What Did You Say?

J.D. Winteregg

When J.D. Winteregg made the decision to enter the world of politics, he was warned. His decision to run for Congress wasn’t for an open seat. Campaigning would pit him directly against Republican House Speaker John Boehner in the May 5^th primary to represent Ohio’s 8^th congressional district. He was warned by some in the Republican establishment that if he ran against Boehner, he would never work in Ohio again. Now, he has experienced that those words were more than just an empty threat.

In mid-April, the Winteregg campaign released an anti-Boehner web ad entitled “Electile Dysfunction.” The ad went viral online with over a quarter of a million YouTube views. Everyone ranging from every day bloggers to conservative talk radio legends Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, and others were talking about it. But, not everyone was excited about the ad, as J.D. Winteregg would learn. SEE “Electile Dysfunction” ad below:

In response to his anti-Boehner web ad, “Electile Dysfunction,” J.D. Winteregg was fired from his position as an adjunct professor at Cedarville University in Ohio. 

“Give me liberty or give me death. You can have a few jobs along the way if necessary.” That was J.D. Winteregg’s response to his firing from Cedarville University in Ohio.

J.D.’s candidacy has garnered the support of both national and local Tea Party groups as well as influential conservative bloggers including Doug Ross and Jen Kuznicki.  Both the Tea Party Leadership Fund PAC and the Frederick Douglass Republicans have endorsed his candidacy against Boehner. The focus of Winteregg’s career so far has been in teaching French at both the high school and college level. An unconventional candidate, this is his first political race.

His connection to Cedarville University runs deep. He not only studied for a few semesters there, he also helped develop the online course for French as an adjunct professor over the last 3 years. At no point during his time at Cedarville was he ever reprimanded. So, it came as a surprise when he received a phone call a few days after the release of his web ad, “Electile Dysfunction.” 

When I spoke with J.D., he couldn’t recall the name of the superior who called him. While firings are typically done face-to-face, the university official who gave him the news was actually out of town, so he called Winteregg instead. According to his account, the university specifically cited the ad against Boehner as their reason for not renewing his contract at the end of the semester.

While J.D. acknowledges that there is no paper trail that links Boehner to his termination from employment, he did note that some warned him upon entering the race that he’d never work in Ohio again if he proceeds with his candidacy.

That, however, did not give Winteregg any pause in his campaign. He said he truly thought that the veiled warning was just typical fear mongering in an attempt to convince him not to go up against a powerful incumbent. However, in this case, that warning has become a reality.

When asked if he has any plans to take any legal action against the university, Winteregg said that he does not. He said a decision such as the one made by the university is all part of the free market process adding, “Something like this happening is a fact of life. These things happen and I respect the decision of Cedarville, which is a private, Christian school.  (I do not recall anywhere in scripture where Jesus instructed us to treat a brother-in-Christ this way, especially as part of a political revenge. I question the sincerety of this schools testimony of being a Christian school. JB) I accept that I am the one taking the hits. It is the least I could do for my country. Give me liberty or give me death. You can have a few jobs along the way if necessary.”

Despite his job loss, Winteregg, who also teaches at a local high school, said that his termination gives him additional time to focus on Boehner and work even harder to oust him from office. 

The ‘controversial’ web ad, “Electile Dysfunction” was released on April 13^th. Although Winteregg learned of his termination two days after the ad’s release, he made the decision not to say anything about it (Class act. JB). It wasn’t until news about his termination somehow got out that he made the decision to speak out about it. He chose not to initially discuss Cedarville’s decision to terminate his contract because he didn’t want that to serve as a distraction from the real goal, which is to unseat John Boehner.  (Again, Class act. JB)

To his supporters, J.D. Winteregg said on his Facebook page, “For the record, we are not accusing the Speaker of using his influence to make this happen…and we’d rather not even have to post about this distraction. J.D. would prefer to have a substantive debate on the issues that affect Ohio-8 voters, but Boehner has chosen to avoid debates and Town Hall forums. The primary is May 6th. We hope you’ll support the candidate who is out listening to voters and earning their trust.”

(Let’s pray for this guy. Boehner has to go. He is NOT representing his district based on anything close to being a Constitutional Conservative. JB)