IGH's Westpfahl to Represent Ron Paul, Minnesota at Republican National Convention in Tampa

Lake Minnetonka Patch broke the news yesterday that Minnesota’s delegation to the Republican National Convention (RNC) will not back Mitt Romney when the party gathers in Tampa (Fla.) next week.

Instead, 32 of the state’s 40 nominating votes will be cast for Ron Paul during the roll call of states, according to Excelsior's —chair of the delegation.

"I don’t think Mitt Romney is a strong candidate," Stebbins told Patch. "He represents old ideas and what the party has stood for over the last couple of decades, which is not necessarily what the voters want.” 

Since yesterday Inver Grove Heights Patch has learned that IGH school board member and St. Paul Public School teacher Mark J. Westpfahl will be among the 76-person delegation (40 delegates and 36 alternates) representing Minnesota in Tampa from Aug 27-30.

Westpfahl was elected an alternate-delegate to the RNC at the Second Congressional District Republicans Convention held in Shakopee on April 24.

"As a historian, I have seen how government interaction, since the founding of our country, has often led to limited personal freedoms," Westpfahl said. "Although our federal government does provide vital roles for citizens, the past quarter- to half-century has seen person liberties and freedoms erode in the face of a growing size and scope of the federal government."

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, will most likely earn nomination on the first ballot, but that has not swayed Westpfahl from standing up for what he believes in Tampa next week. 

"I am excited to represent Republicans of the Second Congressional District at the RNC," Westpfahl said. "There is a shift in the party to promote a reduced scope of government’s role in our lives, so we can live free from the tyrannies that our founding fathers experienced and envisioned could happen again, if government oversteps its constitutional boundaries.”