Hank Linderman
My name is Hank Linderman, and I am running for U.S. House of Representatives in KY02 as a Democrat. I have been the Democratic nominee since 2018, and it would be my honor to serve the people of our district again. My working career was in music. I have worked as a musician and recording engineer with some of the best-known names in music. My time in the creative arts prepared me for this much more important job of running for Congress.
My focus as a candidate is on two things.
First, a re-evaluation of America’s policies towards rural America. Rural America is the source of much of the rest of the country’s wealth: in New York City, for example, every sip of water, every bite of food, every brick of every building, every beam of wood and steel, and all of the energy to run all of that, was extracted from places like rural Kentucky, or Pennsylvania, or Michigan. To live in rural America means limited broadband, crummy cell service, a longer trip to the grocery, and a longer trip to the hospital. When you show up at your local rural hospital, you are more likely to be injured, and they may not be able to take care of you, so you may be sent to the nearest city hospital.
We in rural America have been losing factories, schools, and hospitals at an alarming rate. I live in Grayson County, and our local hospital in Leitchfield is scheduled to be closed. This means my neighbor’s 35-minute trip to the hospital will increase to an hour in the very near future.
Rural living means lower wages and real problems when the weather gets tricky. Our farmers don’t earn enough to provide food, and our working people are one injury away from bankruptcy. This needs to change, and I will be dedicated to improving the lives of rural Americans so that they can not only survive, but also thrive.
My second focus is on working people, no matter where they live. We working people have virtually no representation in Congress, only 2% of Congress comes from a working-class background. If I am fortunate enough to serve as your Congress critter, my question will be, “How does this bill help working people?” I want us all to imagine where our nation would be if we had a Congress with 30% working people, or 40%, or by all rights 70%.
Working people need a fair share of this incredible economy. Our government is democratic, but our economy is not. Thanks to Franklin Delano Roosevelt for that tidbit.
In pursuit of these ideals, restoring rural America and giving working people a true voice in their government, I will be called upon to stand up and confront very powerful interests. This is not an unfamiliar role for me. I have confronted the powerful inside my own party on several occasions, including national leaders of the party. I have called for our party to return to the grassroots, to focus on the needs of Main Street more than Wall Street.
If you are a registered Democrat, I am asking for your vote this May 19 in the primary. If you are a Republican or an Independent, I am asking for your vote this coming November. Abraham Lincoln said, “We must bind up the wounds of the Nation, with charity towards all, and malice towards none.” I agree. Let’s all please get to work on the job of healing our Nation.