Dylan McKenna

Dylan McKenna earned a high school diploma from Cathedral High School and a bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame. McKenna's career experience includes working as a business owner.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

My parents brought me home from the hospital to a tiny one-bedroom apartment around the corner from the house where my dad grew up in Madison, Indiana. They taught high school and my dad also coached varsity basketball. There was no money for childcare, so they brought me along wherever they went, serving their community while that same community helped them take care of me.

After my sister was born, my dad went back to school at Notre Dame, my mom worked to pay the bills, and we somehow got by on a $20 per week grocery budget. This time, there was childcare available in the apartment of a woman in the next building over. Looking back, I realized something so important that brings me to this moment today. America works best when neighbors are helping neighbors. My dad, when coaching me in elementary school, insisted on the same fundamental rule for our family as he did for his teams:

“Everybody gets in the game.”

Our current representative in Washington had her chance, and our problems are only getting worse. We all feel it. It costs a whole lot more to feed your family, it costs a whole lot more to keep them healthy, and childcare is still out of reach for so many. I am Dylan McKenna, a boring dad trying to do the right thing. I am running for Congress because I believe in our community and I still believe what my dad taught me so many years ago: Everybody gets in the game.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

The Trump economy is failing, and Congressional Republicans are doing nothing to fix it. Inflation-adjusted wages have risen only 10% over the past fifty years while productivity has increased by 250%. Workers have been shut out of those gains, and as a result wealth has been redistributed upward. Our national debt is exploding, and Victoria Spartz's solution is to slash taxes for the wealthiest Americans and rubberstamp Trump's Tariff Tax, adding another $3 Trillion dollars to it. The result is a decimated middle class in a country where the richest 700 Americans hold more wealth than the 150 million Americans at the bottom. American workers and Hoosier families deserve better.Outside of a legitimate national emergency, only Congress can impose tariffs. This power is written into the Constitution and is reserved for the Legislative Branch. Despite this, our representative, Victoria Spartz, has refused to use that power. She has surrendered it to President Trump, and Hoosiers are paying the price as the cost of everyday goods has gone up. Victoria Spartz could end Trump's Tariff Tax, but she chooses not to and you are paying for it.For too long, Americans have relied on politicians to act with honor when it comes to financial self-dealing. The honor system does not work. President Trump has used his office to secure billions of dollars of personal income for himself and his family while American families have dealt with rising inflation and health care costs. On my first day in office, I will introduce a bill that requires any person elected to the Presidency to place all their assets in a blind trust and prohibits them from earning any outside income while they are President.

I will also introduce legislation that will also introduce legislation that will make it illegal for any member of the House or Senate to actively trade in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

American are blessed to live in the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the history of the world, and we should judge ourselves by how we care for the most vulnerable in our country. Every human being has inherent dignity and the right to full participation in civic life. We must ensure that that these rights are secured for those who may not be able to secure them for themselves: the elderly, the sick, the disabled, and the marginalized.