Ned Pillersdorf Appearance At The Mountain Arts Center, July 4, 2026

Yesterday, July 4t, 2026, my wife Candice and I attended a meeting at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, in support of the campaign of Ned Pillersdorf for the US House in Kentucky's 5th district. The event was smaller than I had hoped for but it was attended by somewhere between 75 and 100 people on a very hot day which I am sure kept others away due to the extreme heat even though the event was held indoors. Tommy Webb, one of the best voices in Bluegrass, was also featured at this event, sang a few songs, and delivered somoe of his political wisdom. The event was smaller than I had hoped for but still fairly well attended on a day hot enough to keep many from traveling. I would say that most of the attendees at the event are politically involved people who attend at least a few such events each year. However, this is no ordinary year! We are facing a concerted effort by TRAITOR Trump and the Criminal Syndicate which supports his TREASON while posing as a "cabinet" to destroy America and American Democracy. There were close to dozen there whom I have known, at least superficially, for anywhere from a year or so to fifty or more years. Three members of my extended family were there, Jack Terry, and Ed and Judy McGuire who live only a mile or two away from the MAC as the Mountain Arts Center is known. I was particularly pleased to see famed AppalShop filmmaker Herbie Smith and his son Attorney Evan Smith who works for AppalRed Legal Defense and Research Fund in Prestonsburg. I had known or known of Herbie Smith and his work literally since the days of the inception of AppalShop in the late 1960's or early 1970's. I had met Evan at the Memorial Day event at the home of Ned Pillersdorf and his wife, Retired Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Janet Stumbo. Retired Big Sandy Community and Technical College History Professor Tom Matajasic was also there and spoke to Candice and I briefly. I had also initially met Tom at that same Memorial Day event. Famed barbecue cook James Butler served the food as he does at many events in which Ned is involved. His food was excellent as always. But James is much more than a barbecue cook. He is also a local minister and serves on the board of the Floyd County Animal Shelter. Ned's daugher, Sarah Pillersdorf, was there as she is at most of her father's campaign events, and also works as a child support enforcement worker in Louisville. Naturally, her mother Janet Stumbo was there and we spoke briefly about a few issues. Tommy Webb and I were able to have two conversations during the afternoon, one just as he arrived in which we laughed about a lunch we had almost two years ago in which I had attempted to induce him to begin supporting some Democratic candidates publicly since he has often quietly expressed some liberal views. But like most Bluegrass musicians, he has rarely appeared publicly at such events, if ever, since many fans of Bluegrass have historically been to one degree or another conservative. But I firmly believe that is changing rapidly as it is with most previously conservative people in America. Due to the actions of TRAITOR Trump and the Criminal Syndicate which poses as a "cabinet", America and Americans have suffered in a multitude of ways over the last 11 or so years since the tragic day TRAITOR Trump rode down that gold escalator and began to promote the farce that he was fit to be the leader of the free world. The time is long past for all Americans to do our duty and put an end to his TREASON. We must elect a Democratic president in 2028, and we must elect Democratic majorities in both houses of congress. This nation and our Democracy cannot survive if that does not happen.

Tommy Webb Plays Bluegrass For Free On July 4th 2026, at Mountain Arts Center In Prestonsburg, KY, Free Barbecue by James Butler

On July 4th, 2026, Tommy Webb, one of the best voices in all of Bluegrass music will be playing a free concert at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, in support of the congressional campaign of Ned Pillersdorf in Kentucky's 5th Congressional District. James Butler, one of the best barbecue cooks in Kentucky will also be providing free barbecue. I'm sure Ned Pillersdorf will say a few words at some point and try to keep it short in light of the quality of the entertainment and food. Come on out! Bring a friend! Enjoy the music and food! Leave the show with a firm commitment to vote for Ned Pillersdorf in November in Kentucky's 5th Congressional District! We'll see you there!

And be sure not to forget to eat some of James Butler's famous barbecue while you can get a full stomach for free!

July 4, 2025, A Major Political Announcement For Kentucky's 5th Congressional District

On July 4, 2025, my wife Candice and I traveled to Prestonsburg, Kentucky, to attend and support the announcement by Ned Pillersdorf that he is running against Congressman Hal Rogers in Kentucky's 5th Congressional District. It has been far too long in this district since a viable Democratic candidate has run against Rogers. The event was held in Rosenberg Square, a small, but beautiful park at the corner of West Court Street and North Lake Drive in Prestonsburg. The event was attended by somewhere in excess of 100 people which, in my opinion, is a good turnout for a political event on a major holiday which is often saved for family reunions and yard sales. And the heat was in the low to mid 90's all day so it was somewhat oppressive which probably depressed attendance to one degree or another. Ned gave a speech after being introduced which is roughly what is conained in the text of one of his blog posts this morniing which can be found by scrolling down his Facebook page which is found listed as "Ned Pillersdorf". Or you can go to this link on Facebook and watch or simply scroll to the point Ned starts speaking and see this video of the event which lasts in total for slightly more than an hour. I am actually completing this post on July 7, 2025, and some of the media responses to Ned's announcement have now been deleted from their companys' websites. But I remember one in which the writer stated roughly that Ned had given a "blistering speech" about TRAITOR Trump's "Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill". I was somewhere between surprised and shocked by that coverage of the speech I had seen in its entirety. I had thought that Ned had given an honest, accurate, and measured response to the "Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill". You can bet that if I had been asked to speak to a crowd of a hundred in Kentucky or anywhere else in the nation, even Texas, Alabama, or Mississippi, the speech I would have given would have been far more derogatory of TRAITOR Trump than anything Ned Pillersdorf said in Prestonsburg on July 4, 2025. Yes, Ned's speech was accurate, tasteful, mild in my estimation, and a lot less than anyone deserves to have been accused of who voted to support that 900+ page attack on America, her citizens, and the world in general. Ned Pillersdorf is the first viable, electable, and deserving candidate for congress in Kentucky's 5th Congressional District in at least twenty years. Ned has done more for the people of the district in the last forty years than Hal Rogers ever attempted to do. Vote for, support, and elect Ned Pillersdorf to the US Congress from the 5th District of Kentucky.

July 4, 2025, Stand Up With Ned Pillersdorf And Kentucky's 5th House District

On July 4th 2025, at 5pm, in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, Attorney Ned Pillersdorf will hold his formal announcement of his candidacy in the Kentucky 5th US House District in the upcoming 2026 election. He is opposing long term Right Wing Radical Repugnican Hal Rogers who has just voted to support TRAITOR Trump's Big, Vicious, Ugly Bill which will be highly likely to force the closure of 23 hospitals in the district due to the vicious, widespread cuts to Medicaid. The Announcement will be held at Rosenburg Squre in Prestonsburg about one block from the Floyd County Judicial Center. I am asking all my readers of this blog to make an honest effort to attend the announcement. Ned Pillersdorf is the most legitimate opposition to Rogers to arise in the district in twenty years or more. He is a nationally known and respected attorney who won more than 1,000 appeals of the cuts of Social Security benefits which werel levied against a vast pool of the former clients of attorney Eric C. Conn. Ned is also the attorney who represented the former employees of Blackjewel Mining when their jobs were cut and they were not paid for their last weeks of work. For forty years, Ned has represented the poor, needy, disabled, infirm, and elderly of the 5th district when they were engaged in tough fights against a plethora of agencies, prosecutors, and corporations who were determined to make the lives of those people even worse by their actions. Ned is also the spouse of former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Janet Stumbo who has also devoted her career to the improvement of the human condition in the 5th district. Please attend the announcement and join in the huge show of support for Ned and his candidacy. Bring your family! Bring your friends! Join all of us who will be attending in a show of support for change in the US House, protection of constitutional rights in America, and common human decency around the world.

Ned Pillersdorf Is Running Against Hal Rogers For Congress!

On Friday, July 4, 2025, in Rosenberg Square in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, attorney Ned Pillersdorf, the husband of former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Janet Stumbo will announce his entry into the Democratic primary election in opposition to long time Congressman Hal Rogers, who at 89 is one of the longest serving members of congress, and perhaps one of those most likely to be unable to successfully complete another two year term. Kentucky's 5th district contains most of the ten poorest counties in the state, and has one of the highest percentages in the nation of recipients of both Medicaid and SNAP, commonly referred to as Food Stamps. The district is also the site where in 1964 President Lyndon Johnson launched the War On Poverty. The district is also sometimes the bearer of the brunt of the heartless jokes about how "we declared a War On Poverty and poverty won". It is also the disrict in which former Congressman Carl Perkins spent his career working tirelessly for the betterment of all Kentuckians. Ned Pillersdorf has also spent his entire legal career working tirelessly in the district for the betterment of all Kentuckians without having ever spent a day in public office. Pillersdorf is the attorney who put together the coalition of pro bono lawyers who won thousands of appeals of highly unjust deprivations of Social Security benefits to the former clients of jailed attorney Eric C. Conn. He is also the attorney who represented the dismissed employees of Blackjewel Coal in their battle to receive unpaid wages when the company folded without warning. No one in the last 40 years has done more for Eastern Kentucky and its people. Every person who has benefitted from the work of Ned Pillersdorf should be in Prestonsburg on July 4, 2025, to support the man who has supported you in your times of greatest need, always been there when injustice was running rampant, when the wrongly persecuted workers of Kentucky were facing the loss of everything they ever owned, when widows and orpans were in danger of losing pension benefits from their deceased fathers, and anytime injustice was continuing to preserve poverty in the 5th district of Kentucky. I look forward to the day when Ned Pillersdorf will be sworn in as Congressman Pillersdorf and the US House can once again have a Democratic majority.