by Sharon Rondeau
(Jan. 14, 2026) — An advertisement issued on behalf of Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy (R) appearing at American Liberty News on Monday offered a chance for readers to share their “honest opinion” with the senator, who is known for his wry sense of humor and bluntness during interviews.
Kennedy sits on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, of which its Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights held a recent hearing titled, “Impeachment: Holding Rogue Judges Accountable.”
The ad reads:
Folks,
Let me put your mind at ease right off the bat: this is not a donation email. No begging. No passing the hat.
What I need from you is something rarer than hen’s teeth in Washington: your honest opinion.
It’s 2026. The election year is already barreling down the road like a logging truck with no brakes, and I want to make sure I’ve got my priorities lined up tighter than a jar of pickles at a church supper.
So I’m asking you, plain and simple, what do you think should be our priority in 2026?
What keeps you up at night?
What makes you shake your head at the news?
I promise you this: I may not always be polite, but I’ll always be honest, and I won’t pretend to listen just to hear myself talk.Send me your thoughts. I’m all ears.
John Kennedy
The links open to a reiteration of some of Kennedy’s points and spaces for responses. Below that is an opportunity to make a donation in any of a multitude of suggested amounts.
At the bottom of the page is the notice: “Paid for by WinRed. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. WinRed.com.”
According to the WinRed’s website, “WinRed is the official secure payments technology designed to help GOP candidates and committees win across the US.”
In response to the invitation to share his opinion, P&E reader phrowt wrote:
Dear Senator Kennedy,
I tried to answer your opinion request through the links in your non-donation, donation, email. I’m not in your district or your State. I have an opinion of a long-term issue and wish you will consider a resolution that Congress can create. This issue is a State issue that needs to be passed down to the States. The issue is the lack of information for candidates running for the lower-level judgeships. It is my opinion that all candidates running for judgeships should have a published record of the decisions they will make or have made. I know, opinions once stated are like the west to east wind, they go where they blow. In LA County in California, where I recently left, there are numerous positions for so many judges you do not know who to vote for. I, like my friends and many of my neighbors, chose to not vote for the positions. This may have resulted in less qualified and biased judges being voted into the position. This results in many judges that are then appointed to higher positions, including the Supreme Court, that are less qualified to read and interpret the laws as written. We have all seen those results. This issue becomes a federal issue as these judges view the position as a long term career with many hoping for an appointment to State and Federal benches. This issue is one of the most important things that never gets mentioned by anyone. This lack of information does not allow a voter to know who the candidate is and what their record is when it comes to electing judges. Many, like me, have left the position(s) blank because we value an educated choice more than throwing a dart at the positions. This results in judges that are voted in by a very small number of votes. I don’t think the founders thought our government should be run by a bunch of lawyers who are trained to parse and twist the meaning of words. As lawyers permeate all offices of government, those of us that still have common sense, see the effects, mainly of unintended consequences. It is my firm opinion, the records of the candidates for all judgeships should be mandatory and published without embellishment.
This is longer than an answer to your request for my opinion and I apologize. However, I have tried, in California where I no longer live, to find any information about all the judgeships that appear on the ballot. A truly fruitless exercise. Judges are supposed to be non-partisan but as you and anyone with a lick of sense sees is not the case. So, it is my request that you use your, demonstrated, wit to see if something can be done to enlighten the voters whereby the elected judiciary does the job they were always intended to do, interpret and not make up laws whereby precedence becomes law.