Hi everybody, thank you for your support and votes! ​

It's always hard to know how something new like this will turn out, but I have to say, I'm pleased with the results.  And thank you most of all to my wonderful wife Dara Ashby!  Wesley Bell, congratulations on your victory in the primary and the general election.  When people asked me why I was running, a big part of it was to shine a light on the Ferguson Consent Decree and the DOJ report on the Ferguson Police Department.  Not to undo reform, but because unless we have good facts - an honest evaluation of what happened - then we won't have good policy.  The DOJ Report on the FPD was not an accurate review of what was going on in Ferguson, and it created a pattern of distorting police actions in our country which continues to this day. 
We need to revisit the DOJ report.  And Wesley, you are the person to do so - you have the credibility, the history and now a seat in Congress.  You could probably have a good long career just by keeping your head down.  I'm hoping you will do more.  I'm hoping you will be the person that stands up and forces a re-evaluation of the relationship between society and our police, and helps bring us back to a more balanced, realistic view of policing. 
 
Again, thank you everybody, and especially my wife!

The purpose of our government is to extend individual freedom – to give every American the ability to determine the course of his or her life.  ​

For us to be able to lead the lives we want, government at some level has to provide a lot of things.  An educational system for our children.  Roads, highways, airports and trains to get us where we want to go.  A secure financial system for our savings and retirement.  Safe neighborhoods and streets.  Food and water that won’t make us sick.
Both major parties, in their own way, are undermining the government’s ability to do the many things it needs to do to ensure we all have the ability to lead the lives we want.  
The Democratic Party, pulling to the left, has in some ways come to see individuals as defined more by their environment than by their personal choices, and so less accountable for their actions. 
The Republican Party, pulling to the right, has in some ways come to actively work to undermine the effectiveness of government and its efforts to ensure equality of opportunity.
The battle between the two parties has caused gridlock, keeping government from responding to our rapidly changing world. 
It’s time to push back against the polarization and extremism that has been dividing our nation and undermining our government’s effectiveness.  It’s time to get back to a commitment to individual freedom and responsibility.
It’s time for our country to return to the middle.  It’s time for Compromise.
Blake Ashby will bring a different voice to Missouri’s 1st District – a voice of reason, respect and compromise.

The divisiveness is undermining our country.

The United States, in many ways, has gotten off track.  We have stepped back from civil society.  We have stepped back from respect for everyone.  We have stepped back from the core idea of our Constitution, that every person has a right to their own opinion, and a right to be respected as a human being.

​About Blake

​Blake Ashby lives in Ferguson, Missouri, with his wife Dara (and dogs). He was previously a member of the City Council of Ferguson, representing the 2nd Ward. A longtime entrepreneur, he has helped start numerous successful businesses. He writes the occasional commentary for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other publications and is an occasional talk radio guest.