What is at stake in the 2026 election?

It is really important to understand that America is in danger of losing itself because we have elected President Trump and allowed him to have authoritarian control of our government, and far too much control of other institutions in our country.

It is possible that you, like many Americans, elected Trump because you thought his policies might be good for us. Perhaps some of them are. One can debate, for example, whether tariffs are good policy, or whether our borders are too open, or whether our tax policy needs to be more generous to the wealthy, or whether diversity equity and inclusion have been implemented poorly, whether public broadcasting should receive public funding, whether charity abroad is our duty, whether government spending is efficient, or a myriad of topics. One can debate these, and some of them have some merit.

But, you cannot support the way Trump and his Administration and his Congressional supporters are implementing things. This is not the way our country has worked, and not the way it should work. We do not support "the ends justify the means" because this approach hurts too many people.

We have all seen the cruel things that Trump and his enablers are doing to immigrants, to Americans, and to people around the world. It is unbelievably cruel and wasteful. It has no business in our world.

In social media I saw this comment:

"If you can read it and remain unmoved to tears, anger and sorrow over what your government is doing in your name, you have lost your soul. If you can read it and not do anything to try to stop it, you have lost your right to call yourself a patriot. If you can read it and still support the Trump regime, you have lost yourself to hatred and intentional cruelty."

I am angry. I have been moved to tears. I am sorry. And I have not lost my soul. I am running for Congress partly so that I can stand up against the atrocities Trump is doing, and that our Representative, Steve Womack, is allowing and happy with. He has lost the right to serve in Congress.

I am also running FOR things. There are things I want to accomplish. And there are things I know you want me to accomplish for you. But first we need to stop Trump's harmful nonsense.

There aren't many things that can stop the Trump Steamroller. The Executive Branch of government, which is controlled by Trump, is supposed to be balanced and steered by the Supreme Court and by Congress. Currently neither of those branches are willing to stand up to Trump, allowing him to become an authoritarian.

Authoritarian government is exactly what we rejected in 1776 when our nation revolted from Great Brittain and King George III. Until now, with Donald Trump, we haven't had an authoritarian government. We've had some bad Presidents, and some corrupt Presidents, and some inept Presidents, but we have not had authoritarian executives, who might as well be Kings.

Authoritarian government was bad in the time of King George III. It was bad in the ancient times of Julius Caesar, Attila the Hun, Alexander the Great, and with monsters in recent history like Adolph Hitler, Kim Jong-un, Joseph Stalin, and Vladimir Putin. It would be bad and dangerous for our country.

Yet Trump is gaining authoritarian power, and Representative Steve Womack is happily allowing it.

We need a Congress that will stand up to Trump. And that means replacing Representatives like Steve Womack with someone who will. I promise that I will stand up to Trump.

In recent years there has been a very close balance between Republicans and Democrats in both the House of Representatives (Congress) and the US Senate. The majority party has been defined by the slimmest of margins. But that slim margin allows the majority party to select the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader, both of whom set the agenda. It is extremely important for the 2026 election to take back these two seats.

Currently Mike Johnson serves as the Speaker of the House, and he is an ardent supporter of President Trump. He can block agenda proposed by Democrats.

There are 435 members of Congress, all elected together in even-numbered years for two-year terms. There are no term limits for this office.

It takes 218 members to form a Majority Party in Congress. The Majority Party selects the Speaker of the House, and the Speaker controls the agenda and what bills get voted on. The Majority Party effectively controls the House.

We have all seen charts that show us how evenly balanced the membership may be between Democrat and Republican parties for the elected Representatives. (Independents and third-party members are rare and will caucus with one of the two major parties.)

The November 5, 2024 election 220-215 split was the tightest House majority in nearly 100 years.

Both political parties make educated guesses on which Congressional Districts are winnable. That usually means "competitive" based on recent past elections and voting statistics. Those districts receive a lot of publicity and assistance on fundraising efforts.

The "Swing Left" organization, working on behalf of Democrats, for example, has a "3 to Win" campaign. Reviewing the November 2024 numbers showed that a shift of three members from Republican to Democrat would swing the balance and put the Democratic party in the majority. With that in mind they have targeted the 25 most critical swing House districts that they identified through data analysis and local organizing potential and infrastructure. These are 15 flips and 10 holds.

These are the elections that America will pay attention to, and that America will pay dearly for. Many of us will see daily email fundraising requests on behalf of those candidates.

My race, Arkansas Congressional District 3, is not among the races considered critical. For 64 years (32 elections) Republicans have always won. Sometimes there has not even been a Democrat on the ballot to vote for. It has not been a close vote. Many other elected seats in northwestern Arkansas are also filled with Republicans. The election pundits do not expect my race to be competitive, or deserving of their support.

Our incumbent, Steve Womack, was elected in 2010. In his eight elections, of which three were without Democratic competitors, Womack has always won against Democrats by more than a 2:1 ratio. That's twice as many Republican votes as Democratic votes. A pundit might realistically conclude that this seat cannot be won by a Democrat and that serious effort to win is not justified.

And yet, Democrats continue trying to win this seat. This year I, a life-long Democrat, am trying. I believe that Trump and his enablers will be unpopular and that this election has a chance to be different. Steve Womack is absolutely a yes-man and rubber stamp for Trump, and Trump's popularity should affect him. I am putting my personal time and money into winning this election. I hope you will join me.

While the targeted critical swing House districts will receive much interest and financial support, it is possible that our District 3 could swing this time. A victory for Democrats in our District 3 is every bit as valuable for the Congressional balance of power as in any other district. It is worth working for and worth paying for.

Democratic House seats, and especially if Democrats become the Majority Party, will be critical for restoring the independence of Congress and standing up to Trump and the power he currently exerts like a king.

But it is not up to the candidates. It takes the attention, time, effort, and financial support of many people. Please join us.

In the early months of 2025, we witnessed Trump using his DOGE program to dismantle major government departments and programs, and to dismantle the USAID program that saved lives through its food and health programs, effectively destroying a program promoting American goodwill to the world. We have seen government funding of public broadcasting eliminated. We have seen colleges attacked. We have seen Medicare slashed. We have seen the viable threats of future cuts to Social Security and Medicaid. We have seen the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) program ruthlessly kidnapping and disappearing productive and peaceful members of our communities. We've seen many nonpartisan federal civil servant employees ruthlessly fired. We've seen a chaotic and expensive tariff program implemented, despite what it will do to our economy, raising consumer costs, bankrupting companies, and threating retirement savings accounts. We have seen the Conservative Project 2025 implemented without adequate public discussion.

We have seen President Trump profiting his personal businesses and wealth through corruption not practiced by any previous President. His private cryptocurrency is a bet against the US Dollar and the US Treasury and our nation's ability to borrow money. This is corruption, and Congressman Steve Womack is allowing it.

This is all personally financially expensive for most of us. And we are on a dangerous short road to losing the nation we thought we had.

This election, and the direction and future of our country, are at stake. How valuable would it be to you to have a Democratic majority in Congress so that Trump can be restrained?

We must restrain Trump. Then, there are programs I will help to restore, and other good ideas that need to be implemented.

Remember that our race is not considered one of the specially targeted races that will receive lots of attention and financial support. This is up to us. I believe it can be done.

Please consider the stakes. If you are willing to help put me in Congress then please click the ActBlue link on my website. I would also appreciate hearing from you.