John Lerew CMC '81 Runs for Congress on Segway

Hitting the streets on his Segway

If you want to hear him talk about his financial background and how he'll help with the financial markets, watch this video.

Here he is in The Rocky Mountain News giving the argument for why he should be elected.

With more than 20 years as a financial professional and a current Certified Financial Planner, I am well versed in the matters of finance. Given the current financial crisis, you will want a congressman who not only understands these issues, but will keep you in mind when Congress starts to write new regulations for the financial markets.

As a small-business owner and family man, I have your same concerns about the financial stability of this nation and our individual financial future. We are seeing the effects of a Congress that let the regulatory process be tilted toward a special few and not fair toward the whole. That same Congress cannot now bail out every bad business decision in our markets with taxpayer dollars. A great deal more could be accomplished with government-sponsored programs directed toward this country’s crumbling infrastructure. The $850 billion of taxpayer money could be used to repair roads and bridges. People who work on these projects would pay taxes on the local level, which would benefit cities and our state.

I am an independent thinker running a grass-roots campaign. I am beholden only to the constituency of the 7th Congressional District. As a Republican, I am interested in preserving individual rights and enforcing fiscal responsibility of our government.

In walking door to door in the district over the last four months, the issues remain the same: high energy costs, government intrusion, illegal immigration and our government’s insatiable appetite for debt. All of these lead down a path to a weak economy. I ask for your vote and look forward to working for you. Check out Lerew2008.com for further information.

Here he is in The Rocky Mountains News on why he's the man for the job, given this financial climate.

Here his sister and campaign treasurer tells PolitickerCO.com that the FEC got their fundraising numbers wrong. They actually made raised more money than was reported.

Seventh Congressional District John Lerew raised $13,718 during the third quarter of 2008, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.

But the FEC report mistakenly show Lerew's cumulative fundraising numbers as being less than his third-quarter numbers.

Deborah Lerew, John Lerew's sister and campaign treasurer, told PolitickerCO.com that the campaign's total contributions from individuals totaled $21,218. Total campaign receipts after the third quarter totaled $31,211, she said.

The FEC report stated Lerew's cycle-to-date contributions from individuals as $12,610.28 and his total operating expenditures as $15,696.

Lerew's campaign had $5,833.24 at the end of the third quarter, according to the FEC report and Deborah Lerew.

Here he is in PolitckerCO.com on his door-to-door segway campaign. How entrepreneurial!

With only a small campaign budget, 7th Congressional District Republican nominee John Lerew has turned to an unconventional campaign vehicle: his Segway.

"The district is so large, and when you're a grassroots campaign and you don't have any money for mailings, the only way I can get around and do lit drops is I use a Segway," Lerew said. "They're good on the sidewalk, and they're easy to run."

Lerew estimated he can cover about 350 homes in two hours using his Segway, which he rents from his financial planning business.

He predicted that the personal vehicles could become a valuable tool for political candidates.

"It may not happen in two years, but probably four years from now, as Segways become more of the society, I would think if you ran a mail-distribution-sized campaign or you did lit drops, you could put your whole crew on Segways and you could cover thousands of homes in one way," Lerew said.