I’m not saying I’m former President Ronald Reagan. I’m not. Far from it. Rather, with the title above, I’m illustrating a point about how career politicians love to dismiss non-career politicians as somehow unworthy of holding high elected office. They did it again eight years ago when a "brash New York real estate developer" came down the escalators to announce he was running for the presidency. Sixty years ago come 2026, Reagan threw his hat in the ring to be the Governor of California. The political class and his opponents dismissed him as little more than a conservative “B-Movie Actor.” They tried to swat him aside because he lacked political experience. As you know, Reagan went on to trounce two-term incumbent Democrat Pat Brown 57.5% to 42.3%, winning all but three California counties. The rest, as they say, is history.
Since I announced my exploratory run for Ohio Governor, I’ve heard a derivation of the Reagan slur by my expected Republican opponents. They like to refer to me as “just a think tank guy.” By that label, they mean an egghead who spends his day navel gazing coming up with wild ideas, which is in contrast to them—savvy politicians with deep experience. Now, admittedly, given I’m follically-challenged, my son would wholeheartedly agree I do have an egghead, but I strenuously protest that I navel gaze.
Set-aside for a minute that the only reason I am exploring a run for Ohio governor is because those savvy career politicians with deep experience have utterly failed to enact the policies (i.e., “wild ideas”) Ohio needs to go from the back of the pack to the front. The only experience they actually have is treading water and nibbling on the margins with their pale pastel status quo ideas. The slurs against men like Reagan and me really are little more than an indication of the hubris career politicians have in which they believe only they are qualified to govern us.
I’d obviously disagree. Vehemently. If career politicians were so good at governing us, these charts would look dramatically different. Ohio would be leading, not lagging behind in category after category.
I submit that what folks like Reagan and I bring to the table are exactly the qualities that make us good candidates to govern. First, we are not wed to the status quo and pale pastel ideas that come to embody the resumes of career politicians. We bring fresh blood and bold color ideas based on spending our lives in the real world. Reagan learned up close and personally the power of labor unions, the challenges of negotiating against tough opponents, how capitalism and free markets truly change lives, and the inspiring and depressing stories of every day Americans.
My career mostly outside of government has allowed me to gain valuable experiences and insights. From battling reluctant bureaucrats in government to handling national media looking to score points against the administration, from developing skills to build a book of business and keeping clients happy to successfully defending companies from litigious plaintiffs’ lawyers, from digging deeply into free market and good government ideas to deregulating government to lessen the burden on small businesses, and from running an outsider’s congressional campaign against the Establishment and their well-funded candidate to spending hundreds of hours with the Average Joes and Janes of Ohio listening to their concerns, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have had a career with such variety and so many challenges that I can leverage to renew Ohio.
Next, unlike career politicians, we are not compromised by decades of campaign contributions and friendships with lobbyists and interest groups who work tirelessly to stop bold color ideas. Like Reagan, I’m at a point in my career where I have the absolute freedom to do what I think is right for Ohio, its people, and its businesses. I owe no one anything and literally have nothing to lose. Period. Reagan didn’t need to be governor as part of some long pursuit of political power. He saw California was hurting and felt obligated to step up to renew its promise. Unlike Jon Husted or Dave Yost, the governor’s office isn’t another stepping stone for me along a two-to-three decades-long path to political power; rather, I am opting to step away from a great life and take a 50% pay-cut to take on the toughest challenge I will have faced by subjecting myself to hostile Establishment insiders and their derision because I can no longer watch Ohio be the perpetual laggard it has become. I plan to do everything that is humanly possible to reinvigorate our beloved state and drive it to the top then quietly return to the fantastic private life I’ve been fortunate to live.
Ask yourself this question: will Husted and Yost pledge to join me in voluntarily cutting their own pay by 50% as governor from day one as part of a pay for performance system? If not, why won’t they?
Finally, after a career doing many different things and meeting amazing people from all walks of life, outsiders like Reagan and I bring a team of non-insiders with us to take over the reins of government. Career politicians literally move the same men and women who have been "of government" their whole careers around like deck chairs on the Titanic. I have been lucky to develop a national network of truly innovative men and women who I can call on to come help bring the best ideas and innovations to bear on behalf of Ohio. People from such organizations as The Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, The Claremont Institute, state-based think tanks, law enforcement, the private sector, and countless other professions. I will bring the sharpest, most experienced minds and innovators here to catapult Ohio to the front of the pack.
You know what was the best part of Reagan’s pursuit of California’s Governor Office? The career politicians who dismissed him didn’t get to decide whether a "B-movie actor" should be governor; rather, the people of California got to decide. The same goes for the May 2026 Ohio Republican primary for governor. Those career politicians and Establishment insiders dismissing me only get one vote each. I’ll bet them a dozen powdered, vanilla creme donuts from Schneider’s Bakery in Westerville that Main Street Ohio won’t give a lick that I’m “just a think tank guy,” but will be far more focused on my bold colors agenda for Ohio.
And, after May 2026, I won’t be the one spending my days navel gazing.
P.S. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to meet President Reagan, a personal hero of mine. I did get the chance to stand in line with my mom for nine hours from 8:30pm to 5:30am to pay respects to him in the Capitol Rotunda. I also thankfully had the opportunity to meet First Lady Nancy Reagan at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. If you haven’t been to the Reagan Library, you should put it on your list of places to visit. It is an amazing place and does incredible work to advance President Reagan’s legacy. That is why I donate 100% of proceeds from the sale of my three books to the Reagan Library so that great work can continue for another generation (not that my contributions amount to much, but every little bit helps, right?).
He Shouldn’t Be Governor, He’s Just a B-Movie Actor