NEW YORK and PORTLAND, Ore.,– Mixed martial arts star and Olympic silver medalist Matt “The Law” Lindland has launched a campaign for the vacated Oregon State Representative seat in District 52 in the upcoming election. Lindland, 37, a silver medalist in wrestling at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, and again at the 2001 World Championships, owns the Team Quest Training Center in Portland and is the coach of the camp’s International Fight League entry. Lindland says that like many small business owners in Oregon, he felt the crunch of a struggling local economy that he felt was only being worsened by the state’s political leadership, and decided to try to make a difference in his first foray into politics. “For years the solution has been to raise taxes,” says Lindland, who will run as a Republican candidate. “That doesn’t promote growth from businesses. It doesn’t encourage businesses to bring jobs here. We should be seeing Oregon businesses expand and hire more people, but we aren’t, and that’s because of the burden placed on business owners. “I have been blessed with much success in my athletic career and have done well in business,” he added. “However, the blessings I have enjoyed have come largely as a result of hard work, dedication, and discipline. I have always believed that if a man or woman works hard and works smart, and if government does not get in the way too much, then there is no limit to your potential success.” Before the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Lindland filed and won a lawsuit to ensure that his spot on the U.S. Wrestling team wasn’t unfairly given away due to a scoring error. For more information on the campaign, interested parties can visit www.MattForOregon.com. About the IFLInternational Fight League™ (IFL) has its headquarters in New York and offices in Las Vegas. For more information about IFL, please see: www.ifl.tv. -- IFL --www.ifl.tv* Catch the IFL on FSN Saturdays at midnight and LIVE on HDNet on May 16
