There is an undercurrent in Michigan of voters who are sick and tired of being sick and tired, and I’m seeing it as I travel the state campaigning as the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in the Nov. 6 midterm election.

Yes, Donald Trump carried Michigan in the presidential election two years ago, but Bernie Sanders beat Hillary Clinton in the state’s Democratic primary. Neither candidate was victorious because he was Republican or Democrat. Instead, each won because he was not a traditional Republican or Democrat.

For years, Republicans blamed Democrats and Democrats blamed Republicans as Michigan’s once-thriving cities became relics of a bygone era. The truth is, both parties are to blame. Neighborhoods close to where I grew up and where I now work in Detroit have been gutted, yet the career politicians continue to be re-elected. I'm running for the Senate to change that.

Detroit used to be the mobility capital of the world, not just for automobiles but for socio-economic upward mobility as well. Take it from my father, John A. James, who like many others came to Detroit in search of economic opportunity.

John James and his father. (Courtesy of John James)

My dad was born in 1941 in Starkville, Mississippi. He grew up across the street from Mississippi State University, which he couldn’t attend because he is black. But he refused to accept victimhood and dependency as his destiny. Instead, he worked his entire life to build a better future for himself and his family.

It was my father’s example that most inspired me to a life of service. After attending West Point, I served as an Apache helicopter pilot with over 750 hours of combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

While I was in Iraq, the Great Recession took hold back home, and I saw images from Detroit, Flint and Saginaw that looked worse than the combat zones I was flying in. I was fighting for Iraqi freedom and opportunity, but I didn’t see enough people back home fighting for Michiganders.

I told myself that one day I would return home to Detroit – the city known as the Arsenal of Democracy during World War II – and to my family’s business

John James, seen here in a helicopter while serving in Iraq. (Courtesy of John James)

Detroit, the birthplace of the American middle class, is now on the cusp of a great American renaissance. Unfortunately, not everyone is being included. Large swaths of the city and surrounding areas are being left out.

Talent retention and capital investment are on the rise, but we must protect the chance to achieve the American dream for all Michiganders. If we do this, Detroit can be the mobility capital of the world once again.

Most importantly, we must focus on keeping families together and healthy.

My opponent, Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, promised to turn around every failing school when she was elected to federal office in 2000. Yet today, Detroit public schools remain the worst in the nation.

We can and should address failing schools and how they have contributed to our labor crisis. Record-low unemployment rates are great, but they gloss over the fact that there are a record number of job openings going unfilled because of a skills gap in growing industries.

Jobs are a part of the equation, but they are not a solution on their own. We must focus on early childhood development, K-12 education, trade and vocational schooling, workforce development, criminal justice reform, and rolling back regulations and taxes that stifle entrepreneurship, innovation and job creation.

Stabenow promised to take on the high price of prescription drugs in 2002. But today prescription drug costs are continuing to skyrocket, and the opioid epidemic is hitting not just our urban areas, but our rural and suburban communities as well.

Stabenow talks about improving our infrastructure. Yet PFAS – man-made chemicals – are being discovered in communities across the state, our Soo Locks are decaying, our roads are crumbling, the drinking water is contaminated, and Detroit remains the second-most dangerous city in America, with violent crime increasing.

Despite all of these persisting problems, the urban community is told to vote for Democrats. Why? After 18 years in the United States Senate, Stabenow has done nothing for Michigan to earn another six.

Don’t get me wrong – tremendous strides have been made under pro-business Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and pro-business Democratic Mayor Mike Duggan in Detroit. We are seeing the irreplaceable benefits that economic development brings, but even these two leaders would agree that we have a long way to go.

Michigan voters will have the opportunity to accelerate our state’s progress on Nov. 6. Finally, we will have the chance to have one U.S. senator from each party representing our state, which would give Michigan a much-needed voice in Washington regardless of who is in the White House or which party is in the majority. This will put Michigan in a much stronger position to win support for critical federal funding and projects.

For far too long, partisan rhetoric and willful ignorance have dominated the political landscape in America. The pundits get their ratings and the career politicians get re-elected, while the rest of us get ineffectual leaders and unfulfilled promises.

I am running to say "no more." You see, some in power are not as interested in solving poverty as they are in making it comfortable. We can do better.

The fact of the matter is, we have only ourselves – the voters – to blame. We’ve allowed the political discourse to devolve into little more than red vs. blue, black vs. white, my team vs. your team.

Nothing highlights the absurdity of the discourse today more than the attacks against me for being a black man and a Republican.

Faith and family, God and country, and service before self – these aren’t Republican values, they’re American values.

The powers-that-be have pitted the people against one another with identity politics and the suppression of free speech. There was a time when people were entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own facts. Today, the reverse seems true – people feel entitled to their own facts, but not to their own opinion.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle have made the sorts of promises that Stabenow has made, and like her, have failed to follow through.

All my life, from the battlefield to the boardroom, I have demonstrated the ability to achieve results for people of all backgrounds, and I am prepared to serve all Michiganders in the U.S. Senate.

I’m living the American dream and I want to protect that dream for future generations.