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Congressman has more than $400,000 on hand as he begins fundraising efforts for re-election campaign

(Louisville, KY) The inaugural fundraiser for Congressman John Yarmuth’s (KY-3) 2012 re-election campaign raised more than $150,000, surpassing any event the Congressman held in his previous three campaigns.

“I intend to continue tackling Washington dysfunction and getting results for Louisville families,” Congressman Yarmuth said.“This record-breaking start gives us the resources and momentum we need to run another successful race. I am grateful for this support and will fight to bring the American Dream back within the reach of every Louisvillian with the ability and determination to work for it.

The event brings Yarmuth’s total cash on hand to more than $400,000 heading into 2012.

Dear Friends,
 
Thank you.  In the face of an uncertain midterm election, you doubled your efforts on the phones and in neighborhoods, to ensure that our campaign would be victorious again.  As a result, Louisville went to the polls and reaffirmed that the values Democrats not only profess, but work so diligently toward, are the values that make America great.  And you showed the nation that in our community every citizen is a priority, and we won’t let our seniors, veterans and students fall through the cracks in the system.

I’m proud to be your representative and grateful for the opportunity to continue working for your priorities in Congress.  I promise to continue my fight to revitalize our economy and keep Louisville moving forward.

Thank you again for all of your help and support.

 
Sincerely,

Defying a national Republican surge, Louisville’s Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth successfully fended off his tea party-backed challenger, Todd Lally, to capture a third term in the 3rd Congressional District.Despite pre-election polls predicting heightened Republican turnout, Yarmuth, 62, the former publisher of LEO Weekly, won with 55 percent of the vote to Lally’s 44 percent with 99.8 percent of the ballots counted. The Democratic-leaning district covers most of Jefferson County.

“I think it does show that even a Republican wave has limits, and that some of the apocalyptic predictions for Democrats were a little premature,” said Isaac Wood, an analyst for the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “It shows that candidates still matter. If a generic Democrat had been running, you might not have had the same result.”

It was a narrower margin of victory than in 2008, when, buoyed by President Barack Obama’s candidacy, Yarmuth dispatched former Rep. Anne Northup by nearly 18 points.

But in a speech before cheering supporters at the Marriott Louisville Downtown hotel, Yarmuth said he was grateful to the community “for showing your confidence in me. That means more than I can say.”

Three federal grants totaling $9 million have been awarded to the Transit Authority of River City to install an electronic fare-collection system, to make its Union Station headquarters more energy-efficient and to purchase eight hybrid buses.

Mayor Jerry Abramson, U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-3rd District, and TARC Executive Director Barry Barker announced the grants at a Union Station news conference Thursday morning. TARC officials gave Yarmuth much of the credit in obtaining what they said were highly competitive grants.

The grant money will “help the community for years to come,” Yarmuth said.

Louisville, Ky. (WDRB Fox 41) -- It's the latest phase of development at Liberty Green -- over the years, the old Clarksdale housing project has been transformed into apartments just east of downtown Louisville.

On Tuesday, the groundbreaking for the Edge at Liberty Green, the home ownership phase of the development, took place.

It includes three and four story row houses with various floor plans that will allow for retail and office space on the lower levels.  "We've always envisioned having a home ownership component at Liberty Green," says Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson.

The master developers of the Edge at Liberty Green are Bill Weyland of City Properties' Group and Holly Wiedman of AU Associates.  "The Edge at Liberty Green is an exciting next step in our company's commitment to the growth of downtown," says Weyland.

Third District Congressman John Yarmuth said this latest phase will help more families realize the dream of home ownership. "Liberty Green is a national model for Hope VI projects and has played a key role in the incredible revitalization in the heart of Louisville," says Yarmuth.

The project has been delayed by the recent financial crisis, but construction is now scheduled to begin in about a month.

GE announced in a press release Monday that it plans to invest $432 million to establish four U.S.-based refrigeration design and manufacturing centers of excellence and create 500 new “green” jobs by 2014.

The plan includes an investment of $194 million to create 300 jobs at Appliance Park in Louisville.

Appliance Park will house a center of excellence for bottom-freezer refrigerators, a new product platform for that facility.

“GE is committed to investing in this business and redefining what's possible in home appliances,” said Charlene Begley, president and CEO, GE Home & Business Solutions, of which GE Appliances is a part.

James P. Campbell, president and CEO of GE Appliances & Lighting, is expected to make the announcement at 10 a.m. Monday at Appliance Park.

The addition of the bottom-freezer models to the Louisville-made product lines marks the third new platform announced for that facility in the past year, following a hybrid water heater and a new frontload washer and dryer.

(Louisville, KY)  Today, the Veterans of Foreign Wars PAC announced its endorsement of Congressman John Yarmuth in the race for Kentucky’s 3^rd Congressional District.  According to the VFW PAC this endorsement “is based on Congressman Yarmuth’s legislative record of strong support for veterans, national security and defense, and military personnel issues.”

"Each day in Congress, it is my honor to stand up and fight for Louisville's 75,000 veterans. I am proud of what I have achieved so far, securing $75 million for a new VA hospital, a pay raise for our troops, providing the largest increase in veterans’ health care in history, and passing a new G.I. bill," said Congressman John Yarmuth. "We must keep up the fight to ensure the brave men and women who served our nation receive every benefit and opportunity to which they earned, and I am proud to stand side-by-side with the VFW in this extraordinarily important mission."

Noting his work securing federal grants for law enforcement, the Kentucky State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police Tuesday endorsed 3rd District Congressman John Yarmuth in his race against Republican challenger Todd Lally.

The Yarmuth campaign sent the following:

“It is always an honor to stand side-by-side with the men and women who put their lives on the line every day on behalf of our community,” said Congressman Yarmuth. “Their service and sacrifice is a critical part of what makes our community great, and I am humbled and proud to have their support.”

The Kentucky State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police is comprised of more than 9,000 men and women involved in law enforcement in Louisville and across the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Congressman Yarmuth has worked together with law enforcement officials in Louisville on numerous occassions over his first two terms in Congress, helping secure $6 million in COPS funding to hire 32 new LMPD officers and $1.2 million to put new mobile data computers in LMPD cruisers.  He also successfully fought to add Jefferson County to the national HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) program, giving law enforcement agencies across our community new resources and tools to fight drug trafficking.

A $6 million federal grant will allow the Louisville Metro Police Department to hire 32 new officers in the next year, pushing the force its largest level.

The department will receive more than $6 million from the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services hiring program, providing three years worth of salaries and benefits for a new class of officers that will be spread out across the department’s divisions.

“What it means to our residents is that there will be 32 more bodies out in the street, patrolling the community 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Police Chief Robert White said at a press conference Friday, in which Mayor Jerry Abramson and Congressmen John Yarmuth also spoke.

Excerpt from the Main Article

Yesterday, Corporate Voices and Working Mother Media publicly recognized the 30 winners of this year’s Best of Congress Award. The Award recognizes Congressional excellence in improving the lives of working families through advancing national legislation, advocacy, and supporting family-friendly work policies in their own offices.

14 Members of Congress attended the awards breakfast, held at Charlie Palmer Steak in Washington, D.C. As each Member accepted their award and made brief remarks, it quickly became apparent that each had powerful personal stories of how they, their families, and those close to them have struggled to meet work/life challenges—creating a clear driver behind their strong commitment to advance the work/life agenda in Congress.

John Yarmuth: Democratic Representative from Kentucky and father of one, Yarmuth is passionate defender of programs that empower people to increase their own economic independence and strengthen their financial security. He supports his staff of 18, 5 of whom are working moms, with office policies that promote flexibility, professional development, and work-life balance. Yarmuth donates his entire Congressional salary to a variety of charities in Louisville, KY.

Congratulations, Best of Congress winners!

• Read the feature article and profiles of 2010 Best of Congress winners in the August/September issue of Working Mother Magazine;
• View photos of Best of Congress winners taken at the awards breakfast;
• See ongoing media coverage of Corporate Voices’ Best of Congress Award.