Due to the late start of my campaign for the House of Representatives in the 6th Ohio district, I have not been able to hire the staff necessary to run a successful campaign. Everybody is already committed.

Without this staff we have not been able to raise sufficient funds to put my name and platform in the public view.

This means that I am going to pass the responsibility for correcting the mistakes in Washington on to the other three candidates running in this primary.

I encourage the voters to pay attention to what is said and to ask the candidates for specifics.

Remember, these candidates are interviewing for a job and you are the person who is going to hire them. You need to know exactly what they plan on doing and get it in writing so they can be held accountable.

I hope that at least one of these candidates will push the three issues that most people brought up to me: 1) We must balance the budget not just reduce the deficit; 2) We must bring manufacturing jobs back to America; 3) We must secure our southern border and deport the illegal aliens.

Meeting these three goals will not solve all of our problems, but they are many steps in the right direction.

Our government has turned into an intrusive government. One that inhibits business growth, prosperity, and the pursuit of happiness in an effort to place control and power in the hands of a few power-hungry people. For the past 50 years the liberals in this nation have worked carefully and steadily to create a society dependent upon the government.

They have done this in an attempt to create a voter block that would keep them in power so the dependents would continue to get their money. As with any addiction (dependency), breaking this hold will be a painful process. But it is one we must accomplish.

We as a people are losing our independence and self reliance. Because of that our children are falling behind in school, our companies are falling behind in the commercial world and our nation as a whole is slowly losing its status as world leader in almost every category there is.

What is the answer? Independence!

It is the very reason this nation was founded in the first place. Our forefathers placed their lives on the line with the Declaration of Independence.

Can we allow economic hard times to keep us from declaring independence anew? No! We must not. We must elect representatives who will restrict our government to the role it was originally intended to play in our lives.

The government was not meant to take care of every aspect of our lives.

But was meant to protect us and to provide the public infrastructure that would allow us to live our lives as we see fit.

To “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity …”

So it is with great sadness that I withdraw my name from the race.

I just hope that I am not failing the citizens of this district by withdrawing.

Samuel A. Hepfner, Jr.

Salem