But the second swipes at Lauzen.
Statement 1: "Eighteen years ago, Chris Lauzen believed in ... 'limiting terms of office for our state legislators.' " It says this was printed in a 1992 campaign brochure when Lauzen was first running for the senate.
Truthfulness? Yes. It reads "Chris Lauzen believes in ..." and the eighth bullet item reads: "limiting the terms of office for our state legislators."
In 2009 Lauzen was the lead sponsor of a Senate Joint Resolution calling for amending the state constitution to prevent legislators and state officers from serving more than 12 consecutive years in office.
Statement 2: "In 2003, Chris Lauzen said '... let us commit ourselves to a Republican New Year's Resolution. On March 17, no matter who has won our Republican Primaries, let's get behind them and go out to battle Democrats united.' " It goes on to say that in March 2008, Lauzen refused to support Republican Jim Oberweis in the special election to fill the 14th Congressional District seat.
Yes to the claim that Lauzen wrote that. And in 2008 Lauzen refused to endorse Oberweis, after a particularly nasty campaign against the man in the primary for the nomination. Lauzen accused Oberweis of "smearing mud" on the Lauzen family during that campaign.
As for Lauzen's materials:
He lists himself as being the "Lead sponsor on the 'Property Tax Assessment 2-Year rollback and Freeze.' " Yes, he was the lead sponsor on the 2006 legislation.
Lauzen also claims he "Reduced property taxes on VFW and American Legion Veterans posts" and "Sponsored the Breast Cancer Research voluntary checkoff on the state personal income tax return."
Both claims are correct.