Denton Lee for US House
Unaffiliated turned Democrat so I can compete, running for the 67% known as the "exhausted majority."
Hey everybody. If you’re willing and able, I still have a lot of signs out there, especially in Wake, Harnett, and Wayne.
It has been a struggle getting out these past 10 days with a mangled toe, and by the time I can get out it is throbbing from a day of overuse, but I’m going to spend a good chunk of my weekend on the roads.
If you see a sign, or 10 signs, I would greatly appreciate the help. I put them out mostly by myself over a two week span, so ANY amount of help is appreciated. I certainly wasn’t expecting an injury when I put them all out.
And if you get one, you are free to just throw it away. Or if you get several and don’t want them in your dumpster, I’ll come get them. Thank you!!
23/05/2022
Yesterday I met with Wiley Nickel, the Democratic nominee for District 13, because I decided after the election last week that I wanted to support his campaign. Here's why, along with why I think even Republicans should.
1. One reason I wanted to meet with Wiley is because I wanted to get his thoughts on some of the "system" issues I spent a good portion of my campaign talking about - ballot access for unaffiliated candidates, campaign finance reform, term limits, getting rid of gerrymandering, overall election / voting reform. On those issues, we mostly agree.
2. The next two years are going to be absolute gridlock in Washington. Absolutely NOTHING is going to get accomplished, with the fun exception of about $3+ trillion added to our national debt, but after 20 straight years of deficits, you really can’t blame any one party or person. Wiley will be able to use his experience to find ways to help the district financially in ways inexperience may not allow. I also fully believe that everything he does will be done professionally, not with the goal of being a celebrity politician.
3. The government has no business in the doctor's office, and no matter your thoughts on abortion, the fact is that the government should not be making health care decisions for ANYBODY. If you believe in having as little government in your life as humanly possible, and if you truly believe in health freedom, you will trust women to make their own decisions about their own lives. Wiley will fight for that.
4. Republicans, I completely understand your anger about this economy, this inflation, these gas prices, the “border crisis,” etc. You can blame whoever you want, but I can assure you, it wasn't Wiley's fault, and with the coming Washington gridlock, he'll have little to no impact on fixing any of that or making any of it worse. Neither will Bo Hines. That's reality. In other words, for the next two years, it's really not going to matter who we elect in November. But that leads me to why it DOES matter, and it’s the biggest reason you should not support Bo Hines.
5. Over the past couple of months, the "old blood" Republicans in this county actively campaigned AGAINST Bo Hines, because they didn't want a 26 year old kid with no life experiences who HAD NEVER LIVED IN OUR DISTRICT to come in here and take this congressional district away from one of our own. Because of how our legislature gerrymanders our maps, if you elect Bo Hines, he's stuck for 10+ years as our representative. If you elect Wiley, you'll get another shot in two years to get DeVan or Kelly elected. In other words, suck it up for two years, get rid of this carpetbagging transplant who rode in on an endorsement probably paid for via dark money, and give somebody who actually lives in our district another chance in two years. If you elect Bo Hines, chances are DeVan or Kelly will never have another good shot to compete for this district.
I will never stop being a voice for the "Exhausted Majority," the politically disenfranchised, and the people sick of both parties, but as it is currently constructed, we have two candidates from which to choose. I don't care what side you are on, Bo Hines is NOT who I want representing me for the next decade. If you disagree with me, read number 4 and 5 again and REALLY consider what I'm saying.
You'll see more from me over the coming months as I will probably stay involved via a group we're going to work on called "Independents for Wiley," but for now, I would just like to publicly say that I fully support the campaign of Wiley Nickel.
21/05/2022
I’d say she was following in my footsteps, but this kid WON!! My daughter just found out she’s the 2022-2023 student body president at Cleveland High School. Pretty doggone proud of that!!
Some "day after" thoughts:
1. Ultimately, I knew I was going to lose. I absolutely believed in what I was doing, and it inspired me. I DID NOT think I would finish dead last, but I'm honestly not upset about it. It showed me two things. First, even though I will forever be proud of what I've done these past three years, it gave me all the evidence I will ever need that I am probably done running for office, mainly because the primary system rewards extreme left and extreme right candidates. I am neither, and I would NOT go back and kiss the ass of the Democratic Party just to get more votes. Second, it showed hundreds of thousands of people that if they likewise do not want to kiss the ass of a political party, they have no business running for office either. But that's a real problem with our system, right?
2. I said last night that I regret nothing, but there might be one thing. I absolutely LOVED my billboards, but I think I would have left off the word "kinda." The two-party system has a major flaw that neither party will do anything about - they will NEVER allow moderate candidates to compete or otherwise voluntarily weaken themselves in any way - and in my view, that means they are consciously not doing something that would improve and strengthen our country. Therefore, they both suck.
3. I asked our local state house representative after the 2020 election to lower the barrier of entry for unaffiliated candidates to run for office. In 2020, I needed 3,000 signatures to run. If I had done that for this race, I would have needed 8,800. That is an unfair barrier to entry for half the population, and I even question whether it goes against the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. I don't need to tell you that absolutely NOTHING has been done in the General Assembly to address this. And nothing will EVER be done. I knew I would be ignored. It's exactly why I said nothing will improve from the outside. You MUST be on the inside to impact change. And the political middle CANNOT get on the inside.
4. Two years ago, I was the only person in the state to run unaffiliated for the General Assembly. This year, I was the only party candidate in the entire COUNTRY to run on an anti-political party platform and say my own party kinda sucked. Nobody can ever take that away from me. 😊
5. After 2020, I bought a website domain that I still own. I really like the name. I thought - and still think - it would be a worthy cause, because I do honestly believe our two parties will slowly run this place into the ground because they care more about power and greed than they do the country as a whole. They will fight as hard as they can against competition, term limits, anti-gerrymandering laws, etc. It would be a worthy cause, for our sake but mostly our kids' sakes. They are going to inherit a place so far in debt it will be teetering on economic collapse, a place where political exclusivity means that only about 10% of the population can hold public office, a place where political extremism rules and the "Exhausted Majority" has given up all hope of it getting any better. It would be a worthy cause if I wanted to use the platform I've built, recruit help, and then raise a little hell in trying to get some stuff changed. I've not ruled out making this my "political campaign," but I would need a LOT of help in getting that off the ground. These two parties WILL NOT voluntarily weaken themselves. They will burn the place down before they allow that. So the name of my website domain - and thereby the name of my cause - was fightunaffiliated.com. Initials FU. I think the t-shirts would sell themselves. 😊
One last post before tonight’s results. Three things.
1. A big thank you to everybody who has sent me some nice messages today. They’ve been uplifting on a day when I’ve inevitably doubted everything I’ve done and said the past year.
2. There’s one thing about swimming against the grain and being a wild card in a race of this magnitude. I could literally get barely any votes or I could really surprise some people and get a whole lot. I’m content no matter what. I’d rather be a wild card and lose than be exactly like everybody else.
3. If you didn’t read a post of mine from late last week, I had an accident with a large piece of wood and my big toe a few days ago. My toe is broken in at least 3 places and they had to take my toenail off, so even though I am still mobile, If anybody wants to help me get some signs up these next few days, the help would be much appreciated. Even 5 signs helps.
Lastly, thanks for the support everybody. It’s been an unforgettable and massively rewarding experience.
17/05/2022
So on this Election Day....
I announced I was running last April 24th. I probably averaged 5-6 hours a day working on my campaign, so that's roughly 2,000+ hours of time put towards this day.
It was all worth it, win or lose.
I did exactly what I wanted to do, and I did it MY way. I went against the grain and fought against these parties that represent a smaller number of us every day, that have alienated so many people to the point that they have become so disenfranchised they won't even get off their ass to go vote for somebody TRYING to fight to give them a political voice.
I honestly have no idea if I'll continue that fight after today. If I win, it'll be a GIGANTIC victory for those of us in the political middle, those of us in the "Exhausted Majority."
That win would propel a new conversation in this country because there isn't another politician in the entire country fighting to WEAKEN these two out of control parties. I don't think people understand how little I care about the health of a freaking political party. I care about the health of this nation, and both of the groups governing it are doing a pretty crappy job.
But if I lose, I know a few things I'll probably do. I'll probably ignore social media for about a month, I'll do a lot of writing and reflecting, and I'll enjoy my family.
I know one thing I will NOT do. I will not be sad. I just ran the exact campaign I wanted to run and I did and said exactly what I wanted to do and say. I have a job, a house, a family I rarely feel like I deserve, and in 11 days, I'll be 5 years sober.
I have built an amazing life. I'd love to win. I think the message I would bring is far, FAR more important to the health of this nation than anything these parties are spewing.
But I'm realistic. Somebody told me two years ago that the numbers had nothing to do with whether or not I won, essentially suggesting that I was an absolute winner in the race I ran and the way I ran it, even if I got fewer votes.
I feel the same way this year. But I'd sure love those numbers to also call me a winner. :)
It's not over til 7:30 tonight, people. You still have time to guilt a few of those disenfranchised people into heading to the polls. I know how unlikely that is, however. I mean, through early voting, a whopping 6.3% of registered voters in this district had actually voted.
I DO think Americans realize how much they NEED people like me in Washington. I just wish they cared enough to put us there.
Many thanks to those of you who do. I can't thank you enough for the support. I'm so, so thankful I did this.
If nothing else, I gave the world the greatest political billboard EVER!!!!
16/05/2022
Okay, people. One more day. If you have been following my page, if you voted for me, if you plan to vote for me tomorrow, if you regret voting for somebody else, or if you otherwise support my campaign, do me a BIG favor tonight or tomorrow.
The turnout so far in District 13 has been only 6.3%. That means over 93% of people you know have not voted and will essentially throw their vote away.
So here's what I need you to do. Give them TWO reasons why they - rather than throwing their vote away like it's a Snickers wrapper - should give their vote to me. Literally 90% of people in this district will just throw their votes away in this primary.
And low turnout means I have a REAL chance to win. I don't think anybody has any idea how close it might be. So make a few friends feel super guilty about not voting and tell them why they should give that throwaway vote TO ME!!!! :)
And if they don't know where they go to vote tomorrow, tell them to click this link and simply search their name. Their voting location is listed under their name. Thanks!!
Voter Search Search for voter details, including jurisdictions, polling place, sample ballot when available, absentee ballot information, and voter history.
The two most important things to remember if you’re heading to the polls Tuesday to vote on a Democratic ballot:
1. Name one political issue - just one - that has actually improved over the past 20 years. The system is broken, and absolutely nothing that any other candidate promises to “fight for” will actually get better until we fix the foundation of what has given these two parties freedom-threatening power. Nothing. Electing more devout Democrats and Republicans won’t fix anything. We have 20 years of proof.
2. After what happened in Virginia and New Jersey last year, Republicans are up 10 points RIGHT NOW in this district. With this inflation, I’m the only candidate that has any shot at getting the swing vote. Without the swing vote, it’s a guaranteed Republican victory.
If you haven’t voted yet (and that’s most of you,) go to the following site. Type in your name and click it when you find it.
https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/
About halfway down the page, you’ll see a section called “Your Voting Location.” Please go there Tuesday and vote. It is your most important civic duty.
So this has been a fun thing to have happen 5 days before Election Day. Wednesday night I accidentally dropped about a hundred pound sheet of MDF on my big toe.
Went to a podiatrist yesterday because at the very least I was going to lose the toenail and at worst it was also broken. I'll find out if it's broken this morning, and I know there is little that can be done for that unless it's shattered or something (not likely,) but I can confirm that having a toenail taken off by a doctor is one of the hardest things medically that I have ever had to sit through. And for that, I guess I'm thankful. Doesn't make it any less painful.
I'm still thinking I might try to make it to a poll somewhere tomorrow, so if you see me, you'll know why I'm hobbling and wearing some really fashionable open-toed sandals of some kind.
I hope everybody has a great weekend. Do me a favor if you're reading this and get 5 people to go vote for me today or tomorrow. :)
Episode 10 of “Get Your Ass to the Polls.” Been a few days since the last episode, but I finally got a few filmed yesterday. These are busy days!!
In 2021, Gallup found that 62% of Americans were in favor of a viable third party. I was a bit surprised, however, at the breakdown of that number. 70% of independents wanted a viable third party (no surprise there,) but that’s where it got interesting.
If I had been asked to guess, I would have said that a higher number of Democrats wanted a third party than Republicans. I would have been wrong. In the survey, only 46% of Democrats thought we needed a third party, while 63% of Republicans felt we needed one.
The 62%, however, does not surprise me. It’s time. And the ONLY way to make it a truly viable third party starts inside the halls of Congress, because if they don’t want it to happen, it will NOT happen.
I want to see it happen.
In the video, I reference a link. Here it is:
https://dentonleenc.com/if-you-think-my-billboards-are-wrong/
And if you need ANY information of how to vote between now and May 17th, go to the following link or feel free to message me or email me from my website.
https://dentonleenc.com/voter-guide/
08/05/2022
I went to my wife in early 2019 and said simply, "I want to run for office." She didn't hesitate when she said, "I'll support you no matter what you want to do." It's been over 1,000 days since then. There hasn't been a single day she hasn't done exactly what she said she'd do.
Happy Mother's Day, beautiful. I still don't deserve you.
07/05/2022
Took the family out to the Ham & Yam Festival in Smithfield this morning. I think everybody running for office in JoCo was there. These kids didn’t care that daddy stopped and talked a lot. They got sno-cones and cotton candy. 😊
Episode 9 of “Get Your Ass to the Polls.”
Episode 8 of “Get Your Ass to the Polls”.
(Btw, if you notice that there is no Episode 7, it’s because I accidentally deleted it and have not had time to re-record it, so it might just be lost forever. I have far too much stuff on my phone right now.) 😊
04/05/2022
START HERE!!
START HERE!!
If you live in Johnston County, Southern Wake County, Western Wayne County, or Northern Harnett County (see picture,) you can vote for me!!
The aforementioned district is NC District 13 of the US House of Representatives.
First, if you want to know anything about me or my campaign, my website is below, but I'd actually recommend watching the videos below first. Here's the website:
https://dentonleenc.com
And here are the videos I put out each Monday during the final two months of the campaign, in order of when I posted them (you can also find them on this news feed if you scroll far enough:)
Video #1 - Nothing Changes Until Something Changes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAFOsaYED-Y
Video #2 - Loud Noises!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfj4JV8ymd8
Video #3 - Baaaaa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8OnHD02oAU&t=1s
Video #4 - Howdy and Whatnot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntryDtFWlqw
Video #5 - The Education Elephant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWmpAuPvJvk
Video #6 - You Look Exhausted!!
https://youtu.be/CCm3Zcm0otM
Video #7 - This Isn't Russia, You Know
https://youtu.be/UlyqYPRGgxg
Video #8 - Good News, Democrats!!
https://youtu.be/YMXfESkuIZk
Video #9 - Dear Swingers....
https://youtu.be/GkJvZxdI5YI
Finally, I put together a voting guide here:
https://dentonleenc.com/voter-guide/
There you'll find everything you could possibly need to make voting as easy as possible. Lastly, thank you so much for stopping by and considering me with your vote. It means the world to me.
Episode 6 of “Get Your Ass to the Polls”
Episode 5 of “Get Your Ass to the Polls”
Here's a few stats that I hope make you a little sick to your stomach:
-In 2000, there were 134 competitive congressional districts. This year, there are 33. In other words, your vote matters in less than 8% of all races.
-In the past 15 years, healthcare costs have risen at 5 times the rate of our nation's GDP.
-Social Security is on pace to be insolvent in eleven years.
-Your share of our national debt is over $242,000.
-To run for Congress as a Democrat or Republican, you just have to pay the filing fee of $1,740. To run for Congress as an Unaffiliated candidate - our state's largest bloc of voters - you have to pay the filing fee of $1,740 AND go out and get a few signatures. About 8,800 signatures.
-The total cost of elections in the US has increased 467% in only 20 years. In those same 20 years, our national debt has increased 546%.
You think they're doing something wrong up in Washington? Do any of those stats convince you that we need a bit of an overhaul in how the political machine runs? Give me three minutes to inspire you to go vote for the only candidate in America preaching an anti-political party sermon.
And why is that? Because the pro-political party sermons got us all those stats you just read.
Episode 4 of “Get Your Ass to the Polls.”
Episode 3 of “Get Your Ass to the Polls”
Episode 2 of “Get Your Ass to the Polls.”
28/04/2022
I have an op-ed / Letter to the Editor in today's JoCo Report. I'm pretty proud of the message. I think it sums up my feelings about politics as well as I can say it. If I lose this race, and no matter what I do after I'm done, I hope this message is what people remember about my efforts.
Letter To The Editor: The Exhausted (And Unwanted) Majority By Denton Lee Do me a favor and consider this list: Healthcare Education Taxation Infrastructure LGBTQIA+ Abortion Electric cars Energy / Oil Climate Environment CRT National Debt Religion Domestic…
In honor of the fact that our voter turnout for primary elections - especially midterm primary elections - is so embarrassingly bad, the attached video is Episode 1 of 20 straight daily videos called "Get Your Ass to the Polls." My daughter pointed out that a donkey is an ass, and since I'm on the Democratic ballot, I'm not actually cursing. So that's great!! 😊
Anyway, they're going to each be under 60 seconds and I'm going to have fun with these, but there will be a very sincere element to the overall message. Our voter turnout for midterm primary elections is about 15%. That's really, really bad. And I can't win if turnout is bad. So today is basically an intro video, but if you like these going forward the next three weeks, please share!!
27/04/2022
For those who may be new to my campaign or are researching me at the polls, START HERE!!
First, if you want to know anything about me or my campaign, my website is below, but I'd actually recommend watching the videos below first. Here's the website:
https://dentonleenc.com
And here are the videos I put out each Monday during the final two months of the campaign, in order of when I posted them (you can also find them on this news feed if you scroll far enough:)
Video #1 - Nothing Changes Until Something Changes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAFOsaYED-Y
Video #2 - Loud Noises!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfj4JV8ymd8
Video #3 - Baaaaa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8OnHD02oAU&t=1s
Video #4 - Howdy and Whatnot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntryDtFWlqw
Video #5 - The Education Elephant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWmpAuPvJvk
Video #6 - You Look Exhausted!!
https://youtu.be/CCm3Zcm0otM
Video #7 - This Isn't Russia, You Know
https://youtu.be/UlyqYPRGgxg
Video #8 - Good News, Democrats!!
https://youtu.be/YMXfESkuIZk
Finally, I put together a voting guide here:
https://dentonleenc.com/voter-guide/
There you'll find everything you could possibly need to make voting as easy as possible. Lastly, thank you so much for stopping by and considering me with your vote. It means the world to me.
Voter Guide – Denton Lee Comments, suggestions, criticism? Feel free to contact me. I will reply personally unless any criticism is unnecessarily nasty and unprofessional.
26/04/2022
21 days to primary, reason number 21 (in no particular order) why I'm running for Congress.
25/04/2022
22 days to primary, reason number 22 (in no particular order) why I'm running for Congress. This one is very timely based on the initial response to this week's video. :)
This was a comment I just made on this week’s video. I just thought it needed its own post. 😊
What a country. I’ve made Republicans mad by being critical of Democrats in an election video made to help convince Democrats that Republicans are going to beat them handily in November in an election where I'd be a RINO in one party, an outcast in another, and completely noncompetitive if I chose neither. And the majority of us are "neither!!!!" This election, of course, will be mostly decided in May (not November) by only 15% of voters who all think the same ole s**t is exactly what we need after 20 years where two presidents from both parties and ping pong legislative power has led to 20 straight deficits, $25 TRILLION dollars of debt in our kids' stockings, a healthcare system growing at 5 times the rate of GDP, an education system all but collapsing, and an environment / climate being slowly destroyed by greed. Not to mention that what I just said - mostly all provable facts - has no way of actually being confirmed on the national stage because we don't really have a distinction between fact and fiction anymore, and where there IS fact, propaganda will quickly render it questionable. And all of that takes place via elections where the largest registered voting bloc really can't even run for office. Yeah, let's get more of all of THAT!!
What a country.
When you sit back and truly think about the fact that "my" party is losing on the national stage to a party that tried to overthrow the government, a strategy change is probably required. I mean, it absolutely, definitely is required.
If you're really the "big tent" party, Democrats, it's time to prove it, because the closer this gets to November, the more I am convinced that Biden's midterm election is going to be worse than Trump's midterm election that saw the nationwide popular vote shift 9.7% to the left.
With inflation and a possible recession coming, the shift is going to be more than 9.7% the other way. And it doesn't matter if the economic woes are not all your fault. You're the ones in charge right now. That means you get ALL the blame. That's reality. And November is going to hurt because of it.
But there is a glimmer of hope...
25/04/2022
23 days to primary, reason number 23 (in no particular order) why I'm running for Congress.
23/04/2022
24 days to primary, reason number 24 (in no particular order) why I'm running for Congress.
Here are four of the answers I gave at last night's forum where my wife recorded the entire thing. There's definitely a theme behind these answers, but I’m totally okay with that. It was a TOUGH forum. I thought we all did well because it was the first forum where we were given nothing beforehand. In others, we were given topics to prepare for or outright given the questions. For this one, we were flying blind. So in order of how these are posted, here are the questions as best as I can remember them:
Video 1: Why are you a Democrat and what value do you like most about the party?
Video 2: Outside the questions you have been asked so far, is there any specific interest or cause that you're passionate about?
Video 3: Why are you a candidate on the Democratic Party ticket when your social media posts clearly lead this voter to believe you are an unaffiliated candidate?
Video 4: My closing. I had already used ALL my talking points for my closing in other questions, so this was totally off the cuff.
22/04/2022
25 days to primary, reason number 25 (in no particular order) why I'm running for Congress. And man, did I feel this one today. I loathe cell phones in class.
22/04/2022
Some pics from last night’s JoCo forum. I’ll post some videos later today.
20/04/2022
When you don’t really care that you’re competitors and supposed to hate each other. These two are good dudes.
20/04/2022
27 days to primary, reason number 27 (in no particular order) why I'm running for Congress.
20/04/2022
The Democratic Women of Johnston County are putting on a forum Thursday night at 6:30 in Smithfield for all the District 13 candidates. Here's a link to the event page:
https://www.mobilize.us/johnstoncountydems/event/450954/?fbclid=IwAR30hZ2vXoxz5aQCF1iVB1s3aCo_ZpLz3KKGg2USXLOtLJqBhOjJUe6M4ZA
DWJC Candidate Forum - 13th Congressional District · Johnston County Democratic Party We are excited to host the candidates running for the 13th Congressional District! Candidates to attend: Nathan Click Denton Lee Wiley Nickel Sam Searcy Johnston County is part of a new district and will have new representation in the US Congress. Please plan to join us in person to meet these candi...
19/04/2022
28 days to primary, reason number 28 (in no particular order) why I'm running for Congress.
19/04/2022
Small photo dump from the past week or so. A pic of 4 of the 5 Dem candidates at the Harnett County forum last week, me helping put out Easter eggs at Cleveland Elementary (my son’s school,) my baby girl “helping” put signs together, and a baby turtle, included simply because I just found its patterns pretty amazing.
19/04/2022
29 days to primary, reason number 29 (in no particular order) why I'm running for Congress.
Videos (show all)
