For immediate release
Contact: Sean Grehalva, Alabama State Director
US Term Limits
Phone: 205-908-3679
Email: sgrehalva@termlimits.com
Helena, Alabama – U.S. Term Limits (USTL), the leader in the national, nonpartisan movement to limit terms for elected officials, praises several of the Alabama Lieutenant Governor candidates for signing its Article V Term Limits pledge. Twinkle Cavanaugh, Rusty Glover, and William Ainsworth all proudly support the term limits convention measure (HJR23) making its way through the Alabama legislature this session.
USTL is currently gathering support from state lawmakers and candidates across the country for a national amendment convention to propose congressional term limits. In Alabama, the measure passed the state house earlier this month and will go to a vote in the Senate some time this week. Once both chambers pass HJR23, Alabama will be counted among the 34 states needed to call the term limits convention. Because the measure is a resolution and not a bill, it does not need the approval of either the Governor, Congress, or the President to be entered into the congressional record.
The U.S. Term Limits Amendment Pledge is provided to elected officials and candidates. The pledge for Lt. Governor signed by these candidates reads, “I pledge to support a resolution in my state legislature in favor of an Article V Convention for the purpose of proposing a congressional term limits amendment to the US Constitution.”
In the 1995 case, Thornton v. U.S. Term Limits, the Supreme Court of the United States opined that only a Constitutional Amendment could limit the terms of U.S. Senators and House Representatives. According to Nick Tomboulides, Executive Director of USTL, the best chance of imposing term limits on Congress is through an Article V Convention of state legislatures. “The Constitution allows for amendments to be proposed by either 2/3 of Congress or 2/3 of the states. While we’d like for Congress to take the high road and impose limits on itself, our goal is to trigger the latter, a term limits convention,” claims Tomboulides. “That is why it is important to get buy-in from state officials,” he added. Once proposed, the amendment must be ratified by 38 states.
USTL President, Philip Blumel, commented on the pledges from the Lt. Governor candidates saying, “This tremendous support of term limits shows that there are candidates who are willing to listen to the majority of voters who want term limits. America needs a Congress that will be served by citizen legislators, not career politicians. Alabama is fortunate to have so many candidates, lawmakers, and residents who overwhelmingly support term limits on Congress.”
Blumel noted, “More than 75% of Americans have rejected the career politician model and want to replace it with citizen leadership. The way to achieve that goal is through a congressional term limits amendment. Cavanaugh, Glover, and Ainsworth all know this and are willing to work to make sure we reach our goal.”
According to the last nationwide poll on term limits conducted by Gallup, the issue enjoys wide nonpartisan support. The results demonstrate that 75% of Americans support congressional term limits. Gallup’s analysis states, “Republicans and Independents are slightly more likely than Democrats to favor term limits; nevertheless, the vast majority of all party groups agree on the issue. Further, Gallup finds no generational differences in support for the proposal.”
Find out more at termlimits.org.
View Ainsworth’s signed pledge.
View Cavanaugh’s signed pledge.
View Glover’s signed pledge.
###