The View from Highway 62

26-Jan-2026

Hi everyone,

I’m Pat Wallis, and today is the 11th day of my campaign. Maybe the 10th. Maybe the 12th. It's been a blur. You decide.

Last Thursday, driving “down the hill” on the 62 to Redlands from Yucca Valley. I’d just passed Morongo Valley and was headed into the canyon where no satellite or cell phone coverage ever reaches. I was alone with my thoughts on that winding and perilous stretch of road.

Before the news cut out, the reporter was delivering a story from the ICE deployment to Minneapolis. What’s happening there shocks the conscience. But what can any one person do? As I drove, my heart felt heavy and worry for the country ate at the pit of my stomach. It’s easy to feel helpless, trapped in a world that seems increasingly unhinged. We all want to keep the creeping madness from our cities, homes, and families.

The scale of the operation in Minneapolis is shocking. It’s 3000+ ICE agents in a city of 400,000. That’s one agent for every 114 to 133 citizens.

But what does that feel like on the ground?

In a two-hour walk, you’d pass about 60 ICE agents on the way. I live in Yucca Valley on a five-acre rural plot. So does my neighbor. On my daily walks, I cover roughly a two-mile loop. That means I’d pass by 12 agents, whereas normally I’d pass by two. To know that our local police are out there to keep us from harm is comforting, but if the numbers suddenly surged like that, you wouldn’t feel safe. You’d think something terrible was about to happen and you’d want to get away from it. Another way to think about it is how many agents you’d pass by driving 40mph down the road. At that density, you’d pass an agent every 10 or 11 seconds. You’d go by about 320 agents every hour.

It’s been nineteen days since Renee Good was killed by an ICE Agent after being shot once in the head, and four times total in near point-blank fashion.

Is this the new normal for America?

What are we going to do about it?

On top of this new normal — those creeping masses of federal agents in our nation’s communities, our congressman, Jay Obernolte, has checked out. He doesn’t attend town hall meetings. He’s gained a reputation among business leaders in the district, Republican and Democrat, for not returning calls. He rubber stamps every bad idea coming out of DC, while everyday life out here gets tougher and tougher.

We’re working more for less. Less time at home. Less food on the table. Less to pay the rent or mortgage. Less time to connect with our neighbors and community. All the while, our infrastructure continues to decay. All the while, insurance costs — medical, homeowners, renters, automobile — are emptying our bank accounts. All the while, getting an education that leads to decent-paying jobs without getting neck deep in debt is out of reach.

Our wages have never kept pace with inflation over the last five years. What this means in practice is that we’ve all taken a pay cut from our employers. Where’s the dignity and freedom in all that? It’s BS, and we know it.

And that’s when the switch flipped for me. I’m not alone. I’ve never been alone. My family is there to hold me up when I need it most. So is my community— throughout this district I’m surrounded by loving and generous communities that we’ve either lived in, visited, or done business with. Knowing that, I’d regret it every day for the rest of my life if I didn’t try, because I wouldn’t be doing it alone.

New to politics, this decision initially seemed like exiling myself to some foreign and, honestly, frightening world. But over the last few days, our friends and community have shown up for us. And it’s seeing the real joy and excitement in their faces that makes me want to get up, try my best. I don’t want to let anyone down. All I can hope for is to live up to folks’ expectations of me and continue to be true to my convictions as I lean into the love from my family and community.

Coming home to the high desert that night from Redlands, I talked to my wife, Danielle, about what was on my mind. Her response? “I think you should do it. Someone has to stand up for what’s right.” I could have cried. But in that moment, I could feel our love for each other swell.

The next day was a Friday, and I was at work in Redlands. On my lunch break, I drove over to San Bernardino to register as a Democratic candidate for US Representative for the 23rd Congressional District. The Republican incumbent has been there for five years, so this will be an uphill battle. But I still believe in decency, honesty, and service — what used to be the American way. I also believe that past the slogans and propaganda, the people of this district do too.

Last Sunday, I read that in Minneapolis, a combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient, William Vermie, was arrested simply for passing by and stopping to witness two young boys being detained by ICE. “The ICE agents were moving down the sidewalk,” Vermie said, when they brought them out. As the number of agents swelled, witnesses were forced to try to get away as they started shoving people and telling them to get off the sidewalk.

“They shoved me when I didn’t move out of the way fast enough.” Vermie was simply doing what he was trained to do. To stand up for the constitution while following it, and to leave no one behind. He did what any upright citizen could do in a moment like that. He bore witness to the events on the street, hoping to tell others what the reality on the ground was.

The result?

He was arrested and imprisoned for 8 hours without access to call his family or a lawyer. Because he’s not a fortune teller or wizard, he didn’t know this was going to happen to him. Nor did he know his lawyer’s name… because he’d never needed one till that point in his life. But ICE stonewalled, initially preventing his release because after the lawyer his family hired to help him contacted the ICE facility, they refused to let them talk. Why? Because our veteran didn’t know the lawyer’s name. It’s purposefully perverse.

And this past Saturday morning, we all woke up to the horrible news of a new martyr to government overreach and senseless violence. Again, a good American was doing what ought to be done. Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old VA nurse, was protecting a fellow American—a woman who was being beaten and sprayed with chemical irritants by federal agents. It was after she was thrown to the ground that Alex stepped in to help her up. He had his hands up as he moved in to help. And in one hand, he held a phone to record what was happening.

In Minnesota, it's legal to open carry a firearm with a permit, and Alex did have one. But he never reached for the weapon at his waist. His hands were up. Alex was exercising his constitutional right to bear arms. He only filmed what was happening to this defenseless woman while trying to help her. For that, he was gang-tackled and pepper-sprayed. Just after an agent pulled Alex’s pistol from his holster, he was shot 10 times in quick succession and killed on the spot. One agent was seen clapping as if applauding the shooting of an unarmed and restrained man. Then they refused to let local police at the scene recover the evidence. This is corrupt. It’s ugly. It’s 100% un-American.

This has to stop. It’s the motivation for me to press on. So, I’ve been busy gathering signatures to get on the ballot. Along the way, I’ve had hundreds of conversations about the state of the district and our country, Republicans and Democrats alike. The funny thing is that both sides agree about the chaos around us, but when it comes to solutions, that’s when things diverge. Yet I get the sense that when we talk face to face as neighbors, the crazy that’s blasting in from our media sources fades, and finding common ground starts to seem possible.

If we can stay focused on each other, we’ll survive this storm. The truth is, I love America enough to tell the truth about what’s being done to it, and to fight for a country where care, not cruelty, holds us together.

To truly love this country, we must also understand what love is. Love protects. Love builds. The only thing love ever takes is responsibility.

Please donate to the campaign if you can, then share this with your friends.

Thanks,

Pat-