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Republican Marty O'Donnell has lost his bid for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District at the U.S. midterm elections despite a last-minute endorsement from Donald Trump, putting his political future in doubt.
O'Donnell is best-known to gamers as the composer of the original Halo games and Destiny at Bungie, but following his retirement from video games, he launched a career in politics and a bid for Congress. This year, O'Donnell launched a campaign to — with Trump’s support — unseat Nevada's 3rd Congressional District Democrat incumbent Susie Lee.
Unfortunately for O'Donnell, he lost the vote 38.6% to Lee’s 59.1%. 146,863 voted for Lee, with 95,845 voting for O'Donnell. The result came hot on the heels of a tweet endorsement from Trump himself, viewed 1.8 million times, in which the President called O’Donnell an “America First Patriot.”
Here’s Trump’s tweet in full:
“Marty is running against Susie Lee, a true Radical Left Extremist who does not represent the Values of Southern Nevada. Susie Lee wants Open Borders, Men playing in Women’s Sports, Transgender for Everyone, Defund the Police, and she wants to take away your Second Amendment, meaning, your guns. She voted AGAINST the Biggest Tax Cut in History (including NO TAX ON TIPS!), and fought ferociously to knock out Rural Healthcare, a big factor in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District.
“In contrast, Marty O’Donnell is a World Class Composer and Entrepreneur who knows the America First Policies required to Create GREAT Jobs, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Promote NO TAX ON TIPS, Advance MADE IN THE U.S.A., Unleash American Energy DOMINANCE, and Champion our Nation’s Golden Age. As your next Congressman, Marty will fight tirelessly to Keep our Border SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, Ensure LAW AND ORDER, Strengthen our Brave Military/Veterans, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment.
“Marty O'Donnell has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Representative from Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District. GET OUT AND VOTE FOR MARTY — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
Following the win, Lee tagged O'Donnell in a tweet which declared: “Enjoy your retirement.” The tweet includes a video of Halo fans singing the iconic monk chant from the game, with O'Donnell’s tweet, “Well, I never wanted to be a politician and now I don’t have to be. Yay!” from 2024 overlaid. That 2024 tweet followed a similarly bruising political failure at the same Congressional seat, which touches parts of Las Vegas.
O’Donnell, clearly upset by Lee’s tweet, responded: “Susie has a lot of class. And it’s all low.”
What went wrong for O’Donnell this time? Apart from the midterm results being disastrous overall for the Republicans due to what is a clear rejection of Trump’s recent policies, Trump’s tariffs have hit O’Donnell's district hard, with Canadian tourism to Sin City down by 17%.
Collaborating with Michael Salvatori, O'Donnell composed the score of numerous Bungie games, from 1997's Myth to the classic sounds of Halo: Combat Evolved, in a lengthy tenure that ended with his work for 2014's Destiny.
2014 also saw O'Donnell fired from Bungie, resulting in a legal tussle over witheld pay. Bungie later initiated its own legal dispute with O'Donnell in 2021, after the composer uploaded unreleased Destiny music to YouTube.
Recent years have seen O'Donnell demonstrate an increasing interest in politics, after a lengthy period spent establishing his own game development studio, Highwire Games, that worked on VR title Golem back in 2019, and controversial shooter Six Days in Fallujah, which launched in early access form in 2023.
O’Donnell’s political future is now unclear, although perhaps after his second defeat in Nevada in two years, he may now actually enjoy his retirement.
Photo by Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images.
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