McVEYTOWN - U.S. Rep. Tom Marino and state treasurer candidate Diana Vaughn were the guest speakers at the Mifflin County Republican Banquet Thursday evening.
Nelson Rieffannacht, chairman of the Mifflin County Republican Committee, started the evening off at the Penn Valley Christian Retreat encouraging voters to back Mitt Romney and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan for president and vice president.
State Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, introduced Tom Marino who represents the 10th Congressional District, which now includes Mifflin and Juniata counties.
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Sentinel photo by KIERNAN?SCHALK
U.S. Rep. Tom Marino speaks to members of the Mifflin County Republican Committee at the committee’s fall banquet Thursday, at Penn Valley Christian Retreat, McVeytown.
"Tom Marino came to Congress in January 2011 in much the same way he arrived at other destinations throughout his life, with a sense of purpose, a clear set of goals and a commonsense approach to finding solutions to serious problems. Though he had previously talked about running for Congress, it wasn't until he found himself so frustrated by the direction the nation was taking that he declared himself a candidate in early 2010," Benninghoff said.
Marino first thanked all the veterans and active servicemen.
"Once a week I tell my children, we owe it all to you," Marino said of veterans.
Marino describes himself as "very pro-life," pro gun and fiscally conservative.
He then gave a little background about his family and told how his parents ran their own bar BANQUET and restaurant, which they built from the ground up.
After high school, Marino worked in a factory then decided to go to college and law school after he was passed up for a promotion.
Marino said he had extensive legal background, having served as a district attorney, assistant district attorney and finally U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in 2002.
On Thanksgiving night in 2009 Marino said he was screaming at his television about a political issue. His wife told him to put his "money where his mouth was," and so he decided to run for Congress.
Marino said it was a grassroots campaign and he was not supposed to win, but he campaigned every day and persevered.
"You will see a lot of me," Marino said.
Marino said he tries to lead by example and keeps a small staff and works within or below his budget.
"We can win this, we are going to win the House, maybe retake the Senate," Marino said, adding that he believes Romney will win the presidential election.
Marino also touched on the importance of paying down the national debt, term limits and the need to repeal the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.
Marino advocates a lower corporate tax that closes the loopholes.
"I will fight for you with every fiber of my body," Marino said.
Vaughn, a former Washington County Commissioner of 17 years was then introduced.
Vaughn said she has worked hard to keep tax rates low and cut wasteful spending.
Vaughn said she was successful in managing the county employees pension system, something she hopes to duplicate at the state level.
"The state treasurer has to be a leader," she added.
Vaughn said she is both fiscally and socially conservative, pro-life and a backer of the Second Amendment.
Vaughn said this election will be won by the "political army" that is the Republican party.
Benninghoff closed out the evening by stating that things are starting to turn in the right direction under Gov. Tom Corbett.
"The Republican party should be proud," he said.
