For immediate release
October 17th, 2019
Contact: Nick Tomboulides, U.S. Term Limits
NTomboulides@termlimits.com
Jim Kennedy Signs Congressional Term Limits Pledge
Melbourne, FL – Today U.S. Term Limits (USTL), the nation’s oldest and largest pro-term limits group, announced that 8th district congressional candidate Jim Kennedy has signed its congressional term limits pledge. In doing so, Kennedy – a Democrat — pledges if elected to cosponsor a constitutional amendment limiting House members to three terms (six years) and senators to two terms (12 years).
“We applaud Jim Kennedy for standing with 82 percent of Americans by making a commitment to real term limits,” Tomboulides said. “It is disappointing that incumbent Congressman Bill Posey refuses to sign this same pledge.”
Tomboulides has repeatedly asked Posey to sign the pledge and each time, Posey has refused, claiming the proposed six-year House limit is too short for his tastes. The American people overwhelmingly disagree with Posey. According to a 2019 poll by McLaughlin & Associates, 67 percent of Americans believe term limits for members of the U.S. House should be six years or fewer.
President Donald Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis, Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Rick Scott have also all endorsed six-year House term limits, putting Posey at odds with prominent leaders in his own party. DeSantis, while in Congress, was the prime sponsor of the bill that Posey now refuses to support. Posey has been an elected politician at different levels of government for total of 36 years. Despite refusing to sign onto the U.S. Term Limits pledge, Posey still claims to be a term limits supporter, routinely including mention of the issue on his campaign mail pieces.
For his part, Kennedy understands the importance of serious term limits and its bipartisan appeal. Polling shows that 89% of Republicans, 76% of Democrats and 83% of Independent voters want term limits for Congress. Several prominent Democrats have also endorsed congressional term limits, including Tom Steyer, Beto O’Rourke and Andrew Yang.
“We are fortunate enough to live in a district with literally some of the smartest people on the planet. It’s naive and negligent to think that you are the only one who can do the job after over a decade,” Kennedy said. “In Posey’s own words his first term in favor of term limits ‘Our government needs fresh faces with new ideas and different approaches.’ He was right then, and he is still right now. He’s now exceeded his own proposed limits which were already too long. Time to come home.”
Kennedy pledge: https://www.termlimits.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Jim-Kennedy-FL-CD-08.pdf
Other signers in Congress: https://www.termlimits.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/116thCongressPledgeSigners.pdf