Stern to make run for Congress as independent

Hank Murphy

Former Niagara Mayor Joe Stern said Monday that he is running for the Eighth Congressional District’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Stern said he intends to run as a conservative independent and will challenge the Republican and Democrat nominees in November 2010. Steve Kagen, a two-term Democrat from Appleton, currently holds the seat.

Stern, 44, who lives in the Town of Beecher, served as Niagara’s mayor from January 2005 to January 2009. He chose not to seek re-election.

He said his job now is running for Congress. Because he cannot compete with candidates like Kagen in terms of campaign spending “my success is going to be dependent on a grass roots effort.” He said he’ll need people to volunteer time and donate time.

Asked if he believes he actually has a shot against established parties, Stern said, “Absolutely believe I can make a run at it, and I don’t think next year’s will be a typical election. I think there is going to be a tremendous backlash and I think it’s going to be a backlash against the established parties.”

Stern said his motivation for running is “disgust with the way Congress is conducting its business” and treating taxpayers.

He criticized the Obama administration’s claims of jobs created and saved as “laughable.” There is no way to quantify how many jobs have been saved through the $787 billion federal stimulus plan, Stern said.

The first-time homebuyer program, which was meant to stimulate the housing sector, is costing the federal government $37,000 to deliver an $8,000 tax credit, Stern claimed. The Cash for Clunkers program cost the taxpayers $24,000 per car to delivery a $4,500 buyer subsidy, he said.

Stern said he considers himself a pro-life conservative candidate more closely aligned with Republicans than Democrats.

“Neither party is truly serving my interests at this point,” he said. “I’m not going to run as a Republican, but I’ll be happy to take their money.”