Jodey Arrington talks re-election campaign, accomplishments & opponents in District 19 race
BIG COUNTRY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – In this week’s Big Country Politics Sunday conversation, incumbent candidate for U.S. Congress District 19 Jodey Arrington talked about his re-election campaign, his accomplishments, and his opponents.
Arrington is currently seeking a fifth term in office.
“I don’t want to serve forever; I believe in term limits. In fact, I authored the only bipartisan term-limit legislation that was endorsed by President Trump. And I’m the co chair of the term limit caucus. So, I think there should be a finite period of time that one serves, and then they should do what George Washington did and go back to Mount Vernon and live under the laws you passed. But we’re fighting the fight; our country’s on the brink. We’re at a historic inflection point. And I think this next election, and I think the next four years of, hopefully, a Republican president and a Republican House and Senate, will be the opportunity for us to get this country back on track, provide the security we’re so desperate for, provide the safe neighborhoods our families are so desperate for, to bring the cost of living down, because we have to stop the spending to be a strong voice for ag and energy in rural America. We’ve been able to deliver conservative results, year in and year out, that have made a difference for the future prosperity of the next generation of West Texans,” Arrington shared.
In previous interviews with other District 19 candidates, some claimed that many people do not see Arrington often.
“We live in the district, my kids are in school in the district, my wife’s involved in the community in the district. People say funny things during election seasons, and maybe, to put it more directly, some people will say things that aren’t true so that they can get elected. That’s just the politics, sadly, in our country sometimes. But I will say this: when my children were three, five, and seven, and I was recently elected to represent West Texas, I thought it was important to put my family first and to make accommodations for my three children to be with me and my wife so that she would have a husband, and they would have a dad. And that’s my first leadership responsibility. And the people of West Texas, have rallied for me prayed for me and supported me in that endeavor,” Arrington said. “I’ve been able to deliver for West Texas, and also be there for my children, and raise up the kind of kids that would make good citizens and future leaders of our country. Now, if somebody wants to criticize me for that, then bring it on. If they’re spending time on that and they’re not spending time telling you what they’re going to do about the border, what they’re going to do about the economy, what they’re going to do to provide the opportunities for future West Texans and folks in rural America?”
There are three other candidates in the Republican primary with Arrington: Chance Ferguson, Ryan Zink, and Vance W. Boyd. Arrington says he welcomes the challenge.
“I’d say come one, come all, and I say good for people who care enough about their country and are concerned about it that they are willing to run for office. It’s not for the faint of heart. It’s not easy. I actually commend anyone at any level, whether they’re running for Congress, or they’re running for a state wide or a state and or local elected office. We need people in the fight. We need people who have the right values and the right vision for our community and for our country to serve an elected office, and it’s a sacrifice. It is a sacrifice for their families. It’s a sacrifice. Because you’re in a very vulnerable position. And so I commend people for that. I welcome competition,” Arrington said.
Candidate for U.S. Representative District 19 shares experience from January 6 & campaign goals
Zink, a candidate in this race, shared that his inspiration for running for Congress stems from his arrest following the events on January 6. He was found guilty of felony and misdemeanor charges following that breach. Zink also shared that he met with Arrington and his staff.
“Let me start by saying much of what I talk to my constituents about is confidential, and I don’t want to air it here or anywhere because I don’t think it’s appropriate. What I’ll tell you is Ryan was in a criminal proceeding. We gave him access to all the information he needed to defend himself. He was convicted of a felony, but I suspect not just Ryan’s conviction but also the due process and the fairness of a trial in the District of Columbia on the issue of January 6. I think that everybody should have gotten a different venue. Andy Biggs knows about this, and Jim Jordan knows about it, and those are the folks responsible for looking at it and conducting the oversight in hindsight, but Congress can’t intervene in a criminal proceeding,” Arrington shared. “If I spent all my time intervening in criminal proceedings because somebody felt that they were railroaded, I don’t know when I’d have time to advance the tax cuts or to make sure that the B-21 bomber was secure for the future of Dyess. But I’m sympathetic to his claims and think the appellate court is the right place. I think we, along with a Republican President, will look back at all that and determine where there was injustice, hold people accountable for that, and reconcile those things.”
It has been determined that 7.3 million migrants have crossed illegally under the Biden administration’s watch. It’s greater than the population of 36 states.
“The Biden administration hasn’t just been not proactive; they have been derelict in enforcing the laws. They have completely, willfully, and continuously disregarded the laws of the land. The reason I voted to impeach Secretary Mayorkas is because he willfully disregarded the laws. He did not faithfully execute on his important security mission for the United States. As a result of their dereliction, we have terrorists, drug cartels in control of our southern border, and 10s of 1000s of people die. Every year, we have a flood of crimes and criminals in our communities, because we don’t have any will or desire on behalf of this administration, to actually do their job to provide for a common defense, which is the first and most important job of the federal government,” Arrington said. “Texas needs to be able to defend itself and in fact, has the expressed right in the Constitution, that when there’s an actual invasion, or imminent danger, they have the sovereign constitutional right to defend themselves. This administration is trying to obstruct Texas from doing the job that this administration is failing to do. So I have filed a resolution that I have more than half of the states in the country and members of Congress represented on that resolution standing with Texas. I filed an amicus brief in support of the legal arguments that Governor Abbott and our state leaders are making. And I got every Texan to sign it. We’re doing that because we believe this will go to the Supreme Court. This material will support Texas in the final decision. I think that decision will be that when you have a disastrous situation that creates a security breach and infringes on the safety of the American people or the citizens of Texas. The leaders of Texas have not only the right but an obligation to protect them.”
B-21 Bomber unveiled: Dyess AFB to be one of the first bases to house the aircraft
Arrington played a key role in bringing the B-21 Raider to Dyess Air Force Base, something he said will impact the community for generations to come.
“It’s hard to overstate the impact on this community. Dyess is a million dollars a day, just to the local economy here in Abilene and in the broader Abilene area. But more than that, it’s part of our identity in the Big Country. Now that we have the next generation, the most capable war machine, that will give us a competitive advantage in our air arsenal. This is going to give that certainty for this base in this community for the remainder of the 21st century for decades,” Arrington shared.
Arrington added that he is honored to receive an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
“I’m honored to have his endorsement. I thought President Trump did a great job as a non politician, leader who fulfilled his promises to cut taxes and grow the economy to strengthen our military. We were much safer when President Trump was at the helm and our Commander in Chief because our enemies feared us, and our allies knew they could count on us. Today, the world has been destabilized because we’re projecting weakness. And by the way, you asked me a question about Mr. Zink and January 6. If President Trump has also been indicted for activities around January 6, if he didn’t feel like I was going to fight against a woke and weaponized justice system, and if he didn’t think I was gonna fight to root out corruption and injustice where it is, he would never have endorsed me,” Arrington said.
When asked why voters should choose Arrington, this was his message to the people of District 19:
“I love West Texas to my core, and that love translates into fighting for them every day. You can say you’re fighting for something, you can say you believe in something, but the proofs in the pudding. As the Bible says, faith without works is dead. I have delivered results to make rural hospitals more sustainable, passing landmark legislation to do that, winning the Rural Health Care Champion Award as a result. In agriculture, we put cotton back in the Farm Bill; that’s billions of dollars to the largest cotton patch in the world right here in West Texas. We also not only got authorized, but we got it funded by the second-only north-south Federal Highway from the largest inland port, Laredo, up through the heart of God’s country, the food, fuel, and fiber capital of the world, that’s gonna have $50 billion in economic impact in 20 years. That’s just a few things we’ve done for West Texas,” Arrington said. “There was a little baby girl named Reese. And she swallowed a button battery, and it burned a hole in her esophagus and she died. We found out that kids swallowing these button batteries had grown exponentially, like 100%, over just the last few years. We put safeguards in place, pass this bill, it’s the law of the land. We named it after this little girl, ‘Reece’s Law’, in hopes that for reasonable precautions now put in place, there won’t be more tragedies like this little baby girl. I leave tomorrow feeling I did everything I could for my great and beloved country and for my people in West Texas, but I think the best is yet to come. I think if we get Republicans in the House and Senate and President Trump at the helm, I think we can we can truly make America great again. And I think the plans are there, and we just need the political will.”
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