The Vote by David Swanson

Power Turns Precarious in David Swanson’s Debut Thriller, The Vote

TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN— Author and lifelong political junkie David Swanson doesn’t like happy endings.

Instead, in true writerly fashion, he prefers problems that are difficult to solve. For instance, how much money might it take to corrupt a straight-shooting government leader? What does the enemy really look like; what are the consequences of indifference when being manipulated by those in power?

“I’m intrigued by the good and bad in all of us,” Swanson explained, “so most of my characters are flawed. They aren’t particularly nice people.”

They are, however, familiar—in fact, we’ve elected many of them—and they’re wreaking conspiratorial havoc in Swanson’s debut thriller, The Vote: A Story of Political Peril.

Inspired by political events of the past eighteen months and Swanson’s own experiences, the novel first took root during the American presidential elections of 2020. “All the pundits were predicting a red tide,” Swanson said. “I imagined what could happen if there was complete political hegemony in the country.”

That resultant “what if,” combined with a healthy dose of creativity, led him to the interconnected storylines and complex conspiracy that eventually became The Vote.

In it, readers follow a group of “unscrupulous billionaires” in their plot to permanently alter the United States government by exploiting a loophole in Article V of the constitution, which dictates the amendment process.

David Swanson Doesn't Like Happy Endings

Comprising the tangled motivations of political candidates, wealthy executives, state-level personalities, and beyond, The Vote paints an unnervingly close-to-home picture of how power, money, and trust, if left unchecked, could not only be the downfall of the United States as we know it, but also the country’s way of life.

Though the book is fictitious (and Swanson is neither a plotting politician nor a billionaire), he nevertheless warned that we’re already inching closer to its reality than we might realize.

“The enemy is more likely to be an industrial titan you admire than an armed adversary from abroad,” Swanson added. “[This] country is facing an existential threat that rivals that of the Civil War. It should be talked about within a framework that everyone can understand.”

The Author

David Swanson was raised on a dairy farm in central Michigan. He received a degree in political science from the University of Puget Sound and an advanced degree in foreign trade from the Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management. Between degrees, he served a stint in the United States Navy.

In 1981, he founded Daavlin, a medical technology company that eventually grew into a prominent player in the field of dermatology. As part of his career, he stepped foot on every continent and dipped his toes in every ocean on earth. Reading, writing, traveling, acting, and directing live theater are his favored pastimes.

He’s also a lifetime political junkie. As this book goes to press, Swanson is a candidate for the Ohio House of Representatives.

The Book

About the book

The Vote: A Story of Political Peril   

David Swanson

300 pages, 6” x 9”, B/W

Fiction/Thrillers, Political, Technological, Domestic

ISBN: 978-1-968761-87-5, $24.95 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 978-1-968761-88-2, $18.95 (Softcover)

Mission Point Press, September 10, 2026

Copies are available for pre-order at Bookshop.org and Amazon. On its September 10, 2026, publication date, it will be available for purchase wherever books are sold. For information or to arrange for signings and events, contact the author at thevote911@gmail.com.

.