Video: Springfield's Keith Stern seeks to unseat Congressman Peter Welch

Keith Stern has owned and operated his own produce business in White River Junction for 26 years. But, the North Springfield man says he is needed more in Washington.

http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=12182411                                # # # # Republican to challenge Welch  •  White River Junction - March 22, 2010  •  A Republican is jumping into the race for Congress against incumbent, Peter Welch. Keith Stern ran as an Independent for the U.S. Senate and Congress in 2004 and 2006. Now Stern hopes running as a Republican will help him win in November.  •  Keith Stern has owned and operated his own produce business in White River Junction for 26 years. But, the North Springfield man says he is needed more in Washington.  •  "Our country is dying," he said.  •  And Stern is not afraid to say who he thinks is to blame. He says his opponent Peter Welch, and the Democratically controlled Congress, are driving the country into a financial hole that it might not be able to get out off.  •  "We just can't afford big government, big spenders like him. He's one of the problems we're in the situation we're in, with the huge debt. It's not just him, but he is there lock step with the rest of them," said Stern.  •  Stern cites the recent passage of health care bill as an example of how Congress is out of touch with common folk.  •  "When 59% of the people say we don't want this, and they go ahead a push it through and they do all kinds of giveaways, all kinds of sneaky deals. It shows these people have no principle, no integrity. And these are the people who are running the country?" said Stern.  •  Welch was not challenged by a Republican last election.  •  But GOP party chair Steve Larrabee says that cannot happen this time around.   •  Larrabee says "Republicans need to put up a candidate for every office." And even though Larrabee has not personally met Stern, the GOP leaders says "Lesser known candidates have a lot of potential to get elected once they start campaign and spreading their message."  •  That's something Stern hopes to accomplish one voter at a time.  •  "Hopefully word of mouth. People get excited at what I have to offer. They are going to spread the word. I'm going to get around the state," he said.  •  Stern acknowledges that he will have to raise a lot of money to stay competitive in the race. After all, at the end of last year, Congressman Peter Welch reported that his team had close to $800,000 in the bank. Stern says he is not going to take money from special interest groups,  and has drawn up a contract binding him to that.  • We reached out to the Welch campaign to get comment regarding Stern's announcement to run. A spokesperson for Welch's campaign said that the Congressman is happy to defend his health care vote during the upcoming campaign. But, he declined to comment further saying that the passage of the health care bill is what Vermonters are most interested in today.  •  Adam Sullivan - WCAX News  •