St. Paul (July 17, 2014) – The National
Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) today announced its support for local
businessman and NFIB member Stewart
Mills in the hotly contested 8th Congressional District race.
“Stewart Mills runs Mills Fleet Farm, an
NFIB member business. Mills is a
lifelong small businessman, having started working at his family’s farm as a
boy. He worked his way up the ladder and
along the way he learned a lot about how government policies can make or break
a small business,” said NFIB/Minnesota
State Director Mike Hickey. “His
views on the key issues are clearly informed by that experience and we believe
he’ll make a great representative for our members in Washington.”
NFIB is the
country’s leading advocate for small business owners representing roughly
13,000 members in Minnesota. The group
endorses candidates based on their positions on key issues affecting small
businesses. Mills, who testified against
the highly unpopular Affordable Care Act, remains strongly opposed to the law
and wants major changes that would relieve small businesses of the costs and
regulatory burdens. He also supports
lower individual income tax rates, allowing small businesses to invest more in
their own growth instead of the federal government’s growth.
“He understands
the economy from a small business perspective and that’s very badly needed in
Washington,” said Hickey.
Mills is running
against Congressman Rick Nolan, who has a disappointingly low 20-percent
lifetime voting record with NFIB and an abysmally low 11-percent in the current
Congress despite his own experience in small business.
“Rick Nolan has
been a big disappointment for small business owners in Minnesota,” said NFIB Vice President Lisa Goeas, who
heads the group’s political and grassroots operation. “Despite his own experience, and despite his
rhetoric, he votes much more often with Big Labor and the trial lawyers than he
does with his own constituents in Minnesota’s small business community.”
Goeas said
federal candidates too often claim to support small business owners in order to
win an election and then vote for policies that make their lives harder once
they get to Washington.
“Small business
owners are tired of being stage props for politicians,” she said. “Stewart Mills is a small businessman and he
shares our members’ frustration with Washington. They know he’ll make a difference and that’s
why we’re proud to endorse his candidacy.”
Mills’ endorsement was made by the NFIB SAFE Trust, the organization’s
political action committee. Surveys show
that small business owners are influential in their communities and NFIB
members in Minnesota’s 8th
Congressional District will work hard this year to send Stewart Mills to Washington.
For more information about NFIB, please visit www.nfib.com.
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