District Download

On our four and final episode of the District Download's "2021 - Year in Review" mini-series, Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) interviews Joel Griffith - Research Fellow, Financial Regulations at the Heritage Foundation. Joel offers his gut reaction on the potential demise of President Biden's major legislative package, Build Back Better, and why we are currently seeing the levels of inflation right now. Joel also dives into what the current unemployment rate means for the overall economy, and what we can expect in 2022. (Recorded on December 20, 2021). You can follow Joel on Twitter @JoelGriffith. Please share this podcast with your friends and follow us on social media! Follow the District Download! TW: @DCYRS Inst: @DCYRS & @DistrictDownload FB: @JoinDCYRs

On Part Three of the District Download's "2021 - Year in Review" mini-series, Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) interviews James "Jim" Carafano, Vice President, Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, and the E. W. Richardson Fellow. Jim summarizes the developments that led to the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan during the Summer of 2021, and analyzes what the foreign policy implications may be as a result. Jim also illustrates the growing national security threat along the southern border, and what a rising China may mean for the U.S. going forward. (Recorded on December 20, 2021). You can follow Jim on Twitter @JJCarafano. Please share this podcast with your friends and follow us on social media! Follow the District Download! TW: @DCYRS Inst: @DCYRS & @DistrictDownload FB: @JoinDCYRs

On Part Two of the District Download's "2021 - Year in Review" mini-series, Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) interviews Hans von Spakovsky; Manager, Election Law Reform Initiative and Senior Legal Fellow, Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. Hans is the author of the recently-published book, “Our Broken Elections: How the Left Changed the Way You Vote,” and discusses the state of election security in the country. Hans offers his remedies for what can be done to improve elections in the United States, as well as which states are doing the best in strengthening voter integrity laws. (Recorded on December 20, 2021). You can follow Hans on Twitter @HvonSpakovsky. To access the Heritage Foundation's Elections Scorecard, go to: https://www.heritage.org/electionscorecard/ Please share this podcast with your friends and follow us on social media! Follow the District Download! TW: @DCYRS Inst: @DCYRS & @DistrictDownload FB: @JoinDCYRs

On Part One of the District Download's "2021 - Year in Review" mini-series, Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) interviews Mike Gonzalez, Senior Fellow, Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy and Angeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum Fellow. Mike is the author of the recently-published "BLM: The Making of a New Marxist Revolution," and discusses the evolution of Black Lives Matter as both a movement and organization - especially over the course of the past two years. He also scores the President Biden's first year in office on a scale of 1 to 10. (Recorded on December 17, 2021). You can follow Mike on Twitter @Gundisalvus. Please share this podcast with your friends and follow us on social media! Follow the District Download! TW: @DCYRS Inst: @DCYRS & @DistrictDownload FB: @JoinDCYRs

On today's episode, Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) interviews Senator de la Cruz, Senate Minority whip in the Rhode Island General Assembly. One of five Republicans in the Rhode Island Senate, Senator de la Cruz shares her experience running for office and working to expand conservatism in her state. Please share this podcast with your friends and follow us on social media! Link up with Senator de la Cruz via their website - https://www.jessicaforri.com Follow the District Download! TW: @DCYRS Inst: @DCYRS & @DistrictDownload FB: @JoinDCYRs

On today's episode, Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) interviews Catherine Whiteford, candidate for the North Carolina House of Representatives! The child of Chinese refugees, twice elected chairwoman of the NCFYRs, and native Texan turned North Carolinian Catherine Whiteford is done waiting her turn and is working hard to represent her community! Please share this podcast with your friends and follow us on social media! Link up with Catherine Whiteford via their website - https://www.catherinewhiteford.com Follow the District Download! TW: @DCYRS Inst: @DCYRS & @DistrictDownload FB: @JoinDCYRs

On today's episode, Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) interviews State Rep. Joe Mitchell & Mason Morgan from Run Gen Z. Dedicated to getting more members of Gen-Z to run for office, Joe & Mason demonstrate that if they can do it, so can you! Please share this podcast with your friends and follow us on social media! Link up with Run Gen Z via their website - https://rungenz.com/ Follow the District Download! TW: @DCYRS Inst: @DCYRS & @DistrictDownload FB: @JoinDCYRs

On today's victory lap, Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) and Matteo A. Cina (Podcast Director) interview Jessi Rapelje Blakely, Chairwoman of the Young Republican Federation of Virginia. Jessi, Bill, and Matteo discuss the recent Republican sweep of Virginia, what went right, what could have gone wrong, and how we can best prepare ourselves for the future. Please share this podcast with your friends and follow us on social media! Link up with the VRFV here: https://www.facebook.com/YRFVA TW: @DCYRS Inst: @DCYRS & @DistrictDownload FB: @JoinDCYRs

On today's episode of The District Download, Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) interviews J.D. Maddox, candidate for Virginia's 45th District in the House of Delegates. J.D. shares his vision on American leadership, the future of his district, and what it means to be a "radical moderate". Please share this podcast with your friends and follow us on social media! Link up with J.D. Maddox here: https://www.maddoxforvirginia.com TW: @DCYRS Inst: @DCYRS & @DistrictDownload FB: @JoinDCYRs

On today's episode of The District Download, Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) interviews Erin E. Stewart, Mayor of New Britain, Connecticut. Erin shares her views on running for office at the age of 26, being a women in Republican politics, and how young republicans can get their start in the electoral field. Please share this podcast with your friends and follow us on social media! Link up with Erin E. Stewart here: https://www.stewartfornb.com TW: @DCYRS Inst: @DCYRS & @DistrictDownload FB: @JoinDCYRs

It's the District Download's "Back to School Special!" Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) and Matteo A. Cina (Podcast Director) interview Brady Marzen, Chairman of the DC Federation of College Republicans. Brady shares his views on collegiate Conservatism as well as the controversy during this summer's College Republican National Convention. Please share this podcast with your friends and follow us on social media! Link up with the DCCR Federation here: @DCRepublicans (TW & FB) TW: @DCYRS Inst: @DCYRS & @DistrictDownload FB: @JoinDCYRs

Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) and Matteo A. Cina (Podcast Director) interview Ben Baldwin, a former Captain in the Marine Corps, who is currently running for Virginia's House of Delegates in the 31st District. Ben shares his views on serving one's community and how he wants to bring this spirit of service to the people of Virginia. Please share this podcast with your friends and follow us on social media! Link up with Ben's campaign here: https://www.benbaldwinva.com TW: @DCYRS Inst: @DCYRS & @DistrictDownload FB: @JoinDCYRs

On Global Teachers' Day, Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) and Matteo A. Cina (Podcast Director) interview Ed Monroe, a lifelong educator, who is currently running for Virginia's House of Delegates in the 48th District. Ed shares his views on education in the United States, where Republicans beat out Democrats on the issue, and why we should look on the bright side! Please share this podcast with your friends and follow us on social media! Link up with Ed Monroe's campaign here: https://www.monroefor48th.org TW: @DCYRS Inst: @DCYRS & @DistrictDownload FB: @JoinDCYRs

In the Season 3 premier, Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) and Michelle Grose (Vice Chair of Communications) interview Kelly Schulz, Maryland's Secretary of Commerce, who is currently running for the Governor of Maryland. Kelly shares some issues she hopes to run on and how she intends to conduct her race. They also welcome the District Download's new Podcast Director Matteo A. Cina and discuss what he hopes lies in the podcast's immediate future! Please share this podcast with your friends and follow us on social media! TW: @DCYRS Inst: @DCYRS & @DistrictDownload FB: @JoinDCYRs

In this news-worthy episode, Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) interviews Ryan Fazio, a Young Republican from Connecticut, who announced earlier this week his intentions to run in a special election for Connecticut's 36th Senate District (Stamford, Darien, Greenwich). Ryan was the Republican nominee last cycle is a current member of the Greenwich Representative Town Meeting. Ryan shares some of the key issues he ran on last cycle, what issues will matter in this special election, and what he plans to do differently this time around. He highlights some of the policy Op-Eds he's written and reveals his favorite DC memory. (Recorded on June 29, 2021).

In this week's episode, we return to the DMV region to spotlight a fellow Young Republican who has been at the forefront covering several major stories critical of the Biden Administration. Matthew Foldi - Journalist at the Washington Free Beacon and Vice-Chair of the Montgomery County Young Republicans - joins Bill to share how he went from wanting to become a paleontologist to getting involved in the world of politics. Matthew also shares his criticisms regarding journalism programs, the journalism industry as a whole, and what conservatives can do to break into the field. In addition, Foldi shares the story of how he became Comfortably Smug's assistant and how he's helped foster a community of young conservatives here in the nation's capital. This is an episode you don't want to miss!

On this week's episode, Bill and Michelle interview Lane Koch, National Committeewoman for the Missouri Young Republicans and CEO & Founder of Grassroots Girl LLC. Lane shares with Bill and Michelle the story of how she first discovered her life-long love & calling for politics - specifically in the grassroots and elections sphere. Lane also highlights here female role models and how she started her own consulting business. She even shares a few tips for future politicos! @grassrootsgirlllc

Michelle Grose (Vice-Chair of Communications) is out this week, but Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) interviews Kipp Chapin, the chair of the Arlington Young Republicans. In this episode, Bill and Kipp cover everything from Virginia politics, local politics, how Kipp got his start in both politics and the young republicans, and what he's looking forward to most during his first term. Keep an ear out for a brief cameo from Kipp's cats! (Recorded on June 8, 2021).

For this week's episode, Michelle Grose (Vice-Chair of Communications) and Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) interview Hayden Padgett; chair of the Texas Young Republicans. Learn how Hayden first got involved in Republican politics, as well as what is happening on the ground in Texas - both in the state legislature and in some of the municipal and special elections that are happening this summer. Hayden also shares one of his favorite memories from his time working in Washington, DC and what YRs have to look forward to at this year's YRNF Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.

On this week's episode, Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) and Michelle Grose (Vice-Chair of Communications) interview Peter Giunta, who currently serves as the president of the Staten Island Young Republicans. Peter begins with describing how Staten Island is unique to the rest of New York City, both in terms of both cultural and politics. Peter reflects on his decade-plus of public service, what led him to get involved with the YRs and politics, and the current political climate in New York leading up to 2022. Peter also shares his intentions to run to become the next chairman of the New York State Young Republicans as apart of the "NYSYR Next" ticket.

Listen as Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) and Michelle Grose (Vice-Chair of Communications) interview incumbent Vice-Chair of Political Activities, Gilbert Fiedler. Gilbert has the distinction of being the only incumbent on the board who ran for a second term. Gilbert shares how he got involved with the DC Young Republicans, some of his favorite deployment memories, and how the DC Young Republicans were in the process of planning a demonstration to protest Mayor Bowser's dancing ban.

Listen as Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) interviews Allison Hagan, who is serving her first term as Vice-Chair of Events. Allison shares her story of what led her to move from Louisiana to DC, some of her early experiences as a congressional staffer, and how it's been living in DC during the pandemic. This is an episode you don't want to miss, as Allison offers an exclusive look at some upcoming events this spring and summer!

In this episode, Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) welcomes Maria Giannapoulous back to the podcast for her first interview as Chairwoman of the DC Young Republicans. Maria shares how she got her start in politics, as well as some of her favorite memories as a YR. Both Bill and Maria dive deep into what it means to be a YR in DC, how the DC YRs plan to bounce back after the pandemic, and both offer some of their takes ahead of President Joe Biden's Joint Session of Congress. (Recorded on April 23, 2021).

Listen as Bill Dumais (Executive Vice Chair) recaps last month's Elections Happy Hour meeting, as well as welcomes one of the newest member of the Executive Board, Michelle Grose (Vice Chair of Communications), who was just elected to serve her first term on the board. Michelle shares some of her previous experience with the Texas Young Republicans, explains what drew her to move to Washington, DC pre-COVID, lays out what she looks forward to most in her new role, and some of her top restaurant recommendations here in the Nation's Capital!

In this special Friday edition of the podcast, Bill Dumais (Vice-Chair of Communications) interviews Ken Langille, a former legislative attorney who worked in the Connecticut General Assembly and current Chairman of the Connecticut Young Republicans. Ken shares how he got his start in politics, discusses some of the issues facing voters ahead of the 2021 municipal election cycle, and explains what makes the Republican brand of politics in Connecticut so unique compared to the brand at the national level.

In this week's episode, Bill Dumais (Vice-Chair of Communications) interviews Sarah White, a first-time candidate running in Virginia's 53rd House of Delegates district. The district encompasses parts of Arlington County and the City of Falls Church. Listen as Sarah shares her experience as a small business owner & consultant, why she decided to run, and the issues she's most passionate about working on if elected to the Virginia state legislature. To learn more about Sarah, go to https://www.sarah4va.com/.

In this week's episode, Bill Dumais (Vice-Chair of Communications) interviews the President of the Catholic University of America College Republicans, Blayne Clegg, on the recent public backlash his club received from their decision to move forward with hosting pro-life advocate, Abby Johnson, as part of a campus event. Bill and Blayne discuss the current status of freedom speech on both CUA's campus and colleges nationwide. Listen also as Blayne shares his experience of being a CR during the COVID-19 Pandemic and how he first got interested in politics. (Recorded on February 10, 2021).

Listen as Bill Dumais (Vice-Chair of Communications) interviews Virginia YRs Jessi Rapelje and Stephanie Zemanek on their respective backgrounds and how they first got interested in politics. Jessi and Stephanie also share why they chose to run for Chair and First Vice Chair of the Young Republican Federation of Virginia, as part of the "YRFV Resurgence" slate. In addition to analyzing the state of affairs in Virginia politics, Jessie and Stephanie unveil what their favorite parts of living in Virginia are, as well as food!

A week after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building, Bill Dumais (Vice-Chair of Communications), Maria Giannopoulos (National Committeewoman), and Stephen Jackson (Former DCYR Chairman) share their recollection from January 6th and examine what exactly happened in our own backyard. Bill, Maria, and Stephen attempt to answer the questions of "what happened," "what matters," and "where do we go from here as both YRs and as a party?" This is a special one hour episode you don't want to miss.

Listen as Bill Dumais (Vice Chair of Communications) interviews Patrick Burland, Director of Public Relations for the George Washington University College Republicans, on what it's like to be a CR during the era of COVID-19. Bill and Patrick also cover some of the ways both CRs and YRs have been active this past election cycle and what is on the horizon for 2021 and 2022 (Recorded on January 5, 2021).

Bill Dumais (Vice Chair of Communications) sits down with Hannah King (Vice Chair of Events) and Mike Ambrose (Arlington/Falls Church Young Republicans) to talk about the impact local restrictions have had on small businesses from their respective vantage points, share the names of businesses they supported over the year, and inform listeners on the ways the can best support DC and Virginia-area businesses during the colder months. (Recorded on December 22, 2020). For more information about the Virginia 30 Day Fund, go to va30dayfund.com to learn more.

DMV Area Young Republican Chairpersons Robert Sinners (District of Columbia), Thomas Turner (Virginia), and Maria Sofia (Maryland) sit down and talk about the upcoming Georgia Runoffs, reflect on their 2020 "highs & lows," and share what they're looking forward to most in the year ahead (Recording on December 13, 2020).

Bill Dumais (Vice Chair of Communications) sits down with Maria Mandela Vismale; a fellow Young Republican running for city council in Baltimore City. Maria highlights her deep-rooted connections with the district & city, provides an update with where things stand in her race, and shares her experience with bringing the community together after a recent gas explosion in a residential part of her district. (Recorded on October 25th, 2020).

Bill Dumais (Vice-Chair of Communications), Robert Sinners (Chairman), Gilbert Fiedler (Vice-Chair of Political Activities), and Rob Towner (Senior Advisor) recap Thursday's Presidential Debate, provide an update on the Supreme Court Nomination, and discuss the importance of Constitutionalism. Listen along as they also share advice for those looking to get involved during the last 10 days of this election season. (Recorded on October 23rd, 2020)

Bill Dumais (Vice Chair of Communications) sits down with Marya Pickering, the Republican nominee for the At-Large seat on the DC Council. In this interview, Marya shares how she got her start in local politics and highlights the major issues she's been focused on during her campaign. She describes what sets her apart from her 23 competitors also vying for the seat, and how local YRs can help her become the first Republican member of the DC Council in nearly two decades (Recorded on October 15, 2020).

Bill Dumais (Vice-Chair of Communications), Gilbert Fiedler (Vice Chair of Political Activities), and Jonathon Hauenschild (YRNF Parliamentarian & PA YR National Committeeman) sit down over whiskey and cigars and talk about the week that was. Listen to Bill, Gilbert, and Jonathon as they recap the Supreme Court nomination hearings, discuss the implications of Big Tech's overreach, and analyze the dueling network television presidential town halls (Recorded on October 16th).

Bill Dumais (Vice-Chair of Communications), John McHale (Vice-Chair of Finance), and Travis Korson (National Committeeman) share their initial thoughts and reactions from last Tuesday's presidential debate. Bill, John, and Travis also analyze both candidate's performances to determine who came out on top, as they enter the final stretch of this election season (Recorded on October 4, 2020).

Welcome to the District Download! This episode covers what prompted the creation of this podcast, the topics we plan to cover in future episodes, and the special guests we'll be inviting onto the Pod to speak with us! (First Recorded on October 1st, 2020)