5th District Candidate Clay Cope Responds to Bill Stevens Attack

The following was written by Clay cope, frontrunner for the 5th Congressional District

"It is inexcusable – and especially unfair to voters trying to make an informed decision -- when candidates like Bill Stevens become so desperate to win an election that they knowingly spread untruths about an opponent. There is no place for such vile smear tactics and character assassination in politics. Bill Stevens should be ashamed.

I have no arrest record. My identity was stolen and used as an alias by a criminal – who was also my younger brother and a drug addict.

Like many American families, my family suffered a tragedy triggered by the use of illegal drugs. In our case, it resulted in the loss of a beloved son and my brother Tim.

My brother had a learning disability and was medicated through much of his early life. As such, he was particularly susceptible to drug addiction. He started out smoking marijuana and quickly advanced to more dangerous drugs.

To support his drug habit, he resorted to criminal activity. He was arrested and convicted of crimes. He was incarcerated twice in Texas. In the process he used several aliases to try to cover his tracks. My name was one of the aliases he used. He also stole my Social Security number.

As much as we loved my brother, we were unable to help him defeat his addiction. Ultimately, after much pain and heartache, we separated. He went his way and we went ours. As of today, we do not know where Tim is, or what might have happened to him. We still love him and wish him well. But we fear the worse.

These events happened more than 30 years ago.

Based on the fact my name appears as an alias on an arrest record, Bill Stevens is suggesting that I have an arrest record. He knows this is untrue. Yet he wants to sully my name and harm my reputation – solely to advance his own selfish political ambitions.

It is clear that I am the frontrunner to win the Republican nomination for the 5th District later today. I understand I have a bull’s eye on my back.

But Bill Stevens is desperate to win at any costs, and will resort to any means, including misrepresentation and character assassination, to achieve his goals. Is this the kind of man you want representing you in Congress?

Bill Stevens claims to be an outsider to politics. But his mastery of such vile tactics suggest otherwise."