Steven Unger

Steven Unger was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas and lives in Springdale, Arkansas. Unger served in the U.S. Navy from 1976 to 2015 and reached the rank of captain. He earned a bachelor's degree in public administration from the University of Arkansas in 1981, a graduate degree from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1990, and a graduate degree from the Marine Corps University Command and Staff College in 2002.[1][2]

Unger's career experience includes working as a hospital corpsman, surface warfare officer, and chaplain with the U.S. Navy. He served on the board of Bethany Christian Services.[1][2]

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm a conservative Christian and a conservative Republican. I'm a retired Navy Captain Chaplain of 31 years active duty service. My family has lived in Northwest Arkansas since 1870. This is my home and I love it here.

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?

I want to expand opportunities for vocational training and education. Our schools need to do a better job of making graduates job-ready , and vocational education is the key. We need more plumbers, electricians, diesel mechanics, and many other technical skillsets.I support proactively improving the energy grid. I have been stationed in California and want to avoid our region being afflicted with rolling blackouts. The time to fix this problem is before it happens.I am concerned about how we handle trash and recycling. In Northwest Arkansas the Tontitown landfill is near capacity. As our population continues to grow, our current model of handling solid waste and recycling is unsustainable. We need to work together to find a better solution.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am pro-limited government. The government should be restricted to its constitutional boundaries as the founding fathers intended. The tentacles of big government are touching almost every part of our lives. This has to stop.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Abraham Lincoln: He was morally upstanding and embodied the quality of mercy. He had the ability to look at every aspect of an issue before making a decision. He put policy and integrity over personality. This allowed him to form a team of cabinet secretaries which led our nation through a civil war. I believe he is the most Christlike president this country has ever seen.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

I believe that character and integrity are the indispensable qualities of a leader. A leader needs to do the right things for the right reasons regardless of the cost.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to be remembered as a person who planned for future generations. This encompasses my work in the pro-life movement and also my vision for improving the energy grid, for sustainable trash solutions, and vocational education. I believe good leadership includes the vision to plant a tree whose shade you will never enjoy. Our actions need to be directed towards the future and not fixated on short-term gain.

What is your favorite book? Why?

True Grit: You have to love a book about a scrappy Arkansas teenage girl and the old one-eyed marshal who both have more than enough true grit.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

I believe the ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature is one of respecting the balance of power. In a state with a full-time governor and a part-time legislature, power tends to gravity towards the governor's office. The governor needs to respect and listen to the state legislators who live and work in their communities and have better situational awareness on the issues facing our citizens.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Our population increase in the northwest corner of Arkansas gives us the challenge of development while avoiding urban sprawl. To achieve this, state and local governments need to work with developers, utility companies, and industry to develop a shared vision that works for the majority of the population.

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

I would like to be a part of the education committee because of my passion for vocational education. My experience in the Navy allowed me to witness high school graduates who attended military technical training serve their enlistment and then find high-paying employment without a college degree.

I would like to serve on the judicial committee. My experience as a reserve sheriff's deputy has taught me that law enforcement needs the tools to protect their communities from those who are at war with society. I also believe that our department of corrections needs to do a better job in rehabilitating those who have served their sentence and wish to rejoin their families and communities as law-abiding citizens.

Campaign website

Unger’s campaign website stated the following:

Pro-Life

The state of Arkansas has made progress on the right to life issue; that is, the Republican legislature has worked hard to protect the rights of preborn children. Even so, we can do more. All Life—planned or unplanned, wanted or initially unwanted—is precious and worthy of respect. We must create a culture that loves life and supports mothers, fathers, and the most vulnerable among us, preborn children. Over the years, I’ve tried to do my part in cultivating this culture that values human life. For many years, I have and continue to financially support pro-life organizations; also, I currently serve on the board of a local Arkansas adoption agency. I do whatever I can to help at-risk pregnant mothers, which sometimes looks like moving furniture in in the back of my old pickup truck to safer homes for these mothers. Creating a culture that values human life occurs in small and large ways. A culture valuing human life will take root through a combination of strong leadership, good legislation, and vibrant partnerships with communities of faith.

Pro-Second Amendment

It is often said that the 2nd amendment, the right of the people to keep and bear arms is the amendment that protects all of our other rights. As your state senator, I will always defend the people's right to keep and bear arms.

Pro-Business

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to take a road trip that included tracing parts of the Oregon Trail. Exploring parts of the trail where you could still see ruts from wagon wheels was exciting. It made me think of the courage it took to break from everything that was sure and known and risk everything by moving toward the unknown. It took guts to try. Historians say that the Orgon Trail has countless unmarked graves along the way. But for those who made it, their risk was rewarded with a new and prosperous life.

Starting your own business is the equivalent of that move West. You leave the known and sure thing of your employment and stake everything on your vision. The work and hustle never stop, and success is not guaranteed. But for those who succeed, they have improved quality of life for themselves and those in their community.

The settlers on the Orgon Trail lived with threats from nature: flash floods, blizzards, rockslides. Today’s business owner lives with threats from our own government in the form of countless and sometimes contradictory regulations. A farmer fined by the EPA because dust from the field he just plowed blew across the road. Small businesses forced to shut down by COVID mandates while big-box stores stayed open. And Amazon profits grew by 200%. This is just wrong. As your State Senator, I will do everything I can to protect your interests.

Skilled Trades Education

Somewhere along the line in this country, manual labor and blue collar jobs became disrespected. If you were going to be somebody, you had to go to college. A large part of the con-job of globalization was moving manufacturing jobs overseas. Some politician who couldn’t check the oil in his car thought Americans were unwilling to get their hands dirty. Globalization was a terrible idea. Whoever sold us on that idea should get an award from the Kremlin.

We spend more money on education than almost any other country in the world, and a lot of what we get is pitiful. Sure there are kids who should and do go to college, but kids who are not seen as “college bound” are looked down on. State government can’t change that silly mindset, but we can change what we pay for. Did you know that one of the best vocational training schools in the country is right here in Springdale? Part of how we won WWII was Americans know how to mass-produce industrial and technical training. Our armed forces do it every day. A kid who has no interest in college should have the opportunity to offramp in the 10th grade to a technical school and not be seen as a drop out, but as a graduate. We have all of the drama majors and philosophy majors we need. We need more truck drivers, home builders, nurse’s aides, and so on. We can fix this; we just need the will to do it.

Limited Government

To my grandparents, Franklin Roosevelt was revered as almost divine. My grandparents gave him credit for every good thing that happened during the Great Depression. You may have heard that explanation while you were coming up in school. I know I did. While some still see that view through the rose colored glasses of nostalgia, it is not true. Sometimes a beautiful fantasy needs to get corrected by cold hard facts. The Forgotten Man, a book by Amity Shlaes, opened my eyes a few years ago to the reality of what Roosevelt created: a Soviet-inspired big government which brought burdensome regulations along with out-of-control spending and prevented the economy from recovering until World War II. What the New Deal really did was to create government regulations that squashed both individual rights and creative initiatives. It was like Roosevelt had declared war on business and personal responsibility. Does that sound familiar? As your state senator, I will do my best to protect you from out-of-control government and stand for small business.[3]

—Steven Unger’s campaign website (2022)[4]