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Shop NowAn Army National Guard veteran who was hailed as a hero for bravely halting terrorists from hijacking a train is now running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Alek Skarlatos is attempting to flip a key district in Oregon in hopes that Republicans could take the majority in the House. If he wins, he would be the representative for Oregon’s 4th district, where Hillary Clinton claimed victory in 2016 by a measly one tenth of a percent over Donald Trump.
Skarlatos gained national recognition in 2015 when he ran and tackled a terrorist holding an AK-47 while on a train in Europe. He was just back from deployment in Afghanistan and was vacationing with his friends.
Research on His District Led to Political Ambitions
In May of 2020, the 27-year-old Republican candidate won Oregon’s primary election.
The reason behind his run came after meeting with a state senator – where he was looking for answers as to why his district was the most impoverished in the entire state.
“The more I learned, the angrier I got,” Skarlatos told a host of Breitbart News in an interview on June 13, 2020.
“You had a huge economic downturn [in southwest Oregon] since timber went away in the late 80s, early 90s, and it’s really all just been politically motivated,” he continued. “There’s been no real tangible reason for southwestern Oregon being the poorest Congressional district in the state.”
Democrat Districts Failing
In general, Democrat-run districts have higher poverty rates than Republican districts, according to data provided by Axios. Amac reported in August 2019 that the top ten cities in the United States with the highest amounts of homelessness are mainly Democrat-controlled. The top five listed include Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, and Las Vegas.
The top-ten most dangerous cities in America, according to Forbes, have one big thing in common – the cities all have Democratic mayors. The cities that made the list include Oakland, Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, St. Louis, Memphis, Birmingham, Buffalo, Stockton, and Cleveland.
Skarlatos is up against an incumbent with a long political record, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR). The Democrat representative has held this seat for 33 years, wants to defund the police, and is a supporter of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) radical Green New Deal.
“I felt like after 33 years in office, Peter DeFazio, if he was going to do anything for us, he would have done it by now. And I felt like he doesn’t represent the district anymore, and he’s incredibly far-left,” Skarlatos added.
Terrorist Attack Hero Wants to Lead Conservatively
Rep. DeFazio has the gall to push to have police departments defunded.
DeFazio announced that he supports yanking millions from police in Oregon! It's time to #DumpDeFazio #FlipThe4th #OR04
— Alek Skarlatos (@alekskarlatos) June 13, 2020
His competitor, Skarlatos, however, has no desire to cut police funding and pledges to support imposing term limits on Congress. While his hero status gave him a level of popularity, his conservative policies might be the ticket to beating the progressively radical agenda sweeping the state.
“I don’t think that cutting funding or diverting funding away from police is going to solve this. If you defund the police or cut their training, you’re just going to have more bad cops. It’s not going to make the situation better,” he said.
If Skarlatos can secure this win, it could be a massive victory to get Republicans to take back control of the House.
UPDATE: Alek Skarlatos lost the race to his opponent, Peter DeFazio. Skarlatos called the race “the most rewarding experience of my life,” and referred to his loss as “incredibly heartbreaking.”
