10/5/2010

Dear Councilman Pfennig,

Recently, many voters in Reading and the surrounding areas received a mailer using your
image and words to attack my position on veterans’ benefits. It includes the accusation,
“But gutting veterans’ health care and slashing funding for veterans is not a sacrifice we
should have to make. That’s exactly what State Representative candidate Mike Wilson
wants to do.”

That is a completely false statement and my only statements on veterans’ issues have
been uniformly positive and supportive. Additionally, you and I both know that most
veterans’ benefits are provided at the federal level and cannot be affected by the state
legislature. Regardless, I want to reiterate – I have no plans to cut veterans’ benefits.

The Ohio Democratic Party and the Pillich Campaign have resorted to lies and scare
tactics in an attempt to avoid answering for their terrible record of raising taxes and
losing jobs. This smear arises from my support for plans to phase out Ohio’s income tax
over 10 years as tax revenues naturally rise from year-to-year. This has been done quite
successfully in Indiana and is a big part of the reason why Indiana is outcompeting us for
jobs and businesses. This plan to implement what has been successful elsewhere has
been twisted into accusations of drastic spending cuts.

Attacking me on veterans’ issues is particularly misleading when my campaign team is

loaded with veterans. My campaign chair is Major Brad Wenstrup, who spent fourteen
months on active duty with the U.S. Army 344th Combat Support Hospital at Abu Ghraib
Prison in Iraq and still serves in the US Army Reserve. My father-in-law, Tony Stidham,
is a top volunteer on my campaign. He served in Vietnam and was wounded when a
South Vietnamese pulled the pin on a grenade in the middle of camp. My campaign
manager, Maggi Cook, has service running in her blood with a father who served in
World War II, a brother who died in Vietnam, a son who lost his leg to an IED in 2007
and another son currently serving in Afghanistan.

All of them and many other veterans support me because they understand my love and
appreciation for this country and their service. They also understand that the policies I
favor for Ohio will improve our economy and that the top benefit we can have for a
returning veteran is a job.

While I am disappointed that you may have been misled by the Ohio House Democrats
and the Pillich Campaign, you now have a chance to correct the record because you know
the truth. I hope you will take this chance because the lies and distortions in the mailer
with your image reflect negatively on you and cheapen our political discourse. These
smears make it harder for both sides to work together to achieve good public policy.
The problems we face in our communities, our state, and our country are daunting, but
solvable if we work together. I hope you will stand with me in putting partisan smears to
the side and making the truth our highest priority.

Sincerely,

Mike Wilson
Republican Candidate
Ohio House District 28