Jerry Silver
From Ballotpedia
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Jerry Silver (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Minnesota's 4th Congressional District. He lost in the Republican primary on August 9, 2022.
Silver completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Jerry Silver earned a bachelor's degree from Maranatha Baptist University in 1974. His career experience includes working as a school principal, teacher, coach, pastor, construction worker, and truck driver.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Minnesota's 4th Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House Minnesota District 4
Incumbent Betty McCollum defeated May Lor Xiong and Diane Peterson in the general election for U.S. House Minnesota District 4 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Betty McCollum (D) | 67.6 | 200,055 | |
| May Lor Xiong (R) | 32.3 | 95,493 | ||
| Diane Peterson (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 11 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 414 | ||
| Total votes: 295,973 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4
Incumbent Betty McCollum defeated Amane Badhasso and Fasil Moghul in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4 on August 9, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Betty McCollum | 83.4 | 58,043 | |
| Amane Badhasso | 15.2 | 10,557 | ||
| Fasil Moghul | 1.4 | 997 | ||
| Total votes: 69,597 | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Evan Kail (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4
May Lor Xiong defeated Jerry Silver and Gene Rechtzigel in the Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4 on August 9, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | May Lor Xiong | 44.1 | 9,574 | |
| Jerry Silver | 34.1 | 7,399 | ||
| Gene Rechtzigel | 21.9 | 4,753 | ||
| Total votes: 21,726 | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Mikki Murray (R)
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jerry Silver completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Silver's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a retired Baptist minister, current over-the-road truck driver (working for a contractor that hauls the U.S. Mail between cities, I am not a Federal employee), father of four. My wife immigrated here from Poland. I am also the author of the book "Touchdown in the Dark" which is available on Amazon.
When the looting, burning and destruction occurred in Minneapolis two years ago, I watched as Democrat elected officials sat on their hands and let the lawless do their work unrestrained. That is what inspired me to run for Congress. I know I can do a better job and representing the people than Betty McCollum has been doing.
Just in the last year, we've seen gas prices go through the roof, inflation costing everything more while wiping out the savings and investments from the elderly and putting our economy in a recession. We can do better than that.
I have made it a career of working with people to better our community. Now I want to continue helping the community by serving as your representative in Congress. I ask for your vote.- Inflation is too high. We have borrowed our way, not into prosperity, but on the brink of economic collapse. We need to reverse course immediately and start running budget surpluses and paying down the national debt to get inflation under control.
- Gas is too high. Begging OPEC to add more production, as the president did, is a short term fix. Long term, we haven't added a new refinery in this country in about four decades. We need to streamline the permitting process so we can refine more petroleum while still improving our power grid to expand EV capacity and give it more stability.
- Crime is out of control. According to the Neighborhood Scout website, your odds of being a victim of violent crime is 1 in 128 in St. Paul compared to 1 in 364 for the state. St. Paul is safer than only 4% of U.S. Cities. Jerry Silver pledges to work with the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Paul Police Department to provide funding for ShotSpotter and other equipment and technology necessary to make our cities safer.
As a retired pastor, Jerry Silver has a heart for people. He knows that part of the problem with crime is eliminating the conditions which cause people to lead to crime. In addition, Jerry supports such efforts as accountability courts, drug courts, Veterans treatment courts and guidance by faith-based institutions that have proven track records of rehabilitation for first-time, non-violent offenders. Restorative justice, in some cases, can work to make the victim whole and put the offender back on the right path.
The book "Touchdown in the Dark" by Jerry Silver. It's available on Amazon. It's my autobiography so you will understand more than just my political philosophy.
Honesty. Integrity. Listening to the concerns of constituents. Acting in the best interest of the community whenever possible even if it means bucking your party's leadership occasion.
I have a heart for people. As a pastor, there have been more occasions than I can remember, when I was called upon to help someone in need. As a Congressman, I want to be able to use the power of the office to assist people with their dealings with the government with a proactive constituent services office.
Patience, listening, acting with integrity, and always doing the right thing.
I would like my grandchildren to see my serve the community with integrity. When they grow up, even after I'm long gone from this earth, I want them to be able to see me as a positive role model as they grow older. When I'm with Jesus, I hope my constituents will be able to say, "There's at least one honest man that was elected to Congress!"
"The Bible" because it is the foundation of life, both current and eternal.
Otherwise, "Touchdown in the Dark" because I wrote it.
Otherwise, "Touchdown in the Dark" because I wrote it.
There are so many real characters throughout history, that I have a hard time going back to fiction. My favorite character in American history is Abraham Lincoln. I am reminded of Lincoln's letter to Reverdy Johnson on July 17, 1862 when he wrote, "I am a patient man -- always willing to forgive on the Christian terms of repentance; and also to give ample time for repentance. Still I must save this government if possible." Lincoln was quite a character. I aspire to embrace the more positive aspects of his nature.
I had to stand up against racism in a school that I was a principal for. The racists did everything they could, including attempting physical violence on a family member, but our family was not to be deterred. Eventually we were able to overcome this adversity and accept minority students into the school which had never been done before. This is all outlined in my book, "Touchdown in the Dark."
The fact that the U.S. House of Representatives terms are over every two years means that the body is in a constant state of change. I believe the founders did this entirely to create gridlock so that sound policy can be created with one erratic body (House) working with and against a deliberative body (Senate). If the two sides can come to an agreement, the policy will be more sound than if it is constantly changing at the whims of turnover in one body every two years.
The men who created our Republican form of government were in their 20s and 30s when they declared independence, fought a war, and created our Constitution and Bill of Rights. I marvel at their keen insights from two centuries ago and how right they've been.
The men who created our Republican form of government were in their 20s and 30s when they declared independence, fought a war, and created our Constitution and Bill of Rights. I marvel at their keen insights from two centuries ago and how right they've been.
Yes and no. Previous experience in government or politics does help one get to understand the role a little better, but as any member of Congress will tell you, the freshman year is a steep learning curve. Federal policies and politics is a unique enough process that sometimes previous experience can hinder the effectiveness because bad habits may have been learned at a lower level. There have been others in the past who came with no legislative background and found success. In Minnesota - Rod Grams was a television anchorman before he became a Congressman and U.S. Senator; Al Franken was a writer on Saturday Night Live and comedian before becoming a U.S. Senator; Mark Kennedy was an accountant before he was elected to Congress and later ran for the U.S. Senate; Dean Phillips was a businessman before he ran for Congress; John Kline was a retired Marine Corps officer before we was elected to Congress. None of these members of Congress held a previous office and have managed to find their niche in Washington. I think it is time for a retired pastor and current truck driver to represent the people of the 4th Congressional District in Congress.
Jerry Silver is a believer in free market economics, including free and fair international trade. He wants to maintain commercial, cultural and diplomatic ties with many nations while also promoting American industry and commerce. The Chinese, however, have adopted a system that legalizes theft in order to obtain Superpower status to surpass the economic engine of the United States. This is wrong and is a serious global threat to our economy and our intellectual property. They must be stopped.
Also, regarding the economic challenges that we face:
The redistribution of income theory stems from Karl Marx and Frederich Engels "Communist Manifesto," which has been a failure everywhere and every time it has been tried. Socialism and Communism doesn't work. The gap between the wealthy and working classes will only be lessened through capitalism.
I'll serve on whichever committee I'm assigned to. From Interior to Defense, from Ways and Means to Appropriations, I'll serve wherever my party leadership decides.
Our Founding Fathers believed that two years was ample time. I don't think there is anything that should change that.
Incumbents have given themselves a huge advantage, which doesn't help with getting new ideas and perspectives into Congress. We have a few people left who are still in Congress from right after I graduated from college in 1974, and I'm retired now. We need term limits badly. I won't serve more than three consecutive terms if elected.
Pete Stauber. He's a man of God who is a humble servant currently representing Minnesota's 8th Congressional District. He fits his district well. I want to fit the 4th Congressional District just as well.
I've had good conversations with a few police officers in the district as I've been knocking on doors. They have told me of the challenges that they face in their jobs today, and have educated me on how I can help them obtain the tools they need to meet those challenges head on. Then to have those officers tell me that I "earned" their vote was quite touching.
Meet me in person and I might tell you. It is one of the yarns that Abraham Lincoln used to tell.
Yes. Republicans and Democrats should pass legislation in the areas where they can find agreement, and then begin to work out their differences at the bargaining table. We need to turn away from the politics of personal destruction just because we don't agree with somebody. This is what has led to the partisan divide. We can do better than that.
My priority is to make sure that we get a handle on the Federal budget, make a more transparent process, and make sure that public safety officials - police and fire departments - get the tools that they need to do their jobs to keep our citizens safe. We need to have our military fully funded to ward off threats from abroad. We need border patrol fully funded to maintain safety at the entry points in our country. We need to get the Firefighter Cancer Registry operational as soon as possible.
The Firefighter Cancer Registry Act of 2018 mandated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create a voluntary registry of firefighters to collect health and occupational information to determine cancer incidence in the U.S. fire service. However, four years later, the website still is not operational to allow firefighters to enroll. Meanwhile, firefighters of all levels - volunteer, paid per call, full time and wildland - are dying of cancer every day. I want to make sure that the Firefighter Cancer Registry is fully funded and that there is accountability with the CDC to ensure that the site gets operational as soon as possible. Four years is too long for these community servants to wait.
The Firefighter Cancer Registry Act of 2018 mandated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create a voluntary registry of firefighters to collect health and occupational information to determine cancer incidence in the U.S. fire service. However, four years later, the website still is not operational to allow firefighters to enroll. Meanwhile, firefighters of all levels - volunteer, paid per call, full time and wildland - are dying of cancer every day. I want to make sure that the Firefighter Cancer Registry is fully funded and that there is accountability with the CDC to ensure that the site gets operational as soon as possible. Four years is too long for these community servants to wait.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House Minnesota District 4 |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 3, 2022
Senators
Amy Klobuchar (D)
Tina Smith (D)
Representatives
District 1
Brad Finstad (R)
District 2
Angie Craig (D)
District 3
Kelly Morrison (D)
District 4
Betty McCollum (D)
District 5
Ilhan Omar (D)
District 6
Tom Emmer (R)
District 7
District 8
Pete Stauber (R)
Democratic Party (6)
Republican Party (4)
