Congressional candidate, Jason Allen, visits Ludington.

Jason Allen

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.

LUDINGTON — Jason Allen is concerned with the direction the United States is heading. He’s concerned about the future for his children and grandchildren. For this reason, the Traverse City business owner has decided to run for Congress. Allen was in Ludington Tuesday to formally announce he is running for the House of Representatives, representing Michigan’s 1st Congressional District. I had an opportunity to meet with him and discuss his campaign. 

He made his formal announcement last week at his store, Captain’s Quarters, a clothing store in Traverse City. The 1st Congressional District represents the entire Upper Peninsula and most of lower northern Michigan, including the northern third of Mason County and all of Manistee County.

As a veteran of the National Guard, Allen said he is concerned with national security and veterans affairs.

“We are starting to look at having the smallest military in this country in several generations,” Allen said. “Our navy is becoming smaller and smaller for the first time since Franklin Roosevelt’s first administration. Much of the aircraft in use were built before most of us were born. This national needs to spend and invest in our defense posture in cyber, space, air, land and sea.”

Since 2011, Allen has served as the senior policy advisor for the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency in the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs for the State of Michigan. Prior to his appointment as senior policy advisor, Allen served two terms in the Michigan State Senate and two terms in the Michigan State House.  He served in the Michigan National Guard as an E4 specialist.

“  “For the last five years, I have worked to fix a broken veterans system,” he said. “So many of our veterans’ systems need real leadership to fix them.  We owe them so much, and we need to deliver on our promises.  I understand where the worst problems lie and I am committed to going to Washington to repair the damage and provide the care we need to our veterans. I will do that and be a leader if elected to Congress.

“About 10 percent of Mason County’s population is veterans. These are men and women who were committed to protect our country. Many of them were on the front lines. I want to make sure they get the health care benefits that are owed to them. They deserve the benefits that were promised to them.”

Allen said he is also concerned with the regulatory environment for small businesses in the country. “How do you offer incentives to entrepreneurs in our small towns? We need a simple tax system and we need an culture that doesn’t have huge health care burdens on small businesses. We need to set up a fair regulatory environment for the next generation.”

“It’s time we had a conservative voice for upper Michigan,” Allen said during his campaign launch last week. “I want to help undo all the damage Barack Obama’s administration and the Washington ruling class have done to the families in upper Michigan. It’s time we had a government that lived within its means, a tax system which was simple, flat and fair, and a regulatory system which fostered job-growth instead of discouraging economic development.”