“I’m excited about it,” said Kirsch, who runs the22-year-old company that makes and markets electronic nerve stimulation devices based on technology developed by her husband and company chairman, Dr. Daniel Kirsch. “It’s nice to be a part of the Republican ideas, agenda and awareness.” The Kirsch’s moved the company to Mineral Wells nine years ago from Los Angeles. They brought to market a new neurological stimulation product designed as an alternative depression therapy. The product initially received Food and Drug Administration approval, but the FDA later tried to pull the product from the market.
The Kirsches fought back and eventually the FDA withdrew.
“Because of the FDA problems, that’s what began our political activism,” she said. “That’s when we decided you have to make your voice heard. We would have been out of buisness if we’d just rolled over.”
Kirsch said she was raised a Democrat. She said she likes the Republican Party because “it’s a business-friendly party.”
Earlier this year, the NRCC bestowed the honor of 2003 Businesswoman of the Year upon Kirsch. Locally, she has served as the first female chair of the Mineral Wells Area Chamber of Commerce and has chaired the Brazos Valley Chapter of the Texas Association of Businesses and Chambers of Commerce. She is a member of the Palo Pinto County Republican Women’s Club and has previously served on the board of Hope, Inc.
With Republican tickets carrying Palo Pinto County in the 2000 presidential election and teh 2002 gubernatorial election, Kirsch said she sees a day when the county might elect its first local Republican officeholder.
“We hope so,” she said. “We are trying to recruit. We need more people to spread the word.”
Tracey Kirsch is shown with then Gov. George Bush during his 1998 visit to Mineral Wells. Kirsch this week was named to the National Republican Congressional Committee’s 2003 Republican Chairman’s Honor Roll.
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