Karen Kwiatkowski to take on Goodlatte for 6th District congressional seat
By Lynn R. Mitchell | Friday, August 19th, 2011 | Politics, Virginia
Standing on the steps of the Augusta County Courthouse Thursday in downtown Staunton, against a noisy background of mid-day traffic with two of her four children and several other supporters holding campaign signs, Karen Kwiatkowski formally announced her candidacy for U.S. Congress.
With a campaign slogan to “Reduce, Redirect, and Rein-In” the federal government and hoping for a series of debates, the Shenandoah County resident is running as a Republican and will seek the GOP nomination in 2012 against long-time incumbent Republican Congressman Bob Goodlatte, 58. It will be the first time Goodlatte has been challenged from within the party since taking office in 1992.
Another Shenandoah County resident, Democrat Andrew Schmookler, announced earlier this year that he planned to run for the seat.
Kwiatkowski, 50, is a retired Lieutenant Colonel who spent 20 years in the United States Air Force who was at her desk in the Pentagon when the terrorist attack took place on 9/11. Self-described as a Shenandoah Valley farmer, military veteran, parent, grandparent, and teacher, she has extensive and varied background in academia and writing.
A Ron Paul supporter, she called herself a “conservative constitutionalist from the liberty wing of the GOP,” and added, “Certain parts of the GOP talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.”
She has co-authored a book about Ron Paul and counts his backers among her supporters. Indeed, she was even been mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate for Ron Paul’s presidential run.
Her educational background includes an MA in Government from Harvard, an MS in Science Management from the University of Alaska, completed both Air Command and Staff College and the Naval War College seminar programs, and has a Ph.D. in world politics from Catholic University of America.
Kwiatkowski is critical of Goodlatte, claiming he appears to have lost his conservative roots and bends to the will of party bosses. She did not support his vote for the “fear-driven Patriot Act, violating the Constitution, growing government, and reducing liberty,” noting she would fight to repeal it to restore “common sense, Constitutionality, and liberty.”
Goodlatte, she said, had pursued a twenty-year career as a member of Congress despite promises to limit his terms. If elected, she would seek to reduce Congressional salaries, end the Congressional retirement program, and demand that Congressmen purchase their own private health insurance.
On defense, she objected to Goodlatte’s vote for what she described as the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and the attacks on Libya, and viewed much of the US. overseas military budget as wasteful and at times, unlawful. She was also critical of his votes over the years to raise the federal government’s borrowing limit “in direct defiance of Virginia’s lawsuit against it.”
The 6th District nomination will take place next year in a primary or convention. “I must gain the confidence of the people of the 6th District, and I must also gain the confidence of the Republican establishment in the 6th District,” she noted. “We have been to many parts of the District in the past few months, talking to people who grew up here, who live here, who work here and who have retired here. What we are hearing is that they are sick of status quo politics. There is a sense that we are being governed by politicians who do not care what we know, what we want, and what we can afford.”
More coverage of this event can be found at the Waynesboro News Virginian, Staunton News Leader, and NBC-29.
Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
18 August 2011
Cross-posted at SWAC Girl
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About the author
As SWAC Girl (an acronym for Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County), Lynn has been writing in the Virginia political blogosphere since 2006. Active in area politics, she has coordinated campaigns and served in leadership for the past decade. The Shenandoah Valley of Virginia is one of the most beautiful places to call home ... the Republican Party carries her beliefs.
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11 Responses to "Karen Kwiatkowski to take on Goodlatte for 6th District congressional seat"
This might be the definition of “tilting at windmills.” If you define your target electorate as “everyone to the right of Bob Goodlatte,” what percentage of the vote does that amount to? 5%? 10%? I can’t imagine that it would be more than 20%.
Steve,
Judging by the picture of the “crowd” at her announcement, I suspect that your estimate is too high by an order of magnitude. (Is that guy in the plaid wearing his pajamas?)
It would be amusing to see her lined up against the bogus guru with the diploma mill Ph.d and mail-order awards. Has anyone tested the water in Augusta County lately?
She seems like a nice lady, but a possible vice-presidential candidate? Yeah, sure, this goose may thrown his top feathers in too. Yeah, thats the ticket.
I am also not sure of her degrees. The military offers many fine oppertunities, but there are also too many of these on-line programs. As a retired AF officer, she seems qualified, but it is distracting to see the list of degrees. I wonder if they were resident courses and whether there were substantive writing requirements.
Goose,
You raise an interesting question. It does sound somewhat embellished, doesn’t it? I when to the CUA web site and couldn’t find a doctoral program in “world politics.” Maybe I just wasn’t looking in the right places.
Perhaps if Lt. Col. Kwiatkowski or one of her campaign staff is reading this blog, then they could be so kind as to provide a little more information on her doctoral studies. For example, what was the title of her dissertation and where is it filed?
From CUA Web site
Doctor of Philosophy in World Politics
Students who have completed the MAIA and have demonstrated the requisite academic aptitude may seek enrollment in the department’s program leading to a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in World Politics. Parts of the MAIA program are directly transferable; e.g. the thirty (30) credit hours earned may be applied as a part of the total fifty-four (54) credit hours of course-work required for the PhD.
Thanks, val.
I also found her dissertation filed at CUA: “The overt/covert war in Angola: a case study of the implementation of the Reagan doctrine”
At least her academic credentials seem to be in order, and that is not necessarily a given these days. But I agree with Steve Vaughan that her chances of winning the Republican primary in the 6th CD are about those of a fart in a tornado.
It’s true her chances are slim. Entrenched politicians are difficult to dislodge. It’s also true there are plenty of worse ones than mild-mannered Bob Goodlatte of the VA 6th that need dislodging. But Lt. Col. Kwaitkowski lives in the 6th, and she thinks she can do a better job of representing the district than Goodlatte.
So, if I might ask – what’s wrong with someone standing up and saying “I’ve got another idea.”? Where is the Constitutional requirement her educational credentials pass muster with established Republicans before being allowed to challenge an incumbent? And what’s so great about Bob Goodlatte’s record? TARP? Patriot Act extension(s)? The great sucker-deal of 2011 last month?
It’s my opinion, this foregone conclusion that Cong. Goodlatte is the best the 6th has to offer is patently wrong, and is further evidence of apathy and laziness.
Edward,
No one meant to imply that her educational credentials were a qualifier, just that we needed to establish that they were not embellished or inflated–something that is certainly a big problem with the likely Democratic candidate. You don’t have to be a Ph.D to run for Congress, but claiming to be one if you aren’t is a totally different issue.
I don’t live in the 6th CD and cannot comment on Rep. Goodlatte. However, I have to suspect that if the only opposition that he can draw in the largest geographic district in the state are a couple of neophyte wannabe’s, then he must be doing something right. Of all the elected officials at various levels in the 6th CD, from county board of supervisors to General Assembly delegates and senators, no one wants to challenge him except for a loon New Age book salesman and a Libertarian fringe figure? I’m sorry, but that doesn’t indicate to me that the problem is entrenched incumbency rather than the fact that Goodlatte is meeting the expectations of his constituents.
“I’m sorry, but that doesn’t indicate to me that the problem is entrenched incumbency rather than the fact that Goodlatte is meeting the expectations of his constituents.”
@ HisRoc – Overlooking the wise-cracking tone towards Kwaitkowski of your earlier post, which clearly showed you were uninformed about her… the heart of that statement sums up exactly why things are the way they are. The status quo has effectively lowered the expectations of the constituency to the point at which Goodlatte and his peers seem to have no problem meeting them. I sense you know that too.
Edward,
I am not at all uniformed about Dr. Kwaitkowski. In fact, I now know a great deal about her Libertarian alliances and her Pentagon Notes when she was still an active duty Air Force officer. She is an extremist nutcase who will never poll higher than 2%, just like her hero Ron Paul. You can’t raise expectations by lowering standards.
Dismissed.
Won’t even bother to address the knuckleheads who don’t know Karen K or her credentials. Look her up! Only one of the leading outspoken critics of the Iraq invasion and the NeoCon job.
Fact is the would be a most dynamic freshman member of congress. But unfortunately she is a novice at electoral politics and fails to implement the necessary campaign elements to steal the GOP nomination. If she had a few hundred people at that event and a field operation in place she may have had a chance. Time is running out, especially since the redistricting has not yet occurred and additional incumbent protections will surely be drawn come January.
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