District 31 state Senate candidate Matt Richardson‘s website and a mail piece he planned to send out to 48,000 homes today refer to the state Senate candidate as a veteran.
He is not.
WHAT THE CAMPAIGN SAYS: Both Richardson’s campaign website and mailer feature prominently an endorsement statement from Ron Weigelt, a Democrat who was defeated in the primary election when voters advanced Republicans Richardson and Sen. Pam Roach to the general election. Weigelt’s statement, in full:
Matt is a conservative Republican, but it is not about political party. It is about who can best represent us in Olympia. While his opponents sling mud at him and his family, I have personally verified the truth and his record of service before making this endorsement. As a fellow Veteran and former City Council member, I see in Matt Richardson the drive and sincerity we need in the Senate. We do not need business as usual, we do not need 24 years of the incumbent hurting our district. Matt is clearly the best choice in this contest. – Ron Weigelt, Senate Candidate
WHAT WEIGELT SAYS: When I asked Weigelt about this today, he said he thought Richardson was in the Navy Reserve. Weigelt then sent an e-mail to Richardson asking him to remove the material from his website. He said: “You should have corrected me when I referred to you as a ‘fellow veteran’. I believe you have intentionally tried to give the perception that you are in the Navy when you are not. Not telling me you are not a veteran was deceptive and clearly a lie by omission. I also never endorsed you.”
THE FACTS: Richardson, a Sumner city councilman, has worked as a military contractor. He says that as an employee of Central Texas College, a community college that contracts with the Navy to place instructors on board vessels, he has done one assignment: a three-month stint in 2006 on the Stennis teaching subjects like sociology, government and philosophy.
WHAT RICHARDSON SAYS: He has told me and others repeatedly he is not a veteran or a member of the military.
When he first announced his candidacy, his campaign literature referred to his military ties this way: “He also holds a DoD security clearance as an Adjunct Professor of Government & Philosophy for the US Navy’s NCPACE program based in Bremerton. He was last assigned to the USS Stennis (CVN 74).”
Based on that, a Political Buzz post in June referred to him as a veteran. But he e-mailed us to clarify: “You are repeating that I am a Navy veteran, and I am not.”
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