Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Press Advisory: Weisser -Gould Grudge Match, Two Years in the Making, Takes Place Wednesday



Contact: Mikel Weisser, 928-234-5633, mikelweisser@gmail.com

Event: Bullhead City Chamber of Commerce Congressional Candidate Forum

Location: Bullhead Chamber of Commerce, 1251 Arizona 95 Bullhead City, AZ 86429 (928) 754-4121

Time: Wednesday June 20, 2012 12:00pm



This Wednesday, June 20th, when the Bullhead City Chamber of Commerce hosts their District Four Congressional Candidate forum, Democratic hopeful Mikel Weisser will complete a quest that has been two years in the making: to ask Ron Gould a question.  “That’s right, back in 2010, Ron Gould told me, a private citizen, one of his constituents, in fact, that he was not going to let me ask him questions unless I was actually running against him. Well, it took two years but here I am, “Weisser laughs.

Mikel Weisser, a school teacher, poet, political humorist and activist, launched his run for the Democratic nomination for US House in January and qualified by May to be on the ballot as a nominee for the brand new Arizona Congressional District Four, a rural western AZ district that represents the majority of seven counties and covers more land area than the state of Illinois. Mohave and Yavapai Counties make up the majority of the population in the district, highlighting the fact that Mohave County has grown to become the fourth most populous in the state. All three of the candidates,

In 2010 Weisser’s wife, Beth Weisser, was Gould’s opponent when he ran for reelection as the state senator for the former LD3 state legislative district. Mikel served as his wife’s right hand man and helped coordinate many aspects of his wife’s “Clean Elections” state funded campaign. “That is where I got the idea that I knew enough about the process to launch my own campaign this round.” Beth Weisser is again running for the newly renamed LD5 state senate slot. Gould, on the other hand, has “termed out” of his spot in the state senate and aiming to use his record and name recognition to advance him to the new Congressional spot. Depending on Gosar’s popularity in a district that is largely not his territory, Gould is likely to be Mikel Weisser’s opponent in the general election come November, a rivalry Weisser jokingly suggests began at a candidate forum in Fort Mohave in the fall of 2010.

“I went along with Beth to listen in and take notes. To me, Ron Gould was spouting this egregious line of lies and distortions and I was taking notes, filling up my notebook,” Weisser chuckles at a story he has told many times to listeners on both sides of the aisle. “When the Q&A came around, I stuck my hand up all insistent, like the most annoying kid in class, and just kept it up there while Gould ignored me. Till he finally said, and I quote, ‘I am not going to take your question. You’re the candidate’s spouse. If you want to question me, you do it like a man, put your name on the dotted line and run against me.” At the time Weisser did not intend to take Gould up on the challenge; until the January Democratic State Party meeting when the party’s central committee intended to let the race go unopposed, having found no candidate to announce for CD-04, a sprawling seven country Congressional district, Weisser lovingly calls the ‘Left Coast of Arizona.” “I wasn’t sure it was right for me at first, but when I realized it was Ron Gould I’d be running against I had to do it. I hadn’t been telling that story for two years for nothing!”

Wednesday’s candidate forum in Bullhead City will be held on the shores of that very “coastline,” the state’s western border, when the candidates meet in Bullhead City’s riverside Chamber of Commerce auditorium on the banks of the Colorado River. Weisser lived in Bullhead City for several years and taught junior high social studies there for ten. In addition to the long awaited Weisser-Gould face-off, the candidate forum will also include Rick Murphy, a local candidate for the GOP nomination in the upcoming Aug. 28th primary. Murphy, a longtime Bullhead City media/nightclub/fitness center mogul, is currently lagging behind Ron Gould and US Rep. Paul Gosar in the race for the Republican primary. Weisser is facing latecomer Johnnie Robinson from Pinal County, who is yet to mount a visible campaign and will not be attending.  Since launching his campaign, Weisser has repeatedly reached out to Gould, offering the senator a chance to help fund the campaign he helped launch, sort of. So far the two had not crossed paths since election season began though Weisser tried to visit while in Lake Havasu (Gould’s home) for Presidents’ Day events, had discussed debate terms with Gould’s campaign staff by phone and even barely missed Gould when the two both appeared at the Chloride Heritage Days celebration earlier this month. As for that question Weisser has been waiting so long to ask? “Oh, I forgot that. I guess I could look it up, but I’ll come up with something.” Weisser grins.

The candidate forum is scheduled to start at twelve noon at the Bullhead City Chamber of Commerce, Wednesday June 20. The forecast that day is 113 in the shade, but it will be hotter in the air conditioned offices of the Chamber of Commerce when these two candidates meet at last. The forum is open to the public but seating is limited. The Chamber is in Community Park, 1251 Arizona 95 Bullhead City, AZ 86429. Call the Bullhead Chamber of Commerce (928) 754-4121 for further details about the candidate forum. For more information about the Weisser campaign, see below.

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Mikel Weisser for US Congress



Mikel Weisser

4490 Sundown Drive

So-Hi, AZ 86413

928-234-5633






Democracy for America:


99% Declaration:


Act Blue:




Campaign Updates:

(6/5/12):


(5/6/12):


Phone-in Talk Show Guest Appearance:




Interviews:





Video:




Political Humor Archive:


On My Opponent, Paul Gosar:


Positions:


Rebuttals:


LGBT Issues:


Immigration:


Tea Party Rebuttal:




Spoken Word (profile):


Spoken Word (performances)




Coverage:










paid for by mikel weisser for us congress




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