Suzanne Scholte for Congress Latest News Archives

Connolly and Scholte - A tale of Two Candidates’ Friday The 13th

Posted by: campaign In: Front Page, Latest News 13 Jun 2014

By Riley, Virginia Virtucon

Today, Friday, June 13, the two nominees for U.S. Congress in Virginia’s 11th District will be holding dueling fundraisers. However, only one of them will be holding the event in Virginia, let alone the district.

Incumbent Democrat Congressman Gerry Connolly will spend 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Four Yawkey Way in Boston, Massachusetts raising money at Fenway Park during the Boston Red Sox vs. Cleveland Indians game. His schedule is as follows: 4:00 pm – Tour of Fenway Park Stadium (Optional); 5:30 pm – Dinner at EMC Club; 7:10 pm – Game Begins. Connolly’s event is hosted by EMC PAC, the political action committee for the EMC Corporation based in Hopkinton, MA

Meanwhile, Suzanne Scholte will be at a home on Ridgeway Terrace in Falls Church, Virginia raising money at a reception beginning at 6:30 p.m. with special guests Congressmen Frank Wolf, Rob Wittman, Robert Hurt; former Congressman Tom Davis; and conservative pundit Bill Kristol.

It is very telling that Connolly is scurrying back to his homestate of Massachusetts to raise money at a high dollar event now that Scholte is the GOP nominee. While Scholte is raising high dollars at her event as well, she’s also opened it up to people in the neighborhood ($40 per person / $50 per couple.)

This is certainly an unlucky Friday the 13th for Gerry Connolly with this revelation…

Click Here to view article!

Kick Off to Victory Party for Suzanne!

Posted by: campaign In: Latest News 12 May 2014

Dear Friends of Suzanne:

Don’t miss the “Kick Off to Victory Party” for Suzanne at our house (9103 Wood Spice Lane, Lorton VA) Saturday May 17 from 6-9pm. Suzanne, as you know, was proclaimed the victor at the 11th District Convention Saturday morning. She is a strong candidate ready to go up against Gerry Connolly. Now starts the hard work, the fundraising, and getting the message out. We know she will be outspent by the democrats but her message is strong and we believe she can win through hard work and the support of all those who believe in her and want the best representative for the 11th District i.e., Gerry Connolly has to go!!

This “Kick-Off to Victory Party” does not have a price tag on it. Please come and celebrate with Suzanne and give a donation of any amount. No donation is too small and, if you cannot give a donation, sign up to volunteer to door knock, spread the word, and get the vote out.

Former Governor George Allen and Susan are co-hosting this event and are looking forward to welcoming you all here next Saturday. I would really appreciate RSVPs by Thursday so that I can estimate food. And let me add that you do not have to belong to the 11th District to support Suzanne. Our goal is to get a Republican elected in every district. My husband and I are also enthusiastic supporters of Barbara Comstock in the 10th.

Please feel free to forward this invitation with the request that rsvps be sent to me by Thursday at [email protected] Al and I look forward to welcoming you all in our home.

Sincerely,

Alice Butler-Short

Suzanne Scholte Remarks to the 11th District Republican Convention

Posted by: campaign In: Latest News 10 May 2014

In 1847, a man named Hendrik Pieter Scholte, came to America leading a group of 40 families seeking religious freedom. He had been part of a spiritual awakening in the Netherlands that had put him at odds with the established church. He was jailed for preaching the Gospel without the permission of the authorities and his followers were harassed and forbidden to gather. He and his fellow Dutch pioneers decided to come to America to be a free people.

In 2008, a mother named Song Hwa Han, who is here with us this morning, and her two daughters escaped from a country that controlled every single aspect of their lives from where they lived, where they went to school, even what job they could have. Because this country’s government even restricted their ability to travel, when famine gripped their land, the family slowly started to starve to death. After seeing her mother, husband, and sons die, Song Hwa vowed to save her remaining two daughters and together they began a ten year journey to make it to freedom in America to be a free people.

Although these two people arrived in America 161 years apart, they both came when America was a land of opportunity and promise and prosperity. While America may have changed dramatically during that 161 year period, the fundamentals that made America great were still a part of our national fabric.

Yet, today that America is vanishing. We see government institutions used to stifle free speech, we see elected officials ignore the Constitution and the rule of law. We see attempts to limit freedom of the press and a refusal to recognize the seriousness of having an American ambassador and Americans serving abroad murdered. We see massive debt and joblessness. We see a massive government take over of our health care system despite the fact that Americans in every single poll have opposed this plan. Remember this was supposed to be about getting 40 million uninsured insured – it has also been a massive deception. This year of 2014 we simply have got to change direction. We have got to elect a Republican to the Senate, and we have got to defeat Gerry Connolly, who represents everything that is wrong in politics today. He does not represent the people of this 11^th district.

You all know my background of working for a strong America and promoting freedom, democracy and human rights abroad. I am running for Congress because I have the right background to defeat Connolly. Today, May 10^th is a very special day to two people groups I have devoted my life to helping. It was May 10^th 1948 that the people of Korea were supposed to vote in their first free election after Japan’s occupation but those North of the DMZ under the Soviet Union were prevented from voting. It was May 10^th 1973, that the people of Western Sahara formed the POLISARIO to fight for their liberation. Folks, let’s make May 10^th the date we begin the liberation of Northern Virginia and our country from the tyrannies of partisan politicians like Gerry Connolly .

By the way, my ancestor Hendrick Pieter Scholte was a strong and outspoken Democrat – that was at least up until 1859. In 1859, he switched parties because he was so passionately against slavery. In fact, he became an abolitionist and supported Abraham Lincoln at the Republican Convention.

This is the year for all of us to come together – whether Republicans, Democrats or Independents — to work together to preserve what makes America the greatest nation on earth: our constitution, our rule of law, our freedom of speech, our freedom of the press, our free enterprise system—our FREE PEOPLE. Let’s restore that America for our children, our community, and the future dreamers like Hendrick and Songhwa. Thank you.

Suzanne Scholte Wins GOP Nod for 11th Congressional District

Posted by: campaign In: Latest News 10 May 2014

Earns a Majority on First Ballot

For Immediate Release Contact: Anne Taylor
May 10, 2014 [email protected]

SPRINGFIELD,VA – Today, the 11^th Congressional District Republican Party nominated human rights activist Suzanne Scholte to carry the Republican banner in November’s Congressional election.

“I can defeat Gerry Connolly, and today is the day we begin,” Scholte said.

Scholte was nominated by acclamation after receiving a majority of the vote, defeating retired CPA Gerald Geddes and retired Army Colonel Mike Litzelman.

In her nomination speech, Scholte stressed unity and appreciation of America. “This is time for all of us to come together to preserve what makes America the greatest nation on earth, our Constitution, our rule of law, and our freedoms,” she said.

Scholte faces Democrat incumbent Gerry Connolly in the November election. Connolly is seeking a 4th term in the House of Representatives.

“We need a change from politics as usual. Gerry Connolly is the poster child for the do-nothing dysfunctional, hyper-partisan Congress. It’s time to put people before politics,” she said in her short acceptance speech.

Scholte also promised to run a positive, solutions-oriented campaign. “We will bring together people from diverse backgrounds and build a unity of purpose to achieve greater opportunity and hope,” she said.

Scholte, 54, is President of the Defense Forum Foundation, a conservative 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation involved in national security matters and dedicated to a strong national defense. A long time resident of Fairfax County, she is married to Chadwick R. Gore and is the mother of three sons. The family attends Falls Church Anglican.

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SBA List Candidate Fund Endorses Suzanne Scholte for Virginia’s 11th District

Posted by: campaign In: Latest News 07 May 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 7, 2014
Contact: Mallory Quigley, 202-223-8073

SBA List Candidate Fund Endorses Suzanne Scholte for Virginia’s 11^th District

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund, a national pro-life political action committee, announced its endorsement of Suzanne Scholte for U.S. Congress. Scholte is seeking the Republican nomination to take on incumbent Congressman Gerry Connolly in November.

“Suzanne Scholte has long championed human rights, and she understands that these rights begin in the womb,” said SBA List Candidate Fund President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Suzanne Scholte will boldly protect unborn children, women, and pro-life taxpayers. Congressman Gerry Connolly backs taxpayer-funded abortions, and even voted against limiting abortions after 20 weeks, five months of pregnancy. He must be defeated.”

Scholte hopes to challenge pro-abortion incumbent Congressman Gerald Connolly in November. Congressman Connolly holds a zero percent voting score with the National Right to Life Committee. Connolly voted against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill that would protect unborn babies beginning at 20-weeks or more than halfway through pregnancy.

Scholte has served in leadership positions with the Defense Forum Foundation, the North Korea Freedom Coalition, the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, the US-Western Sahara Foundation, and Christian Solidarity Worldwide-USA. Her humanitarian work has led her to receive numerous prestigious awards, including the Seoul Peace Prize, Sanders Peace and Social Justice Award, and Order of Diplomatic Service Sungnye Medal.

“Connolly’s radical position on abortion is out of step with the majority of Americans who want to see abortion as a rare occurrence,” said Scholte.

Suzanne Scholte will compete in the Republican nominating convention for the 11^th congressional district on May 10^th.

The Susan B. Anthony List and its affiliated Political Action Committees, the SBA List Candidate Fund and Women Speak Out PAC, are dedicated to pursuing policies and electing candidates who will reduce and ultimately end abortion. To that end, the SBA List emphasizes the education, promotion, mobilization, and election of pro-life women at all levels of government. The SBA List is a network of more than 365,000 pro-life Americans nationwide.

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National Journal Article Featuring Suzanne Scholte!

Posted by: campaign In: Latest News 03 May 2014

“Turning blind eye on North Korea human rights issue is acting like Sewol-ho ferry captain”

Posted by: campaign In: Latest News 30 Apr 2014

National

Updated: 2014-04-29 AM 6:31:25 (KST)

North Korea human rights activist Suzanne Scholte has called on South Korean politicians to come together… and have a united voice in calling for improved human rights conditions in North Korea.

If not, they will be regarded as enablers of a disaster, as tragic as the Sewol-ho ferry accident.

Our Laah Hyun-kyung has this report. South Korean politicians, who refuse to pass a North Korea human rights act, are like the captain of the sunken Sewol-ho ferry,… says North Korea human rights activist Suzanne Scholte.

“Those people remind me of the captain of the Sewol ferry because this man turned away from people, whose lives were in terrible danger. And hid his face and this is what the people are doing, that won’t address the North Korean human rights issue, hiding their faces and ignoring the political prison camps, the starvation, the crimes against humanity. The fact that women are being bought and sold and trafficked in China, North Korean women…is happening today.”

Scholte says,… even if North Korea’s human rights violation cases are referred to the International Criminal Court, as suggested by the UN Commission of Inquiry after publishing a report last month,… it will have limited effects.

“And that’s because China and Russia will obviously block progress because they don’t believe, as a member of the Security Council, that the Security Council has the right to be involved and address human rights issues.”

And that’s why South Korea’s role is crucial.
She says… an average North Korean no longer believes what they are being told by the regime is true.
The people in North Korea have access to the outside world.
And the outside world can utilize this.

“I believe that most people in that dictatorship are really questioning whether blind following Kim Jong-un is the way forward. So my point is.. you start to say that not only do we know who are committing these crimes, we know that it’s you who’s been involved with this. We start naming names, we make it costly for them to continue to blindly follow this regime.

And we need to be broadcasting that information in because the North Korean people I believe are starting to learn the truth and realize that the source of their misery, the source of their suffering is the Kim Jong-un regime, not South Korea, not the United States, not the people from outside world. It’s the regime causing them terrible suffering.”

Laah Hyun-kyung, Arirang News.

Reporter : [email protected]

http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=161611

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The Weekly Standards’ Take on the Rebirth of the Republican Party in Virginia

Posted by: campaign In: Latest News 17 Apr 2014

Can They Come Back?

The Republicans’ struggle in Northern Virginia.

Michael Warren

April 21, 2014, Vol. 19, No. 30

Published on The Weekly Standard (https://www.weeklystandard.com)

It’s hard to believe, but the rebirth of the Republican party in Virginia may be happening in the unlikeliest of places: the liberal bastion of Northern Virginia.

Take what happened last week in Arlington, Northern Virginia’s unofficial capital. For the last 15 years, the county government has been controlled entirely by Democrats. Arlington has Democratic representation at the state and federal level, and it hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1980. If you were looking for the perfect cross-section of the Obama-era Democratic coalition, you could find it in what some half-jokingly call the People’s Republic of Arlington. This inner suburb of Washington is a mix of college-educated young people, Hispanics, single women, federal employees, African Americans, wealthy white liberals, recent immigrants, and environmentally conscious greenies. It’s one of the wealthiest counties in the country and one of the most diverse in Virginia. It’s also the kind of place where public officials believe strongly in the transformative power of community gardens.

So it was big news on April 8 when a Republican won a special election for a vacant county board seat. Not only did John Vihstadt, a Washington lawyer and Arlington resident since 1981, win, he did so with 57 percent support. Okay, technically, Vihstadt ran as an independent. But the 61-year-old says he made little attempt to hide his personal party affiliation during the campaign.

“I really consider myself a big-tent Republican,” Vihstadt tells me. He’s not a social conservative or a member of the Tea Party, and he says he cares chiefly about local fiscal concerns. He actively campaigned against some of the county’s massive spending projects, like a $1 million bus stop, a nine-figure streetcar proposal, and an $80 million aquatic center. But Vihstadt also spoke about his longstanding ties to the community, including service on a number of civic boards and the PTA. On his campaign website’s biography page, he bragged that his daily commute includes a combination of carpooling, mass transit, and walking. A Republican, sure, but a Republican Arlingtonians could support.

Vihstadt cautions that his is a unique example: a special election based on local quality-of-life issues. Besides, he’s got another election to win in November, when loyal Democratic voters will be turning out in bigger numbers.

The truth is, the Virginia GOP is in a real mess, thanks in large part to Northern Virginia’s steady turn away from the party. The Republican middle-class families that built postwar Northern Virginia have been replaced by wealthier government consultants, twentysomethings living in highrise apartment buildings, and Asian and Hispanic immigrants—all of whom favor the Democrats. A booming technology industry and the ever-growing federal government mean the region is more populous than ever before; it’s also less instinctively conservative. To have a reasonable chance at winning statewide these days, a Republican candidate has at the very least to split the vote in the Northern Virginia counties of Fairfax, Prince William, and Loudoun. In 2009, Bob McDonnell did better than that—61 percent in Loudoun and 59 in Prince William—to win his gubernatorial race handily. Four years later, Ken Cuccinelli fell below 50 in Loudoun and Prince William and was blown out in Fairfax on his way to a three-point loss to Democrat Terry McAuliffe.

But Republicans could take a valuable lesson from the Vihstadt victory. Tom Davis, the former Republican congressman from Fairfax County, says the GOP has been too bogged down in ideological purity tests that result in candidates too conservative for Northern Virginia. The party, Davis says, needs to learn to “run candidates that fit the districts.”

You could call that the Vihstadt rule, and Pat Mullins, chairman of the Virginia GOP, assures me that his party will be following it. “There are going to be very strong candidates in Northern Virginia,” says Mullins.

One of them may be Barbara Comstock. A state delegate and onetime congressional aide, Comstock is running in a crowded, party-organized “firehouse” primary on April 26 for the House seat being vacated by her former boss, retiring Republican Frank Wolf. The district, which Wolf has held since 1981, stretches from the West Virginia border to the outer Washington suburbs in Loudoun and parts of Prince William and Fairfax.

Despite the GOP’s longtime hold on it, the district now leans only slightly Republican (Mitt Romney won it in 2012 by just one point). Comstock boasts a conservative record: She’s pro-life, opposes Obamacare, and has fought back in the state assembly against union interests. But she also argues she’ll be a better representative of the party in the general election than her chief rival for the nomination, fellow delegate Bob Marshall. Marshall is a social conservative whose rhetoric on those issues is too strident for Northern Virginia. In 2010, for instance, he asserted that the number of children with disabilities born to women who have had an abortion has increased in recent years.

“Because when you abort the firstborn of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children,” he matter-of-factly explained at a press conference. Nominating Marshall would be a clear violation of the Vihstadt rule.

“We can be conservative, but we understand we’ve got to grow the pie here,” Comstock says. Republican primary voters seem to be agreeing. One recent poll showed Comstock leading Marshall by more than 30 points.

Republicans will have a tougher time unseating Democrat Gerry Connolly in the Fairfax-centered district next door, which is far less favorable to the GOP. Party insiders agree the favorite for the nomination and the candidate with the best chance is Suzanne Scholte, a former Capitol Hill staffer and human rights activist. As president of the nonprofit Defense Forum Foundation since 1988, Scholte has argued for strengthening national defense spending and promoted freedom and human rights in totalitarian countries like North Korea. Her work has elevated her profile within Fairfax County’s sizable Korean-American community, one of the many immigrant groups in the district that she wants to peel away from the Democratic party.

Scholte describes herself as someone who “came up in the Reagan era” and still believes Republicans can win by focusing appropriately on economic, social, and defense issues. She opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother, a position she says most Americans hold. On the trail, she’ll argue that it’s the Democrats who hold extreme views on abortion. “We need to be slamming them on this,” she says.

She calls Connolly a “partisan, bitter hack” who doesn’t represent the federal workers of the district well. She notes that he voted for the budget sequestration plan that made indiscriminate cuts to federal agencies, the military, and employee benefits. “He broke faith with the people he represents,” she says.

Tom Davis and other Northern Virginia Republicans hope Scholte and Comstock can win in November, but at the very least their candidacies could change the face of the party and help the Republican most likely to be at the top of the ticket: U.S. Senate candidate Ed Gillespie.

Gillespie is a longtime party strategist and former Republican National Committee chairman with plenty of experience running campaigns. He’s also leading the race for the Senate nomination heading into the party’s June 7 nominating convention in Roanoke. Gillespie’s announcement in January that he would challenge incumbent Democrat Mark Warner turned more than a few heads in Washington. Suddenly Warner, a popular former governor and perceived moderate, looked vulnerable.

Gillespie points out that Warner votes with Barack Obama “97 percent of the time” and isn’t the “radical centrist” he claims to be. Like every Republican running against a sitting Democratic senator in 2014, he’ll make the case that Warner was the deciding vote on Obamacare. Gillespie promises to bring a strong donor base and organizational infrastructure. It may also help that Gillespie lives in Northern Virginia, which he suggests gives him a nuanced understanding of how to run a campaign across a diverse state. It’s not enough simply to run against a bad economy. “Northern Virginia isn’t feeling the same kind of economic pain as in Southwest Virginia, but there is some economic anxiety” associated with the high cost of living there, he says.

Faced with a middling economy, Democrats have succeeded in driving up their margins in Northern Virginia in particular by casting Republicans like Mitt Romney and Ken Cuccinelli as too extreme on issues like abortion and birth control. The pro-life Gillespie claims he’s willing to fight back against “war on women” rhetoric. “You can’t let charges go unanswered,” he says. Having women like Barbara Comstock and Suzanne Scholte running down-ticket couldn’t hurt. Nor does the renewed sense among Republicans that after more than a decade of frustration in Northern Virginia, the party is beginning to adapt to reality.

“I think Republicans are hungry to win again,” says Gillespie.

Michael Warren is a staff writer at The Weekly Standard.

Momentum Grows

Posted by: campaign In: Latest News 27 Mar 2014

For Immediate Release Contact: Anne Taylor

March 27, 2014 [email protected]

Lorton, VA - Suzanne Scholte is proud to announce that she has received the endorsement of Chris Perkins, former Republican Nominee for Virginia’s 11th Congressional District and 24 year veteran of the U.S. Army Special Forces.

“I am sincerely honored to endorse Suzanne Scholte as our candidate to represent Virginia’s 11^th District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Suzanne’s established track record as a supporter of a strong national defense, fiscal responsibility and freedom for all individuals make her a stark contrast to Gerry Connolly and will give the voters the right choice they deserve in November.

Not only do I strongly endorse Suzanne, but as someone who knows the 11th District well, I am absolutely certain she is the candidate that can win this race in the Fall.

God bless America, and God bless this extraordinary American!”

Chris Perkins
Colonel, United States Army (Retired)

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11th Congressional Dist. GOP Candidate Forum Produces Clear Choice

Posted by: campaign In: Latest News 21 Mar 2014

From left: Dumfries Mayor Jerry Foreman (forum moderator) and candidates Suzanne Scholte, Gerald Geddes and Mike Litzelman

http://virginiavirtucon.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/11th-congressional-dist-gop-candidate-forum-produces-clear-choice/

By Riley, Thursday, March 20, 2014

Despite a late season snow storm that closed the Federal Government on St. Patrick’s Day, the show went on at the 11th Congressional District Republican candidates forum hosted by Dumfries Mayor Jerry Foreman. Over 40 people turned out to see the three declared candidates for the GOP nomination to take on U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly. Mike Litzelman, Gerald Geddes and Suzanne Scholte each had 30 minutes to make their case as to why voters should choose them.

Litzelman was up first. While he has an impressive background given his military service, work as a congressional aide and as a policy advisor to Bush 41′s 1988 campaign, he was overly reliant on his notes and at least in this forum did not project the feeling that he was connecting with the audience. (I felt bad for him when he dropped his papers on the floor during his presentation.)

I had the opportunity to ask him to give an example of a specific current or former member of Congress that he would be in the same vein as so we could have a better idea of what sort of congressman he would be. Unfortunately, we never got that name, only a long, drawn-out answer referencing “transparency.”

Next up was Geddes who raised the stakes last week with a series of bizarre emails where he seemed to be picking a fight with U.S. Senate candidate Shak Hill. Geddes explained during his 30 minutes that those emails were akin to professional wrestlers trash talking in order to play up a coming match. He could not explain how those emails would not be used against him in a general election campaign. (It is a good thing I did not record video of him given a few very unfortunate malapropisms that he uttered – this guy would be a tracker’s dream.)

One questioner asked Geddes how he as a freshman member of Congress could accomplish all the grand things he was proclaiming. His response was that he would go to the leadership with his solutions and realize that he wouldn’t get his name on the bill, but still play a role in advancing these ideas. He then went on to give as an example, “It’s like that guy, you know, the football quarterback, who went to Ronald Reagan with his ideas but wasn’t out front on things.” The crowd helpfully informed him that he was thinking of Jack Kemp. Unfortunately, that analogy fell flat as Reagan’s tax cuts, “The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981,” were better known as The Kemp-Roth Tax Cuts. At least in my book, Geddes almost earned a point for referencing Kemp, but wound up losing two full points for not remembering Kemp’s name or knowing that he did in fact have his name on a piece of signature legislation.

Finally, Suzanne Scholte took her turn. Rather than plowing through a laundry list of policy ideas, Scholte talked about herself and her family as an introduction, touched on some main ideas of her campaign and then opened the floor to questions. In taking this approach, she managed to engage the audience in a way that the other two had not in part because she was actively listening and then responding directly to the audience.

Scholte hit Gerry Connolly on his vote for the sequester, something that neither Frank Wolf nor Jim Moran voted for, and then related how that has harmed our military preparedness as well as veterans’ benefits not to mention the civilian defense contractor workforce that is so prevalent in the 11th district. She also discussed her outreach to both the Korean-American and Hispanic communities in the district, referencing how her work on behalf of human rights has brought her into close contact with both immigrant groups. Scholte came across as a female Frank Wolf and in fact stated that his retirement was one of the motivating factors that made her decide to enter the race.

Overall, it was 90 minutes well-spent and reaffirmed Virtucon’s earlier decision to endorse Scholte for the GOP nomination. She has proven herself to be a serious candidate, well-versed in the issues and knowledgeable on what it will take to win both in terms of strategy and fundraising. If Republicans want a real chance at defeating Gerry Connolly this November, they would be wise to nominate Suzanne Scholte in the 11th district.