Dr. Kevin Weiland from Rapid City just announced that he will run against Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin in the Democratic House primary after her opposition to the public health insurance option and health care reform.
STATEMENT FROM KEVIN WEILAND
March 24, 2010
RAPID CITY, S.D. -- I have authorized friends and supporters across the state to circulate petitions on my behalf as an independent-Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the June Democratic primary.
I am a lifelong resident of South Dakota, born and raised in Madison. I am an Internal Medicine Specialist and health care advocate. My wife Laurie and I live in Rapid City with our three children.
For too long, Washington has been broken. The influence of big money in politics and the power of corporate lobbyists have damaged public policy and what is right for the people of our state and nation. In the recent debate on health care reform, millions of dollars was spent by insurance companies making PAC contributions to members of Congress, handed out by the very lobbyists trying to sway their votes on the public option and the overall health care package.
It¹s one of the most egregious examples of why we need to rid big money from politics and implement stricter rules on the nearly 14,000 registered lobbyists in Washington. I¹m ready to take on these fights in Congress on behalf of the people of South Dakota.
My immediate priority is getting the 1200+ signatures that are legally required by March 30. I realize that this may be hard, but I have never walked away from a challenge simply because it looked difficult.
I will make a longer statement to the press on Thursday.