Robert P. Henri

My name is Robert Patrick Henri, and I'm running because I believe government should work for all people, not only for insiders, lobbyists, or the privileged class. Too often I hear people say that the system is too broken, too corrupt, or too protected to ever really change. I do not accept that.

My dad named me Robert Patrick Henri in part after Patrick Henry. That has always meant something to me. Henry stood for liberty, courage, and the idea that people should keep a close watch on those in power. That is not just a historical connection. It is a standard.

I started thinking seriously about politics when I noticed the disconnect between the laws being made in Washington and who those laws benefited. It became clear who the system actually made room for and who it passed by. Only about 2 percent of Congress comes from working-class backgrounds, while more than half of its members are millionaires. To me that was not a good representative cross-section of the country.

The first time I really took notice was when the country was still reeling from 9/11 and the 350-page Patriot Act was rushed through Congress and signed by the president with only a few members having read the entire bill. When the bill was actually made public, informed Americans were shocked again to find out it included a section giving the NSA the power to spy on any American without a warrant or due process. That is when I opened my eyes and started questioning how the system worked.

I believe in governmental transparency and accountability and the system now has very little of either. People deserve to know what their government officials are saying, who's funding them and how the tax payers money is being spent. I also believe that more citizens from the working class should run for office and Project Due Course was designed to give them a tool that most agree we need to do to improve trust in our government.

I am not running because I think politics is a game. I am not running to preserve a broken system with better messaging. I am running because I believe the gentry need to stop ignoring their constituents and the will of the American people and be reminded that they're public servants. Corruption should be exposed, power should be checked, and the work needs to justify the expense (in 2025 the 565 members of Congress spent $1.34 Billion tax dollars on their personnel and office expenses and only passed 5 meaningful bills).

I am not the most polished candidate. I am not the most connected. But I'm going to fight for the people who are under-represented and expose the dirty corners of Washington that try to hide from us. I will hold myself to a high standard, show the work, and publicly challenge anyone in Congress who refuses to act on what the American people have already said they want for decades.

Patrick Henry's words still matter because they point to something real. Freedom requires courage. Self-government requires vigilance. A republic only works when the people remember that the government answers to them.

I believe we can build something more honest and more accountable than what we have now.

And I believe we have to.