I'm back!

I take a month to adjust to my new job and the world somehow got even crazier and darker. Tomorrow, we will talk murder (again, sigh…). Until then, I am coming back positive, with a thank you to everyone for sticking around, and an answer to a question many of you have asked over the last month:

Will I ever run again?

It was a particularly hot question at the beginning of August, when something I hadn’t even realized started going around: that in the midst of last year’s Republican landslide, with your help I managed to get 49% of the vote in Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District– a Republican held seat. At a time when Democrats are searching for answers, it seems that we must have done something right that could be built upon going forward.

So to cut to the chase: yes, I do plan to run again. The longer answer is below.

To be honest, I would run right now if I could. So much is at stake, and I’m not one to shy away from a challenge. But I won’t be able to run again, at least not successfully, until I take care of a few things.

First, I took nearly four years off of work to run in back-to-back Senate cycles. As many of you know, I have no family money or other resources to fall back on, so I need to work for a little bit first to get back on my feet and afford another go– which is why I took a one year activation in the Marine Corps starting this summer.

On a related note: thank you to everyone who has stuck with this Substack over the last year, and particularly this last month when I had to take a pause to adjust to the new job. Your support here is what makes a future run possible. The type of campaign where we aren’t beholden to anyone but each other and can continue to engage and experiment with messages that make it possible not just to get 49% in Republican territory in their landslide year, but to actually crest the hill and start winning again.

Now that I’ve gotten settled at work, I feel good about being able to write in the evenings and weekends again. So we are going to look at what is going on in our country, how we can respond effectively, and how we can build change.

We will examine the darkness to better learn how to overcome the hopelessness and rage that is smothering our society.

So, tomorrow, we will return to murder. And, after that, something I studied over the last month that I think is a clue to the way forward.

Thank you again for the continued support and engagement.

Lucas

The views expressed in this Substack are those of the individual only and not those of the Department of Defense. Use of military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform do not imply endorsement by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense.