Good morning Maine! It is May 1st as I write this and I am once again running for office. More information will follow: you can follow my campaign here on my website or by joining my email list here. Other platforms will come but this is all for now because I’m on a tight deadline and still have a full-time job.
I am running for Congress because I think Congress needs to focus more on stability than growth. Everything is wretched and expensive in ways they do not need to be, and much of this is extremely fixable by Congress if Congress would only step up and do it. It is Congress’s responsibility to spend money because if they do not then the only place to get money is from people who already have it (the wealthy spending it – they did not become wealthy by spending generously). It is Congress’s responsibility to tax the places that money collects to keep inflation under control. It is Congress’s responsibility to ensure that the things they spend money on are things we actually need (homes and healthcare especially come to mind).
I am running for Congress because it enrages me to see millions and millions of dollars spent every election not on fixing the problems we face but just arguing over who will get the honor of not fixing them from a fancy chair. That money would be better spent in our communities on our schools and our roads and our food pantries and aid networks. We deserve better.
I am running for Congress because the problems that you face are the same problems that I face: we are in this together. I work full-time as a carpenter and a sailor (depending on the year) and unless some things change real soon I will either be able to retire some day or raise children some day sooner, but likely not both on my own wages. I drive a rattletrap of a car and stop to help people change their tires and whatnot on the side of the road because any day it might be me. And as a carpenter and a mariner, I know what teamwork is and what it means to be responsible for someone else’s life and safety.
I often hear it wished for younger folks to get involved in their communities and in politics; well, I am involved in my community, and as for politics: here I am. If you want your next member of Congress to be a little bit more like me, bring a friend and rank Tristram Howard first on your ballot in November.
Pre Election Platform
I will do my best to make this campaign about the places we live, the people we are, and the things we do and need. Expect events to be children-friendly, expect us to share and participate in volunteer opportunities in town, and be ready to bring and receive that Mainers-helping-Mainers attitude that makes this state so wonderful, because we make up for being poor by being here for each other. And for every dollar that I spend campaigning, a dollar will be donated to a nonprofit in Southern Maine.
Practical Platform
Free healthcare: Move the country away from a private insurance model and have doctors bill directly to the federal government. This would eliminate the cost of the entire private insurance industry from our medical bills, as well as the armies of extra clerks our doctors employ just to argue with them.
Automatic tax preparation: The IRS already has all the information they need to prepare most of our taxes because our employers and banks send it to them. As an added bonus, this will create jobs for the spreadsheet-lovers who would no longer have jobs in health insurance.
Balanced budget: Paying with debt is paying more. Financing our country with the servitude of our children (should we be lucky enough to afford them) is not just unreasonable but actively cruel. The trillions of dollars our government has borrowed are still in the economy; they’re just not in our pockets, and taxing them back from the corporations and multimillionaires who cling to them will not hurt us.
Abolish gender: Remove gender and sex identifiers from federal IDs. If the government isn’t allowed to treat you differently based on your gender, they don’t need to know what it is.
Dependent tax credits: Increase the Child Tax Credit to $15,000 per dependent, make it fully refundable (so you get the money even if you didn’t owe that much in taxes), and expand it to include all dependents. Whether it’s your child or your parent or your partner or your friend, caring for another human being is the second most important thing a person can do with their life (second only to caring for oneself). It’s time we treated that task with dignity.
Free school lunches: All students should have access to free food at school with no questions asked. Nothing good has ever happened on an empty stomach.
End foreign wars: The United States’ foreign policy should not involve killing people. We have so much to offer the world, from music to medical technology and everything in between. How can we justify sending bombs instead?
Housing grants: money to build homes in every town in the country. The best place to put Americans is everywhere we already live.
Term limits: Members of Congress (House and Senate) should have to go back and be normal people after two terms. I don’t mind if they are able to run again after that, but I think a term off here and there would help them remember how to be normal.
Statehood or liberty for territories and possessions: Congress should be required to vote on granting statehood or liberty to its various territories each term. The United States should not tax and hold onto people’s lives and livelihoods indefinitely without hope of liberty or statehood.
Pipe Dream Platform
Monetary power sharing: Split the federal budget into thirds: a third for Federal priorities, a third for States to spend as they see fit, and a third for us, the people who live here. The Constitution supposes that the power of our country belongs to those three levels equally. As a capitalist nation, we believe that our money is our power. It stands to reason that our budget should belong equally to Congress, the People, and the States.
Abolish slavery: The 14th Amendment left slavery legal as punishment for crimes. Slavery should not be legal.
How you can help:
I do not belong to a political party, and as such do not have hundreds of volunteers and donors waiting in the wings for this announcement. If I manage to qualify for the ballot, it will be because you all helped me collect 100 signatures on every single day of the month of May (and if you’re on the fence about helping: it’s going to be really embarrassing if I show up at the Secretary of State’s office with 1,997 valid signatures and get rejected from the ballot because of that).
Circulate petitions: in order to qualify for the ballot I have until May 26th to collect 2,000-2500 signatures on official petitions: that is 100 signatures every day from now until then. This is my top priority as the deadline is soon; if you are able to gather or visit friends and neighbors from the town you live in or don’t mind tabling or going door to door, email me at tristramforcongress@gmail.com. If you like catching up with your neighbors this is an excellent excuse to say hello to them.
Volunteer in other ways: Many volunteer roles are available, from managing a website and volunteers to writing letters to eventually needing an official Treasurer for FEC paperwork purposes (I cannot raise money until I have one of those). Please email if you are able to do any of these things for a couple of hours per week.
Talk to people: tell your friends, coworkers, families, acquaintances, and anyone you meet on the street that the election for Maine’s first congressional district is finally interesting. Write letters to people for the novelty of the post. You could even host a gathering if you’re into that: collect a handful of friends and neighbors (the more the merrier) to talk specifically about this platform. Feel free to send any questions you come up with to me, or invite me to talk with you all as well! Bonus points if it is in a park because I love parks.
Mention me when you post online: You talking about the things you care about is much more persuasive than me talking about the things you care about.
Sign up for this email list: https://forms.gle/URbP13LNPaHRAVRb7. You can choose what emails you want to receive: news and updates, volunteer opportunities for the campaign, volunteer opportunities we become aware of in your community, and election day reminders. You are welcome to select any or all of these options.
Be a part of your community: help your neighbors, pick up trash, volunteer at (or start brand new) events and groups that help your town and your friends be their best selves. Tell me about what you’re up to so that I can be extra proud of you!
Bio
Hi! I’m Tristram (Tris) Howard, a carpenter, sailor, and notary who enjoys hot chocolate, walking around, and bees. I take great pride in my work and in teamwork, and find the incremental troubleshooting process of figuring out why something isn’t working this time (and then fixing it!) to be immensely satisfactory.
I have a long-term dream of getting traditionally rigged sailing boats back into working roles on the water, but in the meantime I can often be found helping out a neighbor, watching the sailboats on Casco Bay, walking around Brunswick, or working on an art project.
Pictured: Myself moving forward on the boom as I help to bring in Wendameen’s mainsail, Summer 2019. Photo credit to Vincent Aliquo, a friend and excellent photographer.
