Candidate Survey 2026: Do you support or oppose “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” (DEI) programs?

Every person that is an American citizen are treated as Americans, with the same rights given by our Constitution.  To be competitive, we must hire the best of the best (skills, not color, etc).  To compete in the world, our companies should be able to hire the best of the best.  Creating competition, will sharpen skills of people.  There are stories after stories of Americans who have struggled and made it (become wealthy, or even a billionaire).  In Pursuit of Happyness (movie, based on a true story).  The person who struggled, now is a billionaire and jobs for many others.

The federal government’s responsibility is to hire and promote those most capable of performing the job, not to engineer demographic outcomes. Merit, character, competence, and equal treatment should remain the standard. While discrimination should never be tolerated, replacing it with government-sponsored preferences merely substitutes one injustice for another. Every American deserves to be judged as an individual, not as a representative of a protected class.

The US government was formed by racists for white men. They made a system for themselves to keep power. It is necessary to adjust society. We can do it through DEI, reparations, taxes, and a combination of things. But when we have Trump, Clinton, Musk, Gates… none of these people are special. They were just born with money and given every opportunity to succeed.  I think all people should have the same opportunities.

When it comes to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, I believe they should be evaluated based on whether they actually improve opportunities, strengthen workplaces and communities, and deliver real results for people, not just check a box or create more bureaucracy.

My focus is on policies that expand opportunity, improve education, strengthen our economy, and raise the quality of life for the people of Louisiana’s 2nd District. If a program helps accomplish those goals and treats people fairly, I’m open to it. If it doesn’t deliver results or divides people, then it should be reformed or replaced.
My priority will always be putting
people first and making sure government policies bring communities together while creating real opportunities for everyone.

I believe we must apply Rousseau’s principle of ‘Civil Religion’ to our modern governance. For a Republic to function, it requires a shared set of values and a common identity that transcends private dogma and individual identity politics. At a public level—especially within our military and government—we should never focus on what divides us; we must focus on the ‘General Will’ and our shared mission. By submerging these private distinctions in favor of merit and collective duty, we ensure that our social infrastructure remains unbreakable and focused on the future of our nation.

I don’t care what color, creed, sex (lack thereof), religion or anything such as that. If they are the best human suited for the job, so be it.

They function as institutionalized discrimination by race, sex, and other identity categories rather than merit. They lower standards in hiring, promotions, admissions, and contracting by prioritizing demographic outcomes over individual competence and qualifications. This produces worse results in critical fields like medicine, engineering, aviation, education, and public safety while breeding resentment and division among those passed over for less qualified candidates. True fairness and excellence require color-blind, sex-blind, merit-based evaluation of every person as an individual, not engineered group quotas or equity mandates that treat people as avatars of their ancestry or biology. Government, schools, and corporations should eliminate all such programs and return to objective, performance-driven standards.

This decision reflects a constitutional principle I believe deeply: equal protection under the law must apply equally to every American. Government-driven identity frameworks are not a long-term solution. The Equal Protection Clause, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and recent Supreme Court guidance all point toward the same conclusion opportunity in America must be rooted in merit, personal responsibility, and equal treatment under the law, not permanent bureaucratic systems that divide Americans into categories.

If we are truly serious about inclusion, it must be embedded in the culture of our institutions, businesses, and communities rather than enforced through government mandates. My focus is on expanding access to entrepreneurship, workforce training, and economic mobility so advancement is driven by character, discipline, and hard work.

That is not the absence of opportunity it is the fulfillment of it.

The make-up of our country should be reflected in the brave men and women who do choose to serve.

Too often, modern DEI programs deviate from that ideal by elevating identity over merit. We should instead prioritize policies that reward hard work, talent, and individual potential. Hiring and admissions decisions should be grounded in qualifications, skills, and achievement, not demographics.

My focus in Washington will be on expanding access to opportunity, not mandating outcomes. That means strengthening education, encouraging economic growth, and removing barriers to success, rather than relying on top-down mandates that undermine fairness and unity.

In the year, this administration has hit forth its desires, there has been a very strong evidence of a brain drain from our institutions and this country. Removing DEI did not get people of more merit into offices. It simply encouraged more cronyism and allowing unqualified individuals into positions of power.

Where I draw the line is on policies that undermine standards, readiness, or performance. In healthcare, the military, or government, competence must always come first. Lives depend on it.

I believe in expanding opportunity, enforcing civil rights laws, and removing barriers that prevent qualified people from competing. But I do not support quotas or lowering standards in the name of politics. The focus should be excellence, fairness, and accountability, not ideology.

Where I believe we have gone off course is when merit, hard work, and individual achievement take a back seat to identity. No one should be told their success or failure is predetermined by the color of their skin, their background, or their ancestry.

America has always been at its best when we judge people by their character, their work ethic, and their contributions—not by the groups they belong to.

Our diversity is one of our greatest strengths, but our unity has always been our greatest advantage. We should strive to create opportunity for everyone while preserving a culture that rewards merit, personal responsibility, and excellence.

As someone who has worked closely with servicemembers and national security institutions throughout my 21 years on Active Duty with the US Army, serving in various operations around the world, I have seen firsthand that our men and women in uniform need clear standards, unity of purpose, and apolitical leadership, not CRT or “woke” ideology that divides them by race or identity.

I support equal opportunity, high standards, and ethical command, and I reject using DEI programs to inject Marxist‑based ideological agendas into the ranks or service academies.