This might be the last time you’ll be hearing from me before Election Day, so here are a few final words before we win this thing. A year ago, I launched my candidacy for Missouri’s 2nd District because I was fed up with the way things were going in Washington D.C. Trump was selling out working folks to his...

Get more from Fred Wellman in the Substack app Available for iOS and Android Get the app

Six days until Election Day, and apparently I’m the crazy one. I’ve been getting a good laugh out of Ann Wagner’s latest closing argument. She’s been making the media rounds telling voters they have a choice between “common sense and crazy.” Apparently, I’m the crazy one. That’s a hell of a thing coming from someone...

No one can deny the strength of this people-powered campaign anymore. I’m aware the polls can be wrong. I know to take numbers with a grain of salt. The only true poll that matters is the one folks go to on Election Day. But I can’t deny what we’re seeing is nothing short of remarkable. The first poll was from the...

No excuses. No more doubts. This campaign was built to win. Here we are. After more than a year of hard work, thousands of conversations with voters, and a whole lot of people stepping up when it mattered, we’ve made it. Early voting starts TODAY in Missouri. When I launched this campaign, I knew we had a hell of a...

Asking for money is not my favorite, nor is it what I do best When I first created this Substack, I did so with the intention of building a people-powered movement built on the value of service and the importance of maintaining our democracy. You all have been tuning into this page regularly and listening to my...

These are the people Ann Wagner has been scared to face I’ve been out on the trail day-in and day-out because meeting new folks and talking to them about the issues is my favorite part of campaigning. Even if it seems unreal to hear in Missouri’s 2nd District — this people-powered movement is interested in reaching...

The split-screen moment that changed everything So first things first, I have to apologize for something: I forgot to post this major milestone last week. In the midst of a hectic campaign with sold-out events, sharing the stage with Pete Buttigieg, and knocking hundreds of doors day-to-day, it made me think about...

A quick post in a mission-critical moment I’m usually not this blunt, but tonight is a mission-critical moment for this campaign. That’s because we only have a few hours left before our final FEC fundraising deadline for this entire campaign. And I’m not going to sugar-coat anything for you — it’s going to be a...

Source: Creative Commons The GOP did literally everything it could to steal Missouri. But justice prevailed. We have now (hopefully) reached the conclusion of the Missouri redistricting wars. This past Tuesday, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Missouri Republicans in a last-ditch effort to reimplement...

Each day since our primary victory in August, this campaign has been growing. Thousands of folks across Missouri’s Second District, the state at large, and the country have started to pay attention to this race for the first time in over 30 years. No Democrat has been able to win this seat since 1991. But because of...

Our campaign here in Missouri has certainly been chaotic the past few weeks, but at the end of it all, we’re running ahead. And our momentum is only gaining by the day. There has been a near constant stream of breaking news I’ve been catching up on while sipping my morning coffee, from court rulings about which map...

Twenty-five years ago, America woke up on an ordinary Tuesday morning. By the end of the day, nearly 3,000 people were dead. The World Trade Center was gone. Part of the Pentagon was burning. A field in Pennsylvania had become a graveyard because ordinary Americans aboard Flight 93 understood what was happening and...

NOTE TO READERS: As I prepared this deep dive with my team on the tariffs impact on our economy, we got news that the United States Supreme Court has rejected the latest attempt by Missouri Republicans to push through their outrageous mid-decade gerrymandered redistricting. We will be running on the 2022 map. What...

Labor Day is often treated as the unofficial end of summer. In Missouri, that sells the holiday a little short. This state has one of the richest labor histories in America. In 1877, railroad workers in St. Louis walked off the job as part of a nationwide strike over wage cuts. Other workers joined them. Factories...

Public service shouldn’t mean personal wealth There is something deeply backwards about a politician who has become dramatically wealthier during 13 years in Congress lecturing me about what it means to struggle financially. Last month, Congresswoman Ann Wagner made a statement I agree with. Defending her vote to...

Human stories vs. data I’ve been running for Congress now for over 9 months and won my primary last Tuesday. The thing that has kept me going is talking with real Missourians about their struggles and hopes for change. Again and again I hear from people from all walks of life how they and their families are simply...

Old soldier, next mission Needless to say I haven’t gotten too much sleep the past few nights. I actually thought I would. I’m an old soldier, in the Army you don’t really get time to celebrate victories. Once you have won one battle there is another one to follow. When the war is won, you have to pack up and deploy...

We need to talk about the pandemic There has suddenly been a flurry of discussion about the COVID pandemic and the management of it. Dr. Fauci was dragged in front of the Senate so Republicans could yell at him and accuse him of killing Americans. The goal was yet another attempt to divert our attention from what is...

An honor On Saturday I had the privilege to speak at the Bosnian Genocide Remembrance ceremony and walk in South St. Louis. Members of the community asked me to join them and share my thoughts on the 31st anniversary of the fall of Srebrenica and the slaughter of 8,372 Bosnian muslim men and boys at the hands of...