So I Ran for Congress

In 2016, Arik Bjorn ran against veteran Republican Congressman Joe "You Lie " Wilson as the Democratic Party/Green Party fusion candidate in South Carolina's Second Congressional District. Bjorn stepped forward at the registration deadline, as no legitimate Democratic Party candidate had emerged to run.

"So I Ran for Congress" chronicles Bjorn's uncharacteristic first race for political office: "It was 2016, the Election to end all Elections. Bernie the Democratic-Socialist versus Hillary the Glass Ceiling Smasher--with an Orange Fascist-in-Waiting stomping about in Goliath-like fashion on the other end of the political spectrum. Yet Civilized Voters in South Carolina's Second Congressional District were in danger of having no champion for their Voice for a third straight election cycle."

Bjorn, a single father, worked full-time as a public librarian while campaigning. He was only the second candidate ever endorsed by the South Carolina Democratic Party before its state primary. Bjorn was also endorsed by the National Education Association Fund, SC Equality, the Alliance for Retired Americans, the South Carolina AFL-CIO, as well as a number of national labor unions, including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, the National Education Association and the Teamsters. The Bjorn for Congress campaign slogan was "There's a Better Way "

From the preface: "Political campaigns are loaded with grind and reward. FEC deadlines, policy position research and debate prep are tedious and brain-wrenching, but occasionally you catch a glimpse of a Founding Father and Mother smiling at you from the Constitutional beyond. You are a major party federal candidate daring to speak on behalf of 'WE the People.' Just, wow."

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Bjorn has published 11 books. His most recent title, BRONX NIGHTS is "an epic, Autistic, Long COVID, Big Apple memoir." Amidst Godzilla on the George Washington Bridge and all the talking skyscrapers, the author searches desperately for a cure for Long COVID and heartbreak.

Bjorn's most popular book is UBER NIGHTS, a memoir about his late-night rideshare adventures in the Deep South. In South Carolina, you never know if your next passenger will be a naked lady with a toothbrush, a banana spider, or a punch-drunk redneck.

Before that, he published THIS IS NOT A SELF-HELP BOOK: AND YOU CAN TOO , is a Jesus take the wheel (of cheese) health recovery journey memoir. If you're going to lose 85 pounds, might as well write about it.

Arik Bjorn is holed up in New York in the aftermath of BRONX NIGHTS. He is working on a children's story, FOR A TIME.