Stu Barnes-Israel was in high school on Sept. 11, 2001, when jihadist terrorists struck the United States, and the Republican remembers thinking that he needed to do something.
That drive to serve led the now-35-year-old married father of two to enlist in the Army, where he served seven years and led soldiers in combat in Afghanistan. And it’s how Barnes-Israel, a business consultant, has approached his bid for Congress in southern Indiana’s deep-red 9th Congressional District. His surname, Barnes-Israel, is a combination of his mother's and father’s last names.
“My life has been about service,” Barnes-Israel told the Washington Examiner in an interview, explaining that “I have the same feeling now” as he did when he watched the terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, just across the Potomac River from the nation’s capital. “What is the most dire situation facing our country?” he asked. “That’s the dysfunction in Washington, D.C., and in our politics, and that’s the fight I’m running toward now.”
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The redrawn 9th Congressional District is even more hospitable to Republicans than it was previously. That’s why the retirement of Republican Rep. Trey Hollingsworth spawned such a crowded field of GOP primary candidates, including frequent candidate and former Rep. Mike Sodrel. From 2002 to 2010, Sodrel ran for the House five times and lost four of those campaigns. Sodrel, whose single House term was from 2005-07, no doubt hopes this comeback attempt ends differently.
If Barnes-Israel is feeling confident, it could be because he has racked up endorsements from some top-tier Republicans. Backing his campaign are potential 2024 contenders such as Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Also endorsing his House bid are Rep. Brian Mast of Florida and former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who is running for the House in Montana. Zinke was the state’s at-large congressman before joining the administration of then-President Donald Trump.
If nothing else, Barnes-Israel is acting confident.
In the first quarter of this year, he loaned his campaign $100,000 to bring his total raised to approximately $366,325 and put his war chest at roughly $232,000 five and a half weeks before Indiana’s May 3 primary. Asked if he really believes he can put a dent in the political dysfunction that has plagued Congress for the last several years, Barnes-Israel said he was committed to giving it a try. And, characteristically, he sounded confident.
“One person can’t solve it all, but one out of 435 makes a difference,” Barnes-Israel said. “What I see is Washington and Congress filled with career politicians — people who have spent their entire lives trying to get to Congress and trying to climb the ladder of power, and where the incentives are misaligned.”
In an era when political and cultural differences are bitter and compromise between Democrats and Republicans can appear so unattainable, Barnes-Israel understands the skepticism that arises when he explains to people that his goal is to help lower the temperature on Capitol Hill so as to create a space to address substantive issues and solve problems. And he is hardly the first Hoosier to come to Washington promising this approach.
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But Barnes-Israel bats away the naysayers, saying that he has done it before under more treacherous conditions, and so he does not see why he can’t do it in the House.
“When I was in the Army, in Afghanistan, I interacted with all kinds of folks, and we’d sit down and have tea, and sometimes I’m sitting down with people that I’m pretty sure tried to kill me the other day, who tried to send me home in a body bag,” Barnes-Israel recalled. “If that’s not preparation for Congress, I don’t know what is.”
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