ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) -- The Rochester Tea Party Patriots hosted a meeting Thursday evening in Rochester with their guests of honor, Senate Candidate Kurt Bills and Congressional District One Candidate Allen Quist.
The idea was for the candidates to meet members of the Tea Party and assist their decisions this November. In Rochester, a Utility truck in a parking lot was plastered with republican leaders campaign signs. The event hosted by the Rochester Tea Party Patriots was going on inside the Ramada Hotel.
"It's very important for our voters to know how these candidates stand, what it is they stand for and to be informed," says Tea Party member Bonnie Haugen.
Haugen explained why tonight was important to her. "My number one priority is to return our country to the constitution and the principles our founding fathers set up to begin with in this country."
Congressional Candidate Allen Quist, coming off his primary election victory over Senator Mike Parry, explained why nights like this are important to the people. "When the citizens here elect somebody to represent them in congress, they are basically electing them to be a good manager of the countries resources especially financial," he said.
While Senate Candidate Kurt Bills stressed the importance of his own campaign saying the middle class has not been on the receiving end of any stimulus packages. "We need to move away from those policies and those programs and back to the situation of free enterprise," said Bills.
And as a member of the Tea Party, Haugen says financial stability is a subject she can relate to. "We are not funded by big business," she said. "We are funded by the money we take out of our own pockets."
The event this evening drew roughly 75 to 100 area residents.
