# Liberty Movement > Liberty Campaigns > Liberty Campaign Evaluation >  Campaign Evaluation: Eric Reyes (U.S. House, IL-17)

## Bryan

This thread is intended to be a collection point of the strong pros and cons of any potential liberty candidate / campaign that is being discussed / promoted on the forum. You are welcome to post both positive and not-so-positive attributes about the candidate as they related to their position on supporting liberty as well as issues relating to their campaign. The most important information may be aggregated in this top post for easy reference.

*Candidate Name:* Eric Reyes
*Office Sought:* U.S. House
*Website:* http://ericreyes.us
*Social Media:* 
https://www.facebook.com/EricReyes4US
https://twitter.com/EricReyes4US

*Candidate Profile: On the Issues*
Civil Liberties: [Rating TBD]
Constitutional Issues: [Rating TBD]
Economic Issues: [Rating TBD]
Foreign Policy: [Rating TBD]
Social Issues: [Rating TBD]
*Overall Issues Rating:* [Rating TBD]

*Race Profile: Competition & Demographics*
State: Illinois
District: 17
Incumbent:
Other Primary Candidates: 
Non-Incumbent Candidates from Other Parties: 
Relevant poll numbers: None.
*Overall Race Profile Rating:* [Rating TBD]

*Miscellaneous Pros/Cons*
Key strong points: 

Unknown points for further research:

Possible weak points:

Possible deal breakers:

*Overall Rating:*


*Eric Reyes For Congress 2014 Campaign Announcement*

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## Brian4Liberty

From his issues page, on Jobs & Economy:




> Issues
> Jobs & Economy
> 
> There is no greater guarantor of freedom than economic prosperity, and thats why we need to turn things around.  Our current Congresswoman thinks that we should keep doing what weve been doing and expect a different result.  However, more government and spending is NOT the answer.  You dont do anyone any favors by creating dependency and destroying individual responsibility.  The fact is, economic freedom, and the prosperity it generates, reduces poverty like nothing else.
> 
> Eric Reyess Plan to Restore America puts America on a return to Constitutional government. This bold but achievable plan, *inspired by Ron Pauls proposed policies*, includes the following:
> 
> - Cuts spending by abolishing corporate subsidies, drastically reducing foreign intervention, eliminating duplicative and unnecessary bureaucracies, and returning most other categories of spending to 2006 levels.
> 
> ...

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## Brian4Liberty

On Civil Liberties:




> Civil Liberties
> 
> “Our Constitution acts not as a list of rights granted to the people, but as a restraining order against the government.  It is there to remind those we have elected that their powers are limited, temporary, and come only from the consent of the governed.”
> 
> - Reyes supports the right to concealed carry and is a tireless advocate for the Second Amendment.
> 
> - Reyes opposes indefinite detention, suspension of habeus corpus, execution of Americans without trial, warrantless spying on innocent Americans, and any other provisions of the NDAA, Patriot Act, PRISM, etc. that infringe upon our fundamental privacy rights.
> 
> - Reyes is pro-free internet. An opponent of CISPA/SOPA, Reyes stands strongly with Reddit, the Mozilla Foundation, and Wikipedia to promote openness, innovation, and participation on the internet.
> ...

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## Brian4Liberty

On Hemp & Cannabis:




> Hemp & Cannabis
> 
> “The war on drugs is unconstitutional and antithetical to our notions of due process, federalism, and individual liberty.  A Constitutional Amendment was required to ban alcohol, and thus is also required to ban other drugs.  State bans on possession and consumption of cannabis are equally unconstitutional as violative of our 14th Amendment rights, as well as our 5th, 9th, and 10th Amendment rights as applied to the states via the 14th Amendment.”
> 
> Eric Reyes will do everything he can to legalize hemp and cannabis.  Aside from the fact that the so-called war on drugs has been an abysmal failure and an affront to the concept of individual liberty, it makes no economic sense for our government to fail to access this huge source of revenue and economic stimulation.  The most conservative estimates indicate that the Federal Government is missing out on at least $14 BILLION in annual revenue by failing to regulate and tax the sale of cannabis. Economies tied to the 17th District are missing out as well: Illinois to the tune of $31.6 Million and Iowa at $6.2 Million in annual revenue. This is just the benefit provided by the taxation and regulation of the sale of cannabis.  This doesn’t even take into account the agricultural benefits of reauthorizing the growth of our founding fathers’ crop of choice, hemp.
> 
> Hemp is several times more efficient a bio-fuel than ethanol and could replace the acres of subsidized corn fields with a crop that is self-sustaining.  Not only that, but it has a multitude of other uses besides clean efficient fuel and consumption.  Legalization of this crop would be not only a boost to already existing economies, but the start of a new one.
> 
> Furthermore, thousands upon thousands of non-violent otherwise upstanding citizens would be able to become productive members of society again rather than having their college, professional, athletic, or any other dreams dashed by their choice of a recreational drug that is less harmful and less addictive than alcohol, cigarettes, caffeine, or sugar.
> ...

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## Brian4Liberty

Incumbent: Cheri Bustos (Democratic) January 3, 2013 –
Previously held by GOP, redistricted to lean Democrat.

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## Brian4Liberty

Uh, nevermind...




> ROCK ISLAND – Republican candidate for U.S. Congress, Eric Reyes, released the following statement concerning his choice to withdraw from the 17th District Congressional race:
> 
> “I owe a special thank you to my friends, family, campaign staff & volunteers, and ardent supporters everywhere for their time and effort put into spreading the message of liberty in Illinois. I am eternally grateful to the people of the 17th District for giving us their time, wherever we met them,” Reyes went on to say.
> 
> "This campaign has never been about me. It has always been about getting America back on the path our founders intended. As a party, we Republicans need to be united in our efforts and therefore, rather than continue to divide the party and waste precious time and resources of all involved, I have chosen to withdraw my candidacy and focus on advancing the principles of freedom, liberty, and limited Constitutional government by other means."
> 
> "The fact is, as bad as the situation in Washington is, the situation here at home is even worse. We live in a state that is taxing itself out of competition for businesses. We have a budget and pension system that was recently 'reformed' by kicking the can down the road for the umpteenth time and hoping things will just magically get better. We also still live in the state with the most restrictive gun laws that infringe upon law abiding citizens' Constitutional rights and that have allowed increasing crime to continue to plague our society. I have no intention of standing by and watching our great state go the way of Detroit." Reyes said.
> 
> Eric Reyes is a Constitutional Lawyer from Rock Island, Illinois. More information about Eric Reyes and his plans to restore America can be found at www.EricReyes.us
> ...

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