The ASBL Podcast with Lloyd Chapman and Bruce de Torres
Lloyd Chapman is Founder and President of the American Small Business League (ASBL.com), working to stop the diversion of small business contracts to big businesses. Our DontCheatWomen.com project seeks to raise from 5% to 15% the federal contract dollars that must go to women-owned small businesses.
Bruce de Torres is Director of Communications for the American Small Business League and author of GOD, SCHOOL, 9/11 AND JFK: The Lies That Are Killing Us and The Truth That Sets Us Free. (Read the amazing reviews at brucedetorres.com.)
The ASBL Podcast with Lloyd Chapman and Bruce de Torres
ASBL 60, William Marks, Recent Candidate in Texas, District 25, March 16, 2026
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ASBL 60, William Marks, Recent Candidate in Texas, District 25, March 16, 2026
The American Small Business League (www.ASBL.com) spoke with William Marks, who ran for Congress as a Democrat in Texas, District 25, in the recent primary. (Dion Sims won.) William is a decorated combat veteran and award-winning navy communicator with 22 years in the military before working for six years at Meta. His website is www.WilliamMarks.com.
What are your takeaways, lessons from your recent campaign?
As a candidate for the House, you can be competitive in three ways. First, have two hundred thousand dollars to spend on day-one. You can hire a team. Build infrastructure. Set up your technology stack. And attract more money. “It takes money to get money.”
The second way to be competitive on day-one is to already be famous. A celebrity. An athlete. An astronaut. Already have name recognition.
The third way can be called the organic way, which is to have lived in the same area for decades and built up a large network. It helps if you’re maybe a small business owner or a teacher, something like that, where you interact with the public quite a bit.
“I started out with none of those things,” William said. “But the Republican incumbent (Roger Williams) had not had a challenger since 2020. And I felt that the people at least deserve a choice. So, I decided to run.” To run a lean campaign. Use social media for all the free marketing possible. Do it full-time. William is a good public speaker. He did over 200 personal events over seven or eight months. He walked 380 miles.
After 3 or 4 months of campaigning, Republicans in Texas redrew the district to try to win more seats. Now William was unknown in much of the new district. He had been campaigning in its old lines to people who now couldn’t vote for him.
“But when people met me and heard my positions, they got on the team. They were very enthusiastic.” Primaries are less about your positions, more about name recognition. William ran against someone who had ninety years of family name recognition, Dion Sims.
“I’m confident the Democratic party will flip the House.”
The American Small Business League called the office of Republican incumbent Roger Williams recently about our www.DontCheatWomen.com goals (see below). He’s the chairman of the House Small Business Committee. Basically, we were told, that sounds DEI. We’re Republicans. So, we’re not going to do anything about that. William said, “Roger Williams is no friend of small business.” He inherited a car dealership that makes him a millionaire many times over.