Hi, I’m Asher Smale. I’m a husband, a father, and someone who’s spent his life working regular jobs in fast food, tech, and childcare. I’m running for Congress because the system is broken — and both parties are too comfortable to fix it. Emailing and protesting has not accomplished anything. I support Ranked Choice Voting to break the two-party stranglehold, universal healthcare to end medical bankruptcy, and strong antitrust enforcement to stop corporate monopolies from running our economy.

Moves

  • Missouri – St Louis (1992-1993)
  • Florida (1994-1994)
  • Arizona (1995-1997)
  • Alabama (1998-2001)
  • North Carolina (2002-2004)
  • California (2005-2009)
  • Alabama (2008-2015)
  • Wisconsin (2015-Present)

Jobs

  • Highschool
    • Papa Murphy’s
    • Dominoes (alongside my Father, who was a full time delivery driver)
  • College
    • CPR Cell Phone Repair
    • Apple Certified Repair Shop
    • Independant Yarn Store
    • Individually sold hats, and phone repairs
  • Post College
    • Verizon Wireless Sales associate
    • Scientific Staffing
    • White label Insurance Software Sales
    • Outside business development manager
    • Agency Wedding Videographer
    • Stay-at-home-dad

Why that matters

Who I Am — And Why It Matters

I was a free lunch kid. I know what it feels like to be made fun of for being poor. I’ve worked every kind of job you can think of. I made pizzas at Papa Murphy’s. Delivered for Domino’s alongside my dad — who drove full-time to support us. Repaired cell phones in college. Worked at a Yarn store and taught crochet lessons, and hats. I worked a series of various sales jobs to work myself into tech sales.

I also fumbled my way into the PBM space.

I worked for one of Wisconsin’s most successful tech startups — ZYWAVE — a white-label insurance software company that eventually sold for nearly $1 billion. I was on the sales team, shortly before moving into pharmacy benefit management partnership— PBMs — the cartel middlemen that are bleeding Americans dry on prescription drugs. I’ve been in the rooms where your healthcare gets turned into profit margins. I know how the scam works, because I’ve lived it from the inside. These companies simply do not exist in countries with functional healthcare systems.

This isn’t theory. This is my résumé.

I know republicans. My dad was a fundamentalist pastor — speaking in tongues, preaching hellfire, and absolutely not a fan of gay people. I don’t share those beliefs. I’ve moved far from them. But I can speak with people who still live in that world. I know their language. I understand their fears. And I know how to push for progress without sounding like a condescending outsider. Republicans (the base, not the 2 headed political system we have) want to have a better America. I want that too.

That’s the throughline of my life — from Missouri to Florida to Arizona, Alabama, California, North Carolina, and finally Wisconsin, where I’ve lived longer than anywhere else. It’s where I built a life, started a family, and found a community I’m proud to call home.

Here in Wisconsin, I see freedom. I see a purple state that doesn’t perform, it produces. People here get things done. And they’re tired of a two-party system that doesn’t.

I’m not a legacy candidate. I’m someone who’s been poor, been overworked, been inside the machine — and came out angry, informed, and ready to fight.

Housing? Thank Goodness we were able to buy in 2019.
Healthcare? I know how they rig the prices.
Wage stagnation? I’ve lived it.
AI? I know it’s coming for jobs at scale fast. 
Culture war? I’ve survived both sides of it.

I’ve lived in red states, blue states, and all the empty space in between. I can walk into any room — Congress, a church, a union hall, a boardroom — and speak the truth in a way people can actually hear.

We don’t need more branding. We need single-issue bills.
We don’t need more compromise with lobbyists. We need Ranked Choice Voting.
We don’t need more “civility.” We need aggression — aimed at the right targets.

I’m not here to make Milwaukee into California. Milwaukee doesn’t need saving. It needs power. And I’m running to bring it.