Tim Wilkes, an Ohio native, and Army veteran, wrote to your blogger with the following message: “I am running for the North Carolina 7th District US Congress as a Republican. I will be running against Illario (sic) Pantano in the primary of 2012.”

Ilario Pantano, a distinguished Marine officer,  announced his intentions to enter the race on Feb 8th.  He gained national attention in 2008 when he ran against self-described “blue dog” incumbent, Mike McIntyre and has a tremendous national Facebook following.  Pantano has appeared several times on Fox News television programs and runs a media consulting business.

Wilkes press release reads exactly as follows:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Announcement of Candidacy

Today I, Tim Wilkes, would like to announce my intention to run for the 7th District Congress in 2012. It is my belief that it is time for a hardworking family man to be elected to office in Congress, someone who understands what it is like to live on a budget and stick to that budget.

I originally hail from Southern Ohio and have spent almost one-third of my life in North Carolina between Ft. Bragg, Durham and now Supply. I spent eleven years in the Army and worked hard at jobs from pizza delivery to high steel construction.

The Wilkes’ are an everyday family. Unlike government, we do not live above our means. My wife Sylvia and I have seven children and we are Christian conservatives. We work 40-hour weeks and budget the family expenses to meet our bills and essential needs.

I believe that a quality candidate must be ready to put his reputation on the line and be held accountable, which is why when I run we plan to adhere to a simple policy of spending only the money in the campaign account and replacing dollars spent with hard work.

As a candidate, I hope to get close to the people in the seventh district. I will run a grassroots campaign established upon getting out and meeting the voters every chance I get. The goal: To better understand the struggles of everyday people with families like my own.

If the voters are willing to help me fight to bring our nation back to its foundations and are kind enough to elect me, the goal is to not just run and win, but to prove that a person does not have to be wealthy to win because the last thing the 7th district needs is another career politician.

I look forward to meeting as many voters as possible between now and the Primary in 2012 and simply ask that you do your research, find the candidate you can believe in, and vote for what is best for North Carolina and America.

Truth is, I cannot succeed without the voters of our district putting faith in me. However, I also believe that, come 2012, North Carolina will benefit — if you grant me the honor of representing the voters in the 7th District Congress.

Tim can be contacted at: tawilkes@atmc.net

Facebook page is: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=100000661913098 or

Under my name Tim Wilkes(Candidate).

2/13/2011

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