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It’s good to see President Donald J. Trump promise “no more money for RINOs,” but the grassroots will have to do the dirty work of finding fresh, red-blooded patriots to send to Congress. One man worthy of consideration is combat vet Cory Mills.

After the red wave in 2020, conservatives are excited to build upon their wins in the House of Representatives. But let’s get real for a second. Republican candidates nearly always talk a different game on the campaign trail than the one they actually play if elected.

The imminent danger of a returning corporatist, globalist, pre-Trump GOP must be confronted right now. Not next year. Now.

If you know the name Cory Mills, it’s likely because you recognize him as a Newsmax contributor or perhaps you caught his writings or appearances on Fox News and other conservative outlets. Quite frankly, however, he’s not a household name.

That needs to change.

Mills has an impressive resume, but that’s not the primary reason I’d like to see him make a run for Congress. No matter the credentials, a conservative in this day and age is worthless without the right mindset, a readiness to fight, and a tangible vision driving him to power.

Thankfully, Mills has all of the above. He’s a combat veteran with over two and a half years in Afghanistan and another seven and a half years in Iraq. From 2005 to 2010, he was a subcontractor for the US State Department. He’s the founder and CEO of PACEM Solutions International, which helped take Fallujah, Iraq back from ISIS in 2016.

To repeat, what’s paramount in determining whether someone is ready to take on the Washington, D.C. establishment is not what’s on paper. Look for key character traits and a keen sense of the true nature of politics. In this way, Mills exhibits the makings of the next conservative warrior. 

First, his temperament and outlook on the Republican Party and politics as a whole. Directly following the 2020 election, he called for a “less cowardly” GOP. Mills went after those holding elected office who benefited from Trump but remained silent in the face of that unfair election.

“In the next congressional races, patriots will rise,” Mills wrote.

He understands that politics isn’t merely about an R or D winning a race. It’s about gaining power and wielding it decisively in favor of what made this country great. Election integrity is one of the starting points he mentions.

Another vital component of being an effective policymaker is having the know-how of getting things done on day one. In the case of Mills, the resume does come into play here. He was an advisor to the US Defense Department, bringing the experience mentioned before from the military and experience as a successful entrepreneur. I’m certain that Mills would still be advising the DoD if the Biden administration had not done an about face on almost every national security issue.

His approach to politics combined with this level of proficiency is about as good as you’re going to get for a potential recruit to Congress.

But Mills brings more to the table. Pay enough attention to his political commentary, and you find he has a perception and implied strategy that fits for our time. When he praises Trump’s efforts to end the endless wars and promote national sovereignty at home and abroad, or when he labels China the greatest existential threat to the US, that’s the kind of vision that can’t be taken for granted.

Most prescient of all, however, is Mills’ vision of America as a federal republic. It sure was founded that way, but the Constitution’s framers wouldn’t recognize the leviathan in D.C. today. Where’s the localism, the state sovereignty? 

Mills honed in on this in an op-ed for Fox News after the irredeemable unrest of the summer of 2020.

He pressed his readers to remember our founding principles.

“One of those principles is federalism, which mandates that all governmental functions, including law enforcement, be controlled at the lowest level possible – so that the consequences of choices made by officials are felt most by those officials. That’s also part of the American way of life at risk today,” Mills wrote.

When federalism is at risk, the country is too. Our whole society depends on getting that right, because no matter how many Republicans take back the federal legislature in November 2022, the grassroots will still have work to do closer to home. That’s why we need future leaders like Cory Mills in Congress to truly restore America.

Gavin Wax

Gavin M. Wax is a New York-based conservative political activist, commentator, columnist, and operative. He is the 76th President of the New York Young Republican Club and co-author of the 'The Emerging Populist Majority.' You can follow him on X at @GavinWax.