Video games and Washington politics are converging in a way you might not have had on your 2024 bingo card. Martin “Marty” O’Donnell, the composer behind Bungie’s Destiny and Halo games, has announced his campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Nevada’s third congressional district on March 3 as a Republican, challenging the current Democratic incumbent Susie Lee.
O’Donnell declared his bid for the congressional seat on Twitter, in a post championing “the traditional family” and securing America’s borders from the “millions of people coming in.” In a March 3 YouTube video that’s the world’s simplest iMovie presentation, O’Donnell said there needs to be “less lawyers and more composers” in politics, a position I’ve literally never heard before.
“Our country is going in the wrong direction,” O’Donnell says in the video. “Toxic divisions are tearing our families and our society apart. I want to help bring sanity and civility to the public discussion. And so today, I’m announcing my candidacy as a Republican to represent the 3rd Congressional District in the state of Nevada.”
In an interview with GamesBeat, O’Donnell spoke about his motivations for getting into politics, describing himself as both a “Boomer” and a “Federalist.” Despite “never [wanting] to be a politician,” he felt like vying for a congressional seat was a “civic duty,” primarily because he found himself “yelling” at the news lately. Some positions he’s running on include closing the middle-class wage gap, stamping out the “crisis at the border,” and establishing a government that “stands up for families.”
“I’ve spent my entire career working with people who are pretty left to center,” O’Donnell told GamesBeat. “And I can have constructive conversations with those people. We don’t demonize each other.”
Things sound quite different in his official Discord server, though, where his supporters known as the “Marty Army” gather to chat about his campaign. In Discord screenshots shared on Twitter, O’Donnell didn’t answer a user’s question on his stance regarding gender expression and queer rights, but he did say that the government should enforce stronger laws to “prevent more undocumented aliens from entering the country.” Elsewhere, he explained that Israel is “the only democratic country in the Middle East” and has a right to defend itself, referencing the current atrocities happening in Gaza.
Kotaku has reached out to O’Donnell for comment.
Whether he wins or not, O’Donnell said that he’ll vote for former president Donald Trump in November, telling GamesBeat that America “enjoyed a secure border and no inflation” while the Orange Man was in office. But no matter who takes the Oval Office, O’Donnell said that he’ll “work with” them because “that’s what voters expect.” Back in 2014, O’Donnell made headlines after being fired from Bungie. He subsequently sued the company for unpaid benefits and the loss of company stock, and received a settlement the following year.
