EDITOR’S NOTE: Michael Wood lost his bid in a special election held May 1 to replace the late U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, R-Arlington, in Texas 6th Congressional District. Many of you may not have heard his name before, and certainly, many of you did not have the opportunity to vote for him. We are publishing the statement he made following his loss because—after reading his words—we hope we, and you, will someday have the chance to vote for Wood, and for other men and women who care as deeply as he does, and we do, about the failures of Republicans in the weeks following the January 6, 2021 insurrection in Washington, D.C., and the stain it has left on the party of Abraham Lincoln. — LEB

A Guest Column by Michael Wood

I AM PROUD of the campaign we ran, and regret nothing. This was always going to be a long shot, but I hope that others around the country will do the same, and fight for our party and our country.

I would like to thank first and foremost my wife Sarah for her steadfast support and the many, many hours she dedicated to this effort. I am humbled by the outpouring of support, donations, and kind words that I received from across the country. Many friends, family members, and strangers volunteered hours of their time making calls, going door-to-door, and working polling stations. It all meant so much to me. Representative Adam Kinzinger went out on a limb for me and was a constant source of advice and encouragement. He is a true patriot, a good man, and the people of Illinois should be proud of him.

I am gravely concerned about the state of the Republican Party. Let me be clear: this is not because I lost an election. I am concerned because a Republican President of the United States lied to the American people, took advantage of his supporters’ noble patriotism, encouraged a mob to disrupt the lawful operations of the United States Congress, was derelict in his duty as commander-in-chief to put an end to this insurrection–and then the overwhelming majority of elected Republicans in Congress failed to show the courage this moment required. Republican members of Congress then voted to overturn an election and attempted to disenfranchise millions of Americans. The events of January 6, 2021 are a stain on America. The failures of Republicans in the weeks that followed are a stain on the party of Abraham Lincoln.

Those of us blessed to call ourselves “Americans” can lose sight of just how rare and fragile republics are. All the freedom, prosperity, and security we enjoy are not the norm in human history. There is no guarantee that this glorious experiment in self-government we inherited from our forefathers will one day be passed to our children. I am not concerned about an invasion by a foreign army. I am afraid that we will tear ourselves apart and slowly turn into just an ordinary country. Political violence must always be denounced. Public servants must not be above accountability. Elected officials must not lie to the public. Those who disagree with us must not be thought of as enemies but as countrymen. “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies.” I want spirited, passionate debates about the future of our country because we do have honest disagreements. I do not want violence.

The easiest thing to be in American political life is a Republican who criticizes the Republican Party. This is not how I wanted to enter the political arena. However, my fellow Republicans, there is a sickness in our party that must be acknowledged and addressed. We are too much a cult of personality and a vehicle for the grievances of Donald Trump. We are too comfortable with conspiracy theories. We spend too much time and effort making it difficult for people to vote under the banner of “election integrity” instead of building a broader coalition, and asking ourselves why we have only won the presidential popular vote twice in my lifetime. We minimize and excuse an attack on the heart of our democracy. In short, we are making it hard for good people to call themselves Republicans. I do not primarily blame the people for this any more than I would blame a private for losing a war. This is mainly the fault of elected Republican leaders.

I do not know what is next for me. I do know that I do not have it in me to stop fighting for my country. For the time being, I will return to my family and my business. I hope that others take heart from my campaign, and run for office themselves. There is no avoiding the difficult and risky work of politics if we want to change our country. During a low moment in my campaign I found myself writing on a sheet of notes “AMERICA IS WORTH ALL THIS.” I still believe that, and I hope others will pick up this banner and continue this struggle to save our party and our country.