Paul Perry is an ideal candidate for the Democratic Party. He’s a young Black man with an Ivy League education and a compelling life story who is running on a platform of affordable healthcare and better salaries for teachers. But he finds that it takes more than determination, hard work, and a political science degree to defeat his opponents-it takes deep pockets. His campaign comes to a screeching halt, not because of a scandal or a lack of community support, but because he couldn’t raise enough funds.

This is one of the many stories in Unrig. Using short histories, biographical sketches, and current events, journalist Daniel G. Newman and artist George O'Connor paint a complex picture of how wealth and influence are used to shape our democracy.