Mark Kenneth Arness

Mark Kenneth Arness (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Maryland's 5th Congressional District. Arness lost in the Democratic primary on June 23, 2026.

Mark Kenneth Arness did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

Mark Kenneth Arness did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

The following issues were listed on Arness' campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.

Taxes: Alan Greenspan said; "Whatever you tax, you get less of." That means you can't keep squeezing blood from stones: you just break the stones. The incumbent voted NO against the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004; voted against tax relief and simplification; voted against increasing child tax credits and voted against making Pres Bush tax cuts permanent!

Health Care: The "Unaffordable" Care Act, AKA Obamacare is a national disaster; our current representative blames us for "failing to engage with our health care plans"! But, one in three Americans are losing their health care plans and are being forced to replace their employer plans with lower tiers. Obama promised, "You get to keep your doctor!" BUT, your price may be triple. Many of us are now working two part time jobs, putting in 60 hours a week, because employers evade the ACA tax penalty by cutting hours and benefits!

DoD in the 5th District: We need our military bases and Federal funding in Maryland; Patuxent River, Indian Head NSWC and Joint Base Andrews are our biggest employers. Our incumbent claims to support DoD, but he's same House Rep who voted to make flag-burning is a First Amendment Right, and to impeach President Bush! Obama has emboldened our adversaries by pusillanimously allowing the former Soviets, led by former KGB chief and self-styled"New Tsar" Vlad Putin to roll unchallenged into the Crimea and now Eastern Ukraine. Our NATO borders are next- the Russians have so stated on public record!

Energy and the Environment: We must preserve our natural resources for our own use and enjoyment and for future generations. Mark supports initiatives to clean up the Bay and insure wildlife preservation for posterity, but taxing rain and chickens is not the way to pay for it! Mark will fight for Federal funding for the Chesapeake bay watershed program to support our fishing and farming industries.

Education: Common Core Curriculum: Another travesty perpetrated on America; this time the joke's on our kids, and that's not funny! An absurdly complex "redefining" of reading, writing and arithmetic, "common core" teaches kids how to count to 100 by ones and figure that four quarters is a dollar by adding up pennies. The Common Core rollout was flawed and the curriculum is a joke. Even worse, our teachers are paying for it out of their own pockets; this is unacceptable.

[5]

—Mark Arness' campaign website, http://www.arnessforcongress.com/issues.html