Chief Master Sergeant, U.S. Air Force (Retired) Chuck Wooten is announcing his candidacy for the Arizona Congressional District 2 (CD2) on the Republican ticket.
Chuck Wooten is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Congressman Ron Barber.
Wooten achieved certain notoriety when his open letter to Congressman Paul Ryan, regarding the reduction of military retirement payments in the Ryan-Murray Budget that was passed into law in late December 2013, went viral.
Wooten will be making a formal announcement for his candidacy for Arizona Congressional District 2 on Monday, February 3, 2014, at 12:00 noon on the steps of El Presidio Park in downtown Tucson, according to a Tucson tabloid. Tucson is the center of Southern Arizona and the 6th poorest metropolitan area in the country.
The residents of the area have been hard hit by the actions of the Obama administration’s EPA and other regulatory agencies, which have stalled the development of much needed copper mining jobs.
Wooten retired as a Chief Master Sergeant after serving in the US Air Force for over 20 years. Wooten is the CEO and president of Corona Consulting Corporation. He also served on the Pima County Budget Advisory Board.
Wooten said he was excited about the race and the prospects of representing the people of Southern Arizona.
“I have been listening to people all across America very closely,” said Wooten. “They are fed up with the Washington status quo and have looked to me to shake things up. I’m happy to do my part in returning the country to its citizens.”
Wooten continued, “As a senior enlisted leader, I’m excited to share the values I’ve learned during my Air Force and civilian careers with the people of Southern Arizona and hopefully, with Washington.”
Wooten was contacted by veterans from both sides of the aisle after his letter to Ryan. Wooten said, “I thought long and hard about a campaign slogan. No slogan seemed to fit what I was hearing from Arizonans and Americans from all over the world. Instead of taking the easy route with a catchy slogan, I opted to use real American sentiment sent to me by millions of veterans and voters. I was able to boil them down to three specific qualities they’re looking for in their representatives: trust, leadership, guts. They are looking for representatives to restore real trust — someone whose word is their bond. They are also seeking real, experienced leadership – Congress should not be an amateur showcase. And they are sincerely looking for someone with the guts to take on the Washington establishment with the message that “enough is enough” — and mean it. After a ton of soul searching and introspection, I realized, it was the right thing to do; to give them a voice.”
Wooten says that he hopes his decision to enter the race will inspire others to do likewise. “One voice can be loud, but a multitude can be deafening,” concluded Wooten.
Related articles:
Veteran’s Facebook post to Paul Ryan goes viral
The continuing national conversation on military retirement, COLA reductions