VAN BUREN COUNTY, Mich. — The Board of the VanKal Tea Party Patriots has issued a statement via Facebook that encourages local Representative Cindy Gamrat and Representative Todd Courser to resign “to heal the wounds that they have caused within their families.”
Gamrat has a 2:00pm press conference scheduled in Lansing Friday.
“The actions of the past years (sic) and the especially the last few days make it very unlikely that either Courser or Gamrat will be able to effectively serve their constituents in the remaining months of their terms in office,” reads the statement posted by Gene Clem on behalf of the board. The post says that because they are not an official organization, they cannot “call” for someone to resign, but they are recommending them to do so.
Courser has been caught in a scandal where he claims he was being blackmailed about his affair with Gamrat. Courser has admitted to hurting his and Gamrat’s families. He has also been releasing text messages he says show he has been blackmailed and is being pushed out by powerful people in Lansing. Gamrat has not issued any statements.
FOX 17 will have more from Lansing today and will live stream Rep. Gamrat’s press conference at 2:00pm.
Below is the complete statement:
Statement from the board of the VanKal Tea Party Patriots:
The ‘Tea Party’ is NOT a formal organization as are the Republican, Libertarian and Democrat parties. It is a term that rose up to describe the millions of Americans who want our constitutional republic restored and are working through the Republican, Democrat and other political parties to do just that. We at VanKal Patriots, as a group of concerned citizens, are saddened by the actions of Michigan State Representatives Gamrat and Courser and the effect that the publicity of their actions must be having on their families.
Many of us have worked hard to start up groups of citizens to work for change. Ms. Gamrat organized groups in IN and here in MI, however Mr. Courser does not seem to be a member of, much less a leader of a Tea Party or similar group. In any case, because we are not a formalized political party there is no one in a position to ‘call for’ anyone’s recognition. However, we do strongly encourage Courser and Gamrat to resign their elected positions in the state house in order to heal the wounds that they have caused within their families. The actions of the past years and the especially the last few days make it very unlikely that either Courser or Gamrat will be able to effectively serve their constituents in the remaining months of their terms in office.
To be clear, we do not have standing to ‘call for’ any action by the two state representatives, however as VanKal Tea Party leaders we feel compelled to strongly recommend that they resign from the state house. There is much important work that their Tea Party constituents want done.
These people are human; they made mistakes. Their actions diminish themselves, but not the churches or civic organizations of which they may have been members. Christians and Tea Party citizens will still continue their work despite this. We are thankful for the legislators who continue to represent us faithfully, morally and by upholding the Constitution.
Approved by the VanKal Tea Party Patriots Board
