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03.28.26

AL BARTELL:   A Bold Leadership Response To The Brutality And Violence Of Political Vengeance In The 21st Century 

Bartell Files Qualified Write-In Candidacy For U.S. Senate,

Commits To Pathway 

Of Conflict Management Leadership From America’s Deep South

“All it takes is ‘Bartell’ at the voting booth”

An exclusive interview with Independent Al Bartell about his bold leadership decision to run as a qualified Write-In candidate for U.S. Senate in Georgia’s general election this November.

ATLANTA --

At a time when international leaders and the media are questioning the United States’ military involvement in Iran, with some pointing to similarities to the Vietnam War, Elbert “Al” Bartell is not questioning the similarities.  The seasoned Vietnam War Air Force veteran is announcing his qualified Write-In candidacy for U.S. Senate in Georgia’s 2026 general election on November 3rd.

In this S.E. Region News exclusive interview, Bartell shares about how, this time, he has chosen to run for U.S. Senate as a qualified Write-In candidate. Bartell intends to create a pathway for bringing 21st century conflict management leadership to the brutality and violence of the current and predictable political vengeance here in the United States – and around the world.  

Through Bartell’s facilitating the expansion of critical stakeholder groups’ engagement efforts in Georgia, he asserts, a reliable conflict management communication can be brought to the committees and subcommittees of the U.S. Senate.  It’s the work he’s already doing.  It’s the work that will get expanded if he’s elected as a historic Write-In Candidate for U.S. Senate in Georgia, in the Deep South.  And – it’s the legacy of conflict management leadership work he will leave over the next 20 years of his life, whether he gets elected – or not.

For November 3rd, as Bartell simply puts it: “All it takes is typing in ‘Bartell’ at the voting booth.”

“This Time”

SRN:  You have run as an Independent candidate for different offices over the past two decades.  Why have you done that – and why are you running this time, especially as a Write-In candidate?

BARTELL:  I have always been called to run as a candidate by community stakeholders.  Running as an Independent candidate, even in nonpartisan races, has been the most favorable strategy for having the voices of neighborhood, community, faith, and small business leaders in urban, suburban and rural communities of Georgia be included in the decision-making process of governance – to the same degree as lobbyists, special interest groups, and corporations. The communities of Georgia, particularly those who are disadvantaged by the global hit happening in Georgia, have repeatedly asked me to run – even when it would require the qualifying of thousands of petition signatures to have my name be placed on a Georgia voter’s ballot.

It is a matter of my word and my leadership commitment. “To whom much is given, much is required.” 

This time, I have decided, and am choosing to run as a qualified Write-In candidate, because the communication technology now exists for this to be a valid, easy, and feasible option for all Georgia voters. It’s much more feasible than the mammoth effort required to get thousands upon thousands of petition signatures qualified through the Secretary of State’s Elections Division. That mammoth effort would only accomplish having my name be placed on the ballot as an Independent candidate in the state of Georgia. 

As a qualified Write-In candidate, that hurdle, and mammoth effort is removed.  Voters can simply use their voting machine keyboard to type/key in my last name – “Bartell” –  at the Write-In box option for U.S. Senator, and that is all that is required for them to cast their vote for me.    

Each of the 159 county election offices in Georgia is required by law to count/tally the Write-In votes cast by the voters in their county, and submit those aggregate numbers to the Secretary of State Elections Division.  It is valid, and it is a voter’s right in Georgia. 

I am running for the office of United States Senator because it is within the U.S. Senate that the Constitutional powers of “advise and consent” are given. It is within the committees and subcommittees of the United States Senate that hearings are held to inform the “advise and consent” accountability of the United States government to the American people.  

It is within the United States Senate that the brutality and violence of political vengeance has reached an all-time high. It is within the United States Senate that conflict management can have the biggest leadership impact in dismantling the framework of political vengeance in America – and around the world. Neither a Democratic candidate nor a Republican candidate can escape playing the deadly political vengeance game in America – without leaving the two-party game.

SRN: WJCL ran an article recently about this “hotly contested” U.S. Senate race in Georgia, noting that it will be both the Republican nominee coming out of the May 19th primary, and Independents that will challenge now-Senator Jon Ossoff in the November general election. What do you think had WJCL – a major Savannah news outlet – communicate the race in this way?  The Atlanta Journal Constitution has not communicated the race this way.  And why not?

BARTELL:  The Savannah media market – like Macon, Columbus, Athens, Augusta media markets – even Albany-Valdosta/South Georgia and Gainesville/North Georgia media markets – want a bigger piece of this mid-term election news footprint.  Many candidates in both the U.S. Senate race and the Governor’s race reside in different media markets outside the metropolitan Atlanta media market. Traditionally, the AJC/WSB-TV/Cox Enterprises has had the biggest political advertising footprint for major, national media-interest election cycles in Georgia.  Not necessarily so in this election cycle. 

A critical factor that explains why WJCL– and other media markets outside of metro Atlanta – are communicating differently about this race than the AJC/WSB-TV in the Atlanta area is that there is a statewide sensitivity about the particular uncertainty in this election cycle about how the moderate Republican voter base in Georgia will vote – and how the splits happening in the Georgia Democratic party voter base will play out.  This puts a greater focus on what it is often called the “undecided” vote, or the “swing vote”.  

The winning margins are already slim, between the two parties – and an increasing number of voters have been expressing distrust and high dissatisfaction with “politics as usual” – especially as it relates to the massive political divisiveness being fostered by both political parties, as well as  factions within those parties.  

My online footprint as an Independent political candidate in Georgia is solid.  I am known in the media markets outside of metropolitan Atlanta from previous races, particularly the 2020 U.S. Senate Special Election, when I ran to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson, who was greatly respected for his willingness to work across the political aisle. 

"Conflict Management Leadership"

SRN: Are you considering that if enough people chose to write your name in, when they vote in November, that you could get elected? 

BARTELL:

I am considering that if enough people choose to say, “We must have a different approach than political vengeance – we must have conflict management leadership”, the American people will have created a tipping point for impacting political vengeance not just in America – but around the world. If that also means I get elected as a United States Senator, I will be honored, and roll up my sleeves to expand the engagement framework of roundtable discussions, development sessions, summits, and conferences on issues of pressing, immediate importance to Georgians, Americans, and the world.

In the critical stakeholder engagement I have been involved in, particularly over the past six years, stakeholder groups are beginning to consider there is a viable alternative to political vengeance through conflict management assessment models. Something else becomes available, and begins to occur– through conflict management communication. The engagement with stakeholder groups involves utilizing a human rights approach, instead of a political vengeance approach to issues, situations, and conflict. Whether here in America – or somewhere else in the world, regardless of the issue, at the heart lies a doggedly determined, duel-to-the-death opposition between one political view – and another.

It’s been that way down through the ages. However, there’s something starkly different about this dynamic in the 21st century: the world has become more connected, economies are more connected, communications are more connected than in any other time in human history. The impact of violent political vengeance is greater, more severe. Murders are happening on live television. The global stakes are escalating.

What’s been missing: 21st century conflict management leadership.  

I’m putting my personal reputation, my life, and my work on the line, to take a stand for being that leadership. From the Deep South. We have a particular relationship to conflict here in the Deep South. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it this way: “In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”

SRN: You have been working closely with people whose homeland is Iran, who are living in the state of Georgia, particularly in metropolitan Atlanta. You have referred to them as human rights stakeholders. Given the current situation in Iran, and the U.S. current involvement in Iran, what comments do you have at this time?

BARTELL: 

These are my comments about the current situation in Iran:

A human rights approach to people who live in Iran is denied, dismantled, and destroyed by the Iranian government. It is useful for Iranian stakeholders in America to take on the human rights causes of the culture in their homeland. The critical reference point is this: Who among us in America is willing to embrace the clarion call for human rights and be champions with Iranian stakeholders who live in America?

Roundtable discussions, summits, and conferences can deliver that communication to the full U.S. Senate Committees on Foreign Relations, Armed Services, and Homeland Security. 

That is the conflict management work I am doing now. As a United States Senator, I would be doing this work. Being an Independent just means I am not obligated to any party, I am not affiliated or beholden to any party, in performing my duties as a United States Senator for the people of Georgia.  

I am often asked, who do I see myself caucusing with? I would determine which party I would caucus with, on an issue by issue basis.

SRN: The killing of Christians in Nigeria is another issue you have recently been called upon to address by those who live in Georgia who consider Nigeria to be their birth home. Are there any comments you’d like to make regarding the situation in Nigeria?

BARTELL:  

Here are my comments about the situation in Nigeria from a conflict management leadership reference point:

A human rights approach to people who live in Nigeria is being questioned by the U.S. Congressional assessment strategy, particularly by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa and the Western Hemisphere.  

It is useful for Nigerian stakeholders in America to take on communicating the human rights scope of work in their homeland. Again – who among us in America is willing to embrace this clarion call for human rights and be champions with Nigerian stakeholders who live in America, and have that conflict management communication get delivered to the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and the Western Hemisphere? I am taking a leadership stand to be the face of those who are willing to do so.

SRN: What other stakeholder groups are you currently working with in Georgia, if you would care to share, that are engaging in this unique conflict management assessment model approach?

BARTELL:  

Some of the stakeholder groups I am currently working with include the issues of: affordable housing, veterans, prostate cancer prevention, small business economic development, sustainability, violence prevention, cultural diplomacy, developmental communication models, and alternative educational models.

‘Bartell’ at the Voting Booth

SRN: The recent delays at major airports – including Hartsfield Jackson International Airport – some are saying – are a direct reflection of how both political parties are more interested in denigrating the other political party, regardless of the cost to the American people. Do you see that things have now become dire enough, that Georgia voters will reflect a shift in their voting choices, come Nov. 3rd? 

BARTELL: Yes, there is no question that the American people – and the voters in Georgia – have come to a place where things are “dire enough”. The question becomes where is their vote going to land – and I am letting them know, they can type in the Write-In box ‘Bartell’ for U.S. Senate in the voting booth. There's a place for their vote to land. It’s their vote for a change in leadership, it's their vote for conflict management leadership -- and it's their vote for a pathway forward out of political vengeance in America, and in the world.

It’s the work I'm already doing. It’s the work that will get expanded if the people of Georgia elect me for U.S. Senate, in the Deep South. And – it’s the legacy of conflict management leadership work I am committed to leave over the next 20 years of my life, whether I get elected – or not.

END OF INTERVIEW

Source: South Fulton Neighbor, 3.25.26

Public Notice:



FN6171 GPN14 FN6171 GPN14 NOTICE OF INTENTION FOR WRITE-IN CANDIDACY I, Elbert Arthur Bartell, hereby give notice that I intend to be a Write-In Candidate for the office of United States Senate in the General Election to be held on the 3rd day of November 2026. I have requested that my name appear on the GA Secretary of State Certified List of Write-In Candidates as Bartell. I am a candidate eligible to hold such office and my address is: 925B Peachtree St NE #125, Atlanta, GA, 30309, Fulton County and I am qualified to vote in said election. #3:25;4:01 543321-AT