FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 26, 2010
CONTACT: Eddie Sprecco 619-889-1348
(El Cajon) The Bill Wells for Assembly campaign today announces a significant endorsement from the National Rifle Association (NRA). The NRA has nearly 4 million members nationwide with thousands residing in East County. Since its inception in 1871 the NRA has been dedicated to firearm education and the protection of the Second Amendment.
Bill Wells received an “A” rating by the National Rifle Association for his dedication to gun owners’ rights. Wells opposes the disastrous proposals coming from Sacramento to restrict gun rights, and instead supports better availability of concealed weapons permits.
“The NRA endorsement is a great honor. I have owned firearms for protection and recreation most of my life, and owe a debt to the hard work of NRA and its members over the years to protect our right to do so. As an NRA member I am committed to defending our Right to Bear Arms when I get to Sacramento.” Said Mayor Pro Tem Bill Wells.
Bill Wells is running for the 77th Assembly District to succeed Joel Anderson in the East County Assembly seat. The NRA joins a long list of financial supporters and endorsers including the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the California Republican Assembly, the California Pro-Life Council, the California Dental Association, California Medical Association, and the National Electrical Contractors’ Association, among others.
The 77th Assembly district includes the communities of: Alpine, Borrego Springs, Bostonia, Casa de Oro – Mount Helix, Crest, El Cajon, Granite Hills, Harbison Canyon, Jamul, La Mesa, Lakeside, Ramona, Rancho San Diego, San Diego, San Diego Country Estates, Santee and Winter Gardens.
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For more information and endorsements, visit www.votebillwells.com
Comments 12
This is a tremendous endorsement and arguably the best Bill Wells has received to date.
Hopefully we can elect someone that walks the walk on gun rights and not just talks the talk.
MD
Bill Wells campaign is stuck on home plate. He didn’t even put a candidate statement in the voter guide. The NRA doesn’t usually endorse in the primaries unless there is a VERY clear distinction between candidates. The anti endorsement regarding Bill Gore for Sheriff is one. Chris Rubin is a solid 2nd Amendment supporter, and she is having an open carry fundraiser this Friday in Ramona. Why the NRA dissed her is a big question.
I agree with Mike D. This is his best endorsement. I have been extremely impressed with Bill’s understanding of the gun issue in California. His website shows he ties the issue of guns not only to the Second Amendment, but to property rights as well. Truly an intellectual, conservative stance.
On the El Cajon City Council he has honored the NRA with a proclamation supporting the Eddie Eagle Program which teaches kids safety around firearms and he was at the Del Mar gun show campaigning Saturday. Stopping the legislature from further infringing on our inalienable right to keep and bear arms is hard enough let alone trying to un-do the unconstitutional infringement that has already been done. I believe Bill can and will help get that job done.
Well everyone who supports candidates other than Wells can speculate all they want, but the facts are simple. Wells has gotten all them major conservative endorsements:
-Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association
-California Pro-Life Council
-National Rifle Association
-California Republican Assembly
So my decision is simple…those are organizations that I trust and if they all agree that Wells is the best candidate then I will take their word for it.
That does not mean that the other candidates are bad and I am sure it was a tough decision for each of these organization, but we can only elected one person and it looks like it will be Bill Wells.
Dr. Gary,
I will admit that I have already voted for Bill so I am in full support of his candidacy. Without that said, how do you figure his campaign is stuck on home plate? He has by far the best endorsements:
NRA
Howard Jarvis
CRA
Pro-Life Council
When looking at the money total he has raised far more than Christine considering she has raised only a few thousand dollars outside of her own contributions.
MD
I will say it in a different way. Perhaps the NRA endorsed the candidate that they thought had the real chance of winning.
The NRA is clearer than most groups when it comes to their opinion on candidates. They offer grades (A through F) for everyone who turns in a questionnaire as well as endorsements. It is my understanding that they endorse based on three things:
1) Answers to the questionnaires by the candidates
2) Feedback from locals
3) Viability of campaign
If your favorite candidate in any district did not get endorsed, ask yourself if they answered the questionnaire correctly, did they have the support of local gun owners, and is their campaign as viable as the campaign of the person who received the endorsement.
The NRA said nothing bad about anyone in the race for the 77th AD. They simply endorsed Bill Wells. Remember, the NRA is ONLY concerned about gun rights. Not a candidate’s party or stance on other issues. I don’t think they released the grades of the other candidates yet, but I wish the grading system combined with the endorsement process would be adopted by other groups.
When your candidate is not endorsed by a group, it leads you to believe that the group thinks the other candidates are evil. Simply not the case. They might be equally as strong, but they just don’t have the support of the local voters. They might be equally as strong on the subject but not have as viable a campaign. Again, I do not yet know what grade Ms. Rubin received, but the NRA’s process should be duplicated by other groups in my very humble opinion. There is no need to trash the NRA. They are fair, accurate, and unbiased.
Was this actually an endorsement?
My understanding is the NRA does not endorse if candidates have similar or replicating views.
While the title tries to imply an endorsement, the explicit text just says that he received an “A” rating.
Usually an endorsement also comes along with a statement by the NRA’s ILA Executive Director, Chris Cox.
So can someone confirm if this is an actual endorsement, or just making the allusion of an endorsement, when he in fact just got an A Rating.
Good Job Bill on the NRA endorsement. I do have a question to Dr. Gary. Why does Chris Rubin State in the Christian coalition guide she supports firearm registration. That to me tramples on my 2nd Amendment right?
I can confirm with absolute certainty that Bills Wells is endorsed by the NRA. I have confirmed this myself with NRA staff.
If you are an NRA member, go to their website, enter your membership number, and check under endorsements to see Bill’s name. If you are not an NRA member, go their website, get out your wallet, and BECOME A MEMBER! What is wrong with you???
😉
Endorsement,
I received in my mailbox the other day a bright orange card from the NRA with their endorsement of Mr. Bill Wells. I beleive these cards went out to all the members in the district…but I could be wrong on that, perhaps just the lifetime members received them.
As far as grades go, I noticed on the Gun Owners of CA website, Mr. Wells is the only candidate in the race to receive an “A” grade from them.
Gun owners tend to be one issue voters and I do beleive this bodes well for Mr. Wells.
NRA 4 Life
To: “endorsement”….
HUH????? Did you READ the release?
The explicit text says “The Bill Wells for Assembly campaign today announces a significant endorsement from the National Rifle Association (NRA).” How is that only an implication that he rc’d an endorsement, but not a real endorsement? Either he has the endorsement or the campaign is making it up. If you have proof of the latter, please document it. Otherwise, your question appears to be for the intended purpose of calling into question the honesty of the Wells campaign.
Mr. Wells and others have previously faced these kind of open-ended, under-mining questions on this blog. In the last two weeks, we will not stand for it in the case of any candidate.