Note: For the thousands of new subscribers who have joined since Tuesday, every Sunday we focus on a story that bring us hope. We call it Good News Sunday. I hope you enjoy it.
Happy Sunday, everyone. What a week.
There’s been more good news since Tuesday than I could ever fit in one column. And if you’re like me, you’ve probably heard most of it already. After the past two years, it’s hard to stop reading when the headlines finally give us hope.
But with so much to celebrate, there’s one moment I want to make sure we don’t miss. And it’s about normal Americans who decided enough was enough.
Chuck Hubbard grew up in the mountains of North Carolina. He started working at his hometown newspaper when he was still a kid, and spent his career as a journalist. This year, he ran for Congress against Virginia Foxx, a Republican first elected in 2004 who now chairs the powerful House Rules Committee. Trump won her district by about 18 points in 2024.
At one campaign stop, he was asked about the issue closest to his heart. Just listen to what he said:
He answered by remembering the day Trump was first elected. His daughter Meredith, a member of the LGBTQ community, called him crying. “These people hate me,” she told him. “They’re coming after me, and they’re coming after my job.” And for Hubbard, there was no issue more important. “Everybody deserves to be able to live their lives the way they want to,” he told the room.
That answer stunned the cynic in me. In a district like his, the safe answer was anything else. Every political consultant in America probably would have told him to talk about grocery prices or the war in Iran. Instead, he talked about his kid. And it wasn’t an answer he’d practiced in the mirror. He just said what any loving parent would: that he was willing to do whatever it took to keep his daughter safe.
And as of now, against all odds, it looks like that proud dad is heading to Washington. Foxx hasn’t conceded, and there may be a recount. But however the final count shakes out, his neighbors showed up for him. Plenty of them probably didn’t share all of his views. Still, it’s hard to vote against a man for loving his daughter.
And he’s far from the only one who won this week by running for people they care about. After Pete Hegseth removed her without cause, retired Vice Admiral Nancy Lacore spoke up for the officers still caught in his politics.
Zach Dembo spent years as a federal prosecutor until he resigned to fight for Americans who paid the price of DOJ corruption.
Firefighter Sam Forstag watched DOGE cuts leave the crews who protect America’s forests and towns stretched thin and decided to do something about it.
All three of them flipped Republican House districts on Tuesday, running on what they’d seen with their own eyes.
Look, I spent twelve years in Congress. I watched plenty of people run for the wrong reasons. Some wanted a title. Some wanted to get famous. Some just wanted to win. You can usually tell the difference within about five minutes. Every person I just mentioned brings something deeper and more meaningful to Washington. You can hear it in every story they tell.
So yes, it’s good news that the Democrats’ message worked on Tuesday. It’s great news that Americans spoke so clearly on the cost of living and the corruption of this administration. But above all of that, what gives me the most hope is who actually gets to serve now.
After the darkness of the past two years, and the bitter division that came long before that, we’re about to have a lot of leaders who were everyday Americans who got into this because they care about somebody. They didn’t run to make deals or climb a ladder. They ran for a daughter, a congregation, a patient, a crew.
A politician who’s in it for himself answers to whoever can help him next. A dad who’s in it for his daughter answers to her, and everyone else like her. I know which one I want writing our laws. And come January, that’s exactly who we’re sending.
That, my friends, is very good news for your Sunday.
— Adam
Love the good news for today.
Thank you for that beautiful post, Mr. Kinzinger! I love Chuck Hubbard. I love him because he proudly stood there and told those people that the person he cared about was afraid. Afraid because of who she loved and cared about. He wasn't going to let that go and I know just how he feels. My daughter and her partner have been together 28+ years. Their bond and their love are as strong today as it was when they first met. I love their strength in the face of the bullying threatening forces that seek to stop their lives together. For me, love is love and that is the end of it. If we cannot do anything else, we must remove this damning desire to feel compelled to tell everyone who they can love, how they can speak, what they can read/write, how they can think, what they can do with their own bodies and how they can believe spiritually. For the majority of Americans, it is absolutely nobody's business about their own personal lives. Politicians need to keep their noses out of peoples' personal lives and govern on matters that are beneficial to ALL Americans. Thank you again, Mr. Kinzinger!