FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Goodlatte Peer Endorses Rasoul

The Rasoul for Congress campaign today received the endorsement of Mr. Wayne Gilchrest, the Republican Congressman representing the 1st District of Maryland. Mr. Gilchrest sits on the Committees of Natural Resources and Transportation & Infrastructure. Congressman Gilchrest has served with Congressman Goodlatte on many issues common to both regions including this year's Farm Bill and Chesapeake Bay concerns.

Congressman Gilchrest stated, "For 18 years I have served as a Republican member of the House of Representatives. But I am crossing party lines to endorse Sam Rasoul because of his positions on the important policy issues of today. I'm supporting Sam Rasoul because I know that he shares our values and will put principle above party in Washington."

Mr. Gilchrest was elected to Congress in 1990 and has served with Congressman Goodlatte for the last 16 years. Knowing Mr. Goodlatte for so long, it comes as a surprise that Congressman Gilchrest would back his opponent but he continued, "Sam will work with both sides of the aisle to address the many problems that Virginians and the people of this great nation face. From the economy to health care to responsibly ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sam has the skill and the knowledge to be a responsible voice for you in our nation's Capitol. As a veteran who served in Viet Nam and as a Marine rifleman, I would be proud to have Sam Rasoul at my side."

"Mr. Gilchrest has served his district and this nation proudly," responded Rasoul. "I am honored to receive his endorsement and look forward to continuing the tradition of bi-partisanship that Congressman Gilchrest has held in trust during his tenure in Washington."

This is Mr. Rasoul's fourth major endorsement in the last week and follows the endorsement of Chairman John Conyers of Michigan, The Roanoke Times and The Staunton News Leader.

Breaking: Goodlatte Falsifies Claims of Support on Campaign Literature

The Sam Rasoul for Congress campaign today discovered that claims of support on a recent piece of campaign literature sent out by the Goodlatte for Congress campaign were falsified. Specifically, the claim that Mike Breeden, a Democratic member of the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors, is in support of Congressman Goodlatte is a fabrication. The piece, called "Putting People First," lists a small number of Democrats and Independents allegedly in support of Congressman Goodlatte.

Supervisor Breeden stated, "I did not endorse Bob Goodlatte. I did not return a call to Bob Goodlatte in which he asked me for permission to use my name as a Democrat supporting him in the Shenandoah Valley. I support the Democratic party and Sam Rasoul for Congress."

Sean Sarah, a spokesperson for the Rasoul campaign decried the use of Breeden's name by saying, "We expect our leaders to build real bi-partisan coalitions to get things done both here and in Washington. Creating a sense of false cooperation as a political tactic is exactly what Mr. Rasoul has been fighting against these last twenty-two months. Congressman Goodlatte didn't tell us the truth on term limits and he's not telling the truth in his campaign literature. After sixteen years we expected more from Congressman Goodlatte."

This new information comes on the heels of a Roanoke Times blog post entitled "But Bob, we didn't endorse you." The article details how Congressman Goodlatte cherry-picked information out of Roanoke Times articles to make it appear that the newspaper endorsed the Congressman. In response to this, the newspaper replied "This sort of lifting comments out of context is nothing new in campaign literature, but it's also no less shameful today than the first time someone did it."