Marty O'Donnell has had a long and successful career as a composer, but is still best known for his nearly two-decade collaboration with developer Bungie. O'Donnell was audio director and composed the music for all of Bungie's Halo games. His last project was Destiny before problems arose between the musician and the studio. Since his firing in 2014, O'Donnell has been involved in various legal actions against his former employer and Microsoft, some of which went his way and others… not as much.
O'Donnell founded Highwire Games after leaving Bungie and composed the soundtrack for its debut release Golem, but appears to have quietly retired afterward (aside from the lawsuits). Well, it turns out the devil will find work for idle hands: O'Donnell has now announced his intention to run as the Republican Party's candidate for Congress in Nevada.
“I never wanted to be a politician and I still don’t” O'Donnell begins, a bit unbelievable. “I was ready to retire and spend more time with my family – which I have done for the last three years. I think they’re ready for me to find something else to do.”
O'Donnell's announcement is lengthy and may be lengthy read in full here. He says the “toxic divisions” in the US are “tearing our families and our society apart” and that the economy has “gone horribly wrong.” In a colorful metaphor, O'Donnell says, “The goose that lays the golden eggs for our country has been kicked and squeezed so much that it is almost impossible to lay any more golden eggs.”
It's the little man who's being pressured, and O'Donnell knows who's to blame: “Big corporate managers and big union bosses. Big Tech, Big Pharma, Big Media, Big Whatever – all trying to control big government in Washington DC.”
If this all sounds a little familiar, then perhaps it won't surprise you to learn that O'Donnell is a supporter of former President Donald Trump, who of course will be the Republican nominee again in 2024 (“I voted for President Trump twice and will vote for him a third time this fall”). To this end, we go beyond the points made above, some of which seem to have a kernel of truth, and blame the border controls and the immigrants who are “granted access to all sorts of things becomes”. of alms at our expense.”
O'Donnell moves on to some of the Republicans' greatest hits. Big government is wasteful and spends way too much money, and what the US needs is some good old family values. He says “the strength of our society… is eroded” and “I want to advocate that the traditional family is critical to a child's development and success.” Although the data supports this, it is unclear what the connection is to an overbearing government and what exactly O'Donnell is proposing.
The call to arms ends with the statement that “we need courageous leaders in a time like this” and links to it Marty for Congress Website where you can sign up to join Marty's Army and donate to the cause. One notable feature that might interest his former employers is O'Donnell's Donate link lists fixed amounts related to Halo: for example, you can donate $117, where Master Chief is John-117. For 343 Guilty Spark there is an amount of $343. It even has a $7 donation button that isn't Halo specific, just Bungie's special number.
The announcement has attracted an influx of new followers to O'Donnell's Discord, asking him questions about things like his stance on Israel/Palestine and LGBTQ+ issues. It goes about as well as you would expect, which is to say: don't go there.
O'Donnell will run in Nevada's 3rd Congressional District in the 2024 House of Representatives election, which will take place on November 5, 2024. If his campaign is successful, he will become one of the state's four congressmen.
