Podcasts about third district

Laurie Earl, Administrative Presiding Justice of the California Court of Appeal, Third District, joins the podcast to share her career journey from the public defender and district attorney's offices to Presiding Judge of the Sacramento Superior Court and now Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal. She describes how mentors nudged her along the way and provides insights into judicial decision making and effective advocacy in the trial and appellate courts.

ICYMI: Hour ONE of ‘Later, with Mo'Kelly' Presents – Ongoing Coverage of the SoCal wildfires with a look at some of the lawsuits that have been filed against Southern California Edison over the Eaton fire … PLUS – Los Angeles County, Third District, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath joins the program with an in-depth look at the SoCal Wildfires - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app

ICYMI: ‘Later, with Mo'Kelly' Presents – Ongoing Coverage of the SoCal wildfires with Los Angeles County, Third District, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app

Congressman Derrick Van Orden serves Wisconsin’s Third District. He’s also on the House Agriculture Committee. His to-do list in 2025 – reducing input costs, making the agricultural labor process more effective for farmers, and passing the Farm Bill that the House drafted during the last administration. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As of 4:30 Wednesday morning, the Associated Press projects Donald Trump to be the next President of the United States.Republican Senator Roger Wicker has won a fourth term in office. All four of the state's congressmen have maintained their positions in office. In the First District, Republican Trent Kelly. Second District, Democrat Bennie Thompson.Third District, Republican Michael Guest was unopposed.And Fourth District, Republican Mike Ezell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The investigation continues into attacks on two ballot drop boxes in Washington and Oregon.  Hundreds of ballots were damaged or destroyed early Monday morning at a drop box at a transit center in Vancouver, Washington, the other attack was on a box outside Multnomah County election officers in Portland. Washington's Secretary of State, Steve Hobbs called the incidents “acts of terror that aim to disrupt lawful and fair elections...” The Vancouver ballot box that was sabotaged is in the highly competitive Third District, where Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is facing off against Republican Joe Kent in one of the closest watched House races in the country. Soundside got the latest information from Oregon Public Broadcasting's politics and government reporter, Dirk VanderHart, then talked election security with State Elections Director Stuart Holmes.   Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.   GUESTS:  Dirk VanderHart - OPB Politics & Government Reporter Stuart Holmes - State Elections Director RELATED LINKS: UPDATED: Clark County Auditor statement regarding ballots destroyed in ballot box - Clark County Statement Regarding Ballot Box Incident in Vancouver, WA - Sec of State  Inslee statement on ballot dropbox attack in Clark County - Gov Inslee 2 ballot boxes set on fire in Portland and Vancouver - OPB WA, OR ballot box fires: Here's what we know | The Seattle Times  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode, we're thinking about the return to school and Congress with Michigan Rep. Hilary Scholten. As we return to both, many things are top of mind: issues like gun safety, policies that benefit mothers and families, and much more are all things that matter at home, in schools, and in Congress. These are also major issues this election season. How can we ensure that our children and families aren't just safe—but can thrive?Helping us to sort out these questions and set the record straight is our very special guest,Rep. Hilary Scholten: Congresswoman Hillary J. Scholten serves Michigan's Third Congressional District. She began her career as a social worker, working with people affected by issues of housing and homelessness, and she is the first woman and mother ever to represent Michigan's Third District in Congress.Check out this episode's landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.Support the show

Bill McIntyre talks with Democratic Congressman Tom Suozzi, who represents New York's Third District. Mr. Suozzi won the special election back in February, but as he was filling the vacant seat at the time, he's already up for re-election this November!  Together they talk about immigration, the SALT cap, and bipartisanship (or lack thereof) in Congress.

September 12th, 2024

In the 164th episode of the Brian Hornback Experience I talk with Republican Angie Goethert, the Republican nominee for Knox County School Board, Third District. Early Voting July 12-27, Election Day Thursday August 1, 2024. All the Brian Hornback links, here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brian-hornback/support

  Following the recent and chaotic state GOP convention, some are wondering if there is a better way of doing things. The Senate seat Mitt Romney is vacating has four candidates, and the Third District congressional seat John Curtis is vacating has five. The race for state attorney general has three GOP candidates. With a surge of crowded races, Jay Stevensen, Opinion Editor of the Deseret News, joins D2 to talk through his recent opinion piece exploring the idea of installing a runoff system.  

2024 Primary Election Candidate Interview with State Senator Sarah Elfreth from District 30 now running for Congress in Maryland's Third District, which is centered on Howard and Anne Arundel counties. The MD3 race is a crowded field. You can find interviews with other candidates in the I Hate Politics library on all major streaming platforms. Music for the episode are two piano compositions from Kensington resident Adam Bobrow.

2024 Primary Election Candidate Interview with State Delegate Terri Hill from District 12A now running for Congress in Maryland's Third District, which is centered on Howard and Anne Arundel counties. The MD3 race is a crowded field. You can find interviews with other candidates in the I Hate Politics library on all major streaming platforms. Music for the episode are two piano compositions from Kensington resident Adam Bobrow.

Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County President Suzanne Cohen talks with Journalist Josh Molina about the role of the organization in the March 5 election, its growing influence in local politics, and how it is different from the Santa Barbara County Democratic Central Committee. Cohen explains the organization's non-endorsement in the First District Santa Barbara County Supervisor's contest, the role it played in helping Joan Hartmann get re-elected in the Third District, and its involvement in the Fourth District contest. Cohen also response to Daraka Larimore-Hall and his recent criticism of the organization for not endorsing the incumbent Democrat in the Santa Barbara County Supervisor's contest. She also breaks down how Dem Women is influential in national politics and is focused on supporting a woman's right to choose. Cohen also shares about her backstory and how she became an activist and women's leader.

2024 Primary Election Candidate Interview with State Senator Clarence Lam from District 12 now running for Congress in Maryland's Third District, which is centered on Howard and Anne Arundel counties. The MD3 race is a crowded field. You can find interviews with other candidates in the I Hate Politics library on all major streaming platforms. Music for the episode are two piano compositions from Kensington resident Adam Bobrow.

In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Shawn Newell about how to develop a greater understanding of one another. Shawn is the retired Vice President of Business Development at Industrial Supply Company where he worked for 37 years. He serves as a community integrator working as the vice president of the Salt Lake Branch of the NAACP, a former Commissioner on the Governor's Martin Luther King, Jr. Human Rights Commission and co-chair of the Utah Black Round Table, the former co-chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee for the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Newell formerly served on the Boards of the Utah Non-Profit Association, the Utah Manufacturer's Association Board, as Chair of the Workforce and Economic Development Advisory Board at Salt Lake Community College where he served as the Alumni Council President and currently a Trustee Emeritus for the College. He is a former member of the Utah State Board of Education. He formerly served on the Board of Utah System of Higher Education. He now serves as a champion for the United Way promise Program network and Promise Partnership Board. Shawn serves on the Utah 3rd district Court Committee for Self-Represented Parties, as a President's Ambassador for the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, Utah State Department of Workforce Services Board, Utah State Bar Commission Board, South Valley Chamber Board, Trustee at Westminster University, a member of the Third District court Office of accountability committee, the advisory committee for Unite, The University of Utah Hospital and Clinics Board, as co-chair of the Utah Multicultural Commission. Mr. Newell is currently a councilman for the city of Cottonwood Heights. Shawn is a graduate of the University of Utah, Salt Lake Community College and has a Masters of Management degree from the University of Phoenix. He holds an Executive leadership certification from the University Of Utah School Of Business and a Diversity and Inclusion certificate from Cornell University and a Leading with Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Certificate from the University of Utah. He has two certificates from the University of South Florida in Inclusion, Workforce and Personal Wellness Foundations and Ethical Leadership and Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace. He is the recipient of a Honorary Doctorate. In Shawn's spare time he officiates youth sports and BBQs great grub. Mr. Newell is married, the father of three and has seven grandchildren. Check out all of the podcasts in the HCI Podcast Network! Check out the ⁠HCI Academy⁠: Courses, Micro-Credentials, and Certificates to Upskill and Reskill for the Future of Work! Check out the LinkedIn ⁠Alchemizing Human Capital⁠ Newsletter. Check out Dr. Westover's book, ⁠The Future Leader⁠. Check out Dr. Westover's book, ⁠'Bluer than Indigo' Leadership⁠. Check out Dr. Westover's book, ⁠The Alchemy of Truly Remarkable Leadership⁠. Check out the latest issue of the ⁠Human Capital Leadership magazine⁠. Each HCI Podcast episode (Program, ID No. 655967) has been approved for 0.50 HR (General) recertification credit hours toward aPHR™, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®). Each HCI Podcast episode (Program ID: 24-DP529) has been approved for 0.50 HR (General) SHRM Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCPHR recertification through SHRM, as part of the knowledge and competency programs related to the SHRM Body of Applied Skills and Knowledge™ (the SHRM BASK™). Human Capital Innovations has been pre-approved by the ATD Certification Institute to offer educational programs that can be used towards initial eligibility and recertification of the Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD) and Associate Professional in Talent Development (APTD) credentials. Each HCI Podcast episode qualifies for a maximum of 0.50 points.

Cheryl Trosky, Colleen Estrada and Mary Hudson (mother of pop superstar Katy Perry) join Josh Molina in the latest episode of Santa Barbara Talks to talk about their candidacies for the Santa Barbara County Republican Party. The three are part of a slate looking to bring more leadership and transparency to the Republican Central Committee. They have started a website called www.unite2winsb.com. Trosky is running for re-election in District 1. Estrada is running for re-election in District 3. Hudson is looking to join the committee in District 1. In this podcast, the candidates talk about their plans to find new Republican candidates for seats, build the organization and develop strategies to become more politically relevant. They also discuss the candidacy of Frank Troise in the Third District, and their concerns with the process for how he was selected. They outline their vision for the committee, their plan for bringing Republicans from out "behind the bushes," and the ways they intend to make the party more visible to build power in Santa Barbara County. @santabarbaratalkswithjoshm7112 is a podcast by journalist Josh Molina. Please subscribe to this podcast and visit www.santabarbaratalks.com to make a contribution. Molina uses his 20 years of experience as a journalist to create dynamic conversations on the issues of housing, politics, education, business, transportation and culture. Check it out and subscribe!

Watch Joe and Kailey LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.Bloomberg Washington Correspondents Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz deliver insight and analysis on the latest headlines from the White House and Capitol Hill, including conversations with influential lawmakers and key figures in politics and policy. On this edition, Joe and Kailey speak with: Bloomberg Politics Contributors Rick Davis and Jeanne Sheehan Zaino as the Senate passes a foreign aid package and sends it to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson will again look to attach border provisions. Bloomberg Opinion Columnist Nia-Malika Henderson about potential challenges to President Joe Biden's reelection campaign. Bloomberg Economics Chief US Economist Anna Wong about the latest CPI report. Sabato's Crystal Ball Managing Editor Kyle Kondik about Tuesday's special election in New York's Third District. European Commission for European Green Deal Executive Vice President Maroš Šefčovič about European relations with the US on energy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 157th episode of the Brian Hornback Experience I talk with Republican Angie Goethert, candidate for Knox County School Board Third District. The campaign website is here, the Facebook page is here, the Instagram page is here. all the Brian Hornback links are here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brian-hornback/support

ournalist and college instructor Josh Molina explains why money matters in elections and how the Third District Supervisors contest has perplexed political watchers. Investment Banker Frank Troise has raised little money in his bid to unseat Joan Hartmann. Is it a brilliant political ploy, or a humongous blunder? Molina relies on his 23 years of journalistic experience to explain why raising the most money in elections typically wins you an election. "Don't play the game if you aren't playing to win," Molina says. Please visit www.santabarbaratalks.com to make a contribution. Please subscribe to this podcast. Josh Molina grew up in Goleta, California and is a first-generation college graduate. He is now a journalist, podcaster and teacher. Most importantly he is a dad. Check it out!

Vince speaks with Joe Kent, Candidate for Congress in Washington's Third District to discuss the situation in the Middle East and how Joe Biden should respond to our three American troops killed in Jordan .     For more coverage on the issues that matter to you visit www.WMAL.com, download the WMAL app or tune in live on WMAL-FM 105.9 from 3-6pm.   To join the conversation, check us out on social media: @WMAL @VinceCoglianese.      Executive Producer: Corey Inganamort @TheBirdWordsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1/31/24  Hour 3    Vince speaks with Joe Kent, Candidate for Congress in Washington's Third District to discuss the situation in the Middle East and how Joe Biden should respond to our three American troops killed in Jordan . A Georgia State Senator exposes the influx of illegal aliens coming through the ATL airport. DC law officials held a panel discussion on the ongoing carjacking crisis in the city. Joe Biden is finally set to visit East Palestine.       For more coverage on the issues that matter to you visit www.WMAL.com, download the WMAL app or tune in live on WMAL-FM 105.9 from 3-6pm.   To join the conversation, check us out on social media: @WMAL @VinceCoglianese.      Executive Producer: Corey Inganamort @TheBirdWordsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prasanth Reddy took a trip to the southern border and joined Pete Mundo to discuss what he saw. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We had the pleasure of hosting Candidate Grant Bucher a congressional candidate from Indiana's Third District. Grant shared his journey, from his early life to becoming a successful engineer and construction company lead for a 26 million dollar project Grant's passion for community and dedication to representing the interests of others truly shone through, symbolizing commitment to building a better future for Indiana. But what truly sets Grant apart is his unwavering belief in serving the people. He wants to make a difference, not just in his district, but across the entire country. Grant's genuine desire to put others' interests above his own is what makes him the representative we need. So, join us in supporting Grant Bucher as he sparks the change we've been waiting for. Together, let's restore the goodness of the United States. Be sure to visit Grant's website and stay connected for updates on his journey. 

*Content Warning: childhood abuse, emotional abuse, racism, murder, police brutality, interpersonal violence, gun violence, death.*Sources: Supreme Court to consider whether domestic abusers can own guns, 2023. By Meghanlata Gupta: www.npr.org/2023/06/30/1185371815/supreme-court-domestic-abuse-guns Mr. Patrick Brown; The National Registry of Exonerees, 2023: www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=6591 PEOPLE v. HENNING (2009), Court of Appeal, Third District, California: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ca-court-of-appeal/1499956.html Cameron Park coffee roaster R.C. Henning celebrates 50 Years in Business: https://www.sacbee.com/food-drink/restaurants/article272907740.html Believed, 2021, Michigan Radio, NPR: www.npr.org/podcasts/510326/believed Murder on Middle Beach, 2020, HBO: www.hbo.com/murder-on-middle-beach Free and confidential resources + Safety Tips: somethingwaswrong.com/resources Artwork by the amazing Sara Stewart:@GreaterThanOkay - Instagram.com/greaterthanokaySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

*Content Warning: murder, police brutality, interpersonal violence, alcohol and substance use disorder, fraud, securities fraud, financial elderly abuse, childhood abuse, gun violence, death.*Sources: PEOPLE v. HENNING (2009), Court of Appeal, Third District, California: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ca-court-of-appeal/1499956.html Case Law Access Project Harvard Law School: https://cite.case.law/cal-app-4th/173/632/#b542-6 by CANTIL-SAKAUYE, J. Spilling the Beans: Local Coffee Roasters Indulge the Community One Micro Batch at a Time Mountain Democrat: https://www.mtdemocrat.com/prospecting/spilling-the-beans-local-coffee-roasters-indulge-the-community-one-micro-batch-at-a-time/Cameron Park coffee roaster R.C. Henning celebrates 50 Years in Business: https://www.sacbee.com/food-drink/restaurants/article272907740.html Free and confidential resources + Safety Tips: somethingwaswrong.com/resources Artwork by the amazing Sara Stewart:@GreaterThanOkay - Instagram.com/greaterthanokaySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Candace Bazemore and Gabby Leon Spatt, authors of the award-winning children's book Shabbat and Sunday Dinner, are traveling to Washington, D.C. this week to help AJC, the National Urban League, and ADL relaunch the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations. Together with Dov Wilker, AJC's Director of Black-Jewish Relations, they discuss what can be accomplished through building stronger bridges between the Black and Jewish communities and how our diversity is a source of connection, not division. More on the authors: Bazemore and Leon Spatt are members of AJC Atlanta's Black/Jewish Coalition. They are also participants of AJC's Project Understanding, which is a signature achievement of the coalition. *The views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views or position of AJC.  Episode Lineup:  (0:40) Candace Bazemore and Gabby Leon Spatt Show Notes: Listen: Meet 3 Women Who are Driving Change in the Middle East Watch: Learn more about the Congressional Black-Jewish Caucus relaunch Learn: Launch of Congressional Black-Jewish Caucus (2019) Project Understanding Shabbat and Sunday Dinner by Candace Bazemore and Gabby Leon Spatt Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've enjoyed this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, tag us on social media with #PeopleofthePod, and hop onto Apple Podcasts to rate us and write a review, to help more listeners find us. __ Transcript of Interview with Candace Bazemore and Gabby Leon Spatt: Manya Brachear Pashman: This week, American Jewish Committee is helping to relaunch the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida will join some new House leaders including Congressman Wesley Hunt of Texas and Congresswoman Nikema Williams of Georgia. The caucus aims to raise awareness of sensitivities in both the Black and Jewish communities, combat stereotypes, and showcase commonalities. And with us this week to talk about their efforts to do the same are Candace Bazemore and Gabby Leon Spatt, co-authors of the children's book Shabbat and Sunday Dinner, which was honored with the Award of Excellence from the Religion Communicators Council. Both are members of the Black/Jewish Coalition and participants in AJC's Project Understanding, a biannual weekend of dialogue to develop understanding and friendships between leaders of the Black and Jewish communities. Our guest host this week is Dov Wilker, AJC's Director of Black Jewish Relations. Dov, the mic is yours. Dov Wilker: Thank you, Manya. Candace and Gabby, welcome to People of the Pod. Candace Bazemore: Thank you. We're excited to be here. Gabby Leon Spatt: It's a great opportunity. We're really excited to chat with you.  Dov Wilker:   Well, wonderful, we're just gonna jump right on in. And so I'm curious, Gabby, Candace, how did y'all meet? And how did you go from being friends to co-authors? Gabby Leon Spatt: Candace and I are both transplants to Atlanta, growing up in Florida, Virginia, both moving here for college or after college. And our original meeting actually was through the Junior League of Atlanta. We served on a committee together and launched a leadership program that was trading opportunities for Junior League members. But when we really met and realized how much we really adore each other, love each other, learn from each other, was from our shared experience of both attending Project Understanding, which is a program of Atlanta's AJC office, the Black-Jewish Coalition. And once we realized we both had that experience, our conversations changed, our friendship deepened, we really had the opportunity to share to learn to have meaningful conversations. And one day, we were planning an alumni event for Project Understanding participants, and we kind of talked about writing a book. And I'll let Candace share a little bit more about that. Candace Bazemore: Yeah, well, first of all, knowing how we met is like a very cool thing, because it just showcases some of the great ways that Atlanta already has great systems and organizations in place to help people look for ways to build across different community lines. I probably would have never met Gabby otherwise, which means that the book that we wrote together would have never happened. And the way the book came about was actually really cool. During the pandemic, we got tapped to help be on a planning committee for the Project Understanding's alumni New Year's Day brunch, which was going to be virtual, since no one could go anywhere, because of COVID. In the middle of one of the planning sessions, actually, at the start of one of the planning sessions, we were waiting for the two guys to join, of course, all the ladies got on first. And... Dov Wilker:   I take offense to that.  Candace Bazemore: It's fine. It's okay. It's true, though. And so we were discussing what we were planning on having for the brunch, because we were encouraging everyone to find a traditional meal to have for the brunch so people could be eating and talking, even though we couldn't be in the same place. And Gabby shared, she was going to have bagels and lox and I said chicken and waffles. But I didn't know like, what's bagels and lox? And we're like, Wouldn't it be a great idea to share recipes as a way to unite people? And then that led to us to kind of discussing like, you know, well, there's tons of recipe books out there. But what if we tried to get people earlier to start thinking about it. And so that's how we got to the idea of a children's book.  Dov Wilker:   Wait, I have to ask, have either of you written a children's book before? Gabby Leon Spatt: Definitely not, no. Candace Bazemore: No, this is our first children's book. I've written a ton of blogs. Dov Wilker:   Have you ever written a book before? Candace Bazemore: No, not since being like a little, no. Everybody does, like young authors or something like that in school, but not a book book. This is our first. Gabby Leon Spatt: We like stretch projects. We like to try new things in between taking care of our friends, our families, our full time jobs, you know. Dov Wilker:   You've got boundless energy, the two of you.  Gabby Leon Spatt: Yes we do. Dov Wilker:   What do you hope that readers are gonna gain from the book? I mean, in the year or so since it's been released, what's been the response? Gabby Leon Spatt: The experience, the stories we hear, I mean, I'll be sitting in a meeting, and somebody says, I read that book to my granddaughter, and it's the only one she wants to read now, and she just took so much away from it. But for us, I think the big picture is when you open your stomach at a dinner table, there's a way to start to open your heart and your mind. And Candace and I have shared so many life events together, holiday dinners, Shabbat dinners, Sunday dinners, just real times, where we've had that opportunity to kind of dive in and when you taste something new or something different, and you're at someone's home or their family member cooks it–there's always a story that goes behind it.  And that's really the inspiration of this book is that the dinner table is a special place that brings people, ideas, and cultures together. And we thought, how do we tell this story, and the story was about telling our own family traditions, and what we typically do when we celebrate a Friday night Shabbat dinner, or a Sunday dinner.  And so the characters, you know, are loosely mirrored after us and our families, and what the dinner means to us. And so the story follows two friends through their class presentations, as they learn more about each other's family traditions. And the hope is that the book introduces readers to other cultures and communities, and that we pique some interest in learning about other traditions. And the book is a great, you know, conversation starter, not just for children, but even for adults who maybe haven't had some of those unique experiences. For us, it was really important to be able to tell them more than just the story within the book. But we tell a little bit of the history of Black-Jewish relations. And we also have a page that is continuing the conversation. Dov Wilker:   I'm curious, Candace, has that been your experience as well, I mean, you sit in a meeting, and someone tells you about the book that they've read that their grandchild only wants to only wants to read that, or you got another story?  Candace Bazemore: Yeah, actually, I have a couple of stories like that, I actually had an opportunity to speak at a children's center here in Virginia. And the kids were so excited, they were sharing their family dinner traditions, and things like that. So that was very cool that came from the book reading. And we've had, I was actually in a meeting last night and a program associated with AJC, and we were all talking about some plans for a program for young people. And one of the organizers mentioned about our book, and two of the people in the meeting had the book that they read to their young kids. And that's their favorite book. So it was like, very cool. I was like, Oh, my god, yeah, that's great.  But one of the coolest things, I'm in a friend's group with Gabby and some other black and Jewish women. And one of the members, when we first launched the book, she ordered it on Amazon, and it got delivered to her neighbor's house by accident. And she had never met the neighbor, the neighbor just opened, because of course, it was during the pandemic,  the height of everybody getting Amazon orders. And so she just was like, Oh, this must be my order. She opens it up. It's a book, she doesn't know what it is. But it's, you know, the cover was inviting, she opened it up, she read the whole book, and then she put it back in the envelope with a personal note to our friend, and said, hey, you know, I got this book by mistake, I was really excited and really love this story. The images inside, the message, and I read some of the questions at the end. I'd love to get together with you over dinner, to talk more about it, because I'd love to learn more about your community. So that's how she became friends with her neighbor through the book. So it's very cool.  Dov Wilker:   That's really an incredible story for so many reasons. So this Thursday, July 13, AJC's marking the relaunch of the Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations, where the two of you will be sharing your story. What do you hope our nation's leaders will gain from hearing about your experience? Gabby Leon Spatt: So we're really excited to be at the relaunch of the Congressional Caucus. I think, for us, the hope is for people to know that this work is happening, these communities are engaging already, revisiting the past, this is not a new relationship. This is one that is rooted in many, many, many years of friendship, of teaching, of learning. And it's still happening. It's just maybe happening, you know, in a new way. I hope that we're able to inspire those that are in the room, including the congressmen and the congresswomen to really make this part of the agenda, to really celebrate the relationship and show the impact we can make and that we are making. Dov Wilker:   I love that. I couldn't agree more. So the goals of the caucus are to raise awareness, provide resources and unite black and Jewish, and black-Jewish communities to combat hate and stereotypes. How do you think the caucus can achieve that? Big picture here. Candace Bazemore: First of all, it's a great question. I'm gonna give you a little bit of background about myself. And the fact that I actually was in college, a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation congressional intern. So I spent a summer working on the hill, in Congressman Scott, Robert C. Scott's office, Bobby Scott, from the Third District of Virginia. And it was very cool to see some of the great things they were doing to help shape young minds and future leaders. And I think that the caucus and the role of congressional leaders and just leadership in general requires you to look at ways to unite and to get your constituents and your communities that you touch, to look for ways to work together.  I mean, the goal of a congressperson is to take their district and help make it better. I know in recent years, we've seen leadership go in the wrong direction. But these leaders have the opportunity to build bridges instead of tear them down. And so they can be the catalyst for change in their communities, they have the ability to direct resources and to direct attention, as well as to put their time on these topics. So they're already doing it by obviously relaunching the program and the caucus. And so the next step is then to empower their constituents to start these dialogues, start these conversations. And, and I think this gives them a reason, and also the organizations that they touch, a reason to start looking for ways to unite these communities. Dov Wilker:   Excellent. So, you know, I want to take it a little more local, before we go back to the macro national level. Can you tell us more about your experience with Project Understanding? So for those that don't know, our listeners, AJC's Atlanta office has been running this, Marvin C. Goldstein Project Understanding Black Jewish retreat, every other year, since 1990-ish. We bring together 18 black and Jewish and some black-Jewish leaders to be a part of the conversation. So 36, in total. For 24 hours of intense dialogue. So I'm wondering if you could tell us a little bit more about that experience for you. And if you've been involved since then, beyond writing this book together, and I think Candace, you even referenced a new initiative that you're a part of, so I was wondering, if you could share a little bit more about that, too. Gabby Leon Spatt: Yes. So, you know, I mentioned earlier, the retreat was just eye opening, really moving. You know, I grew up, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, we were told, you always love everybody. The idea in my family of not liking somebody just because of their skin color, or their culture or their religion. It just didn't exist. And I don't know that I noticed, you know, growing up, I was already kind of doing some of this work.  And I had a mentor of mine in college, who was my Greek advisor. And we talked a lot about black and Jewish relations at the time, he asked me to make him, challah French toast because he always associated challah with Jewish. And I said, Sure. And I went to church with him, actually, here in Atlanta, we were here for a conference. And, you know, it just kind of happened authentically. And coming to Atlanta and getting connected with AJC, and the Black-Jewish Coalition. And then Project Understanding. I think I realized how powerful the experiences I had in the past were, and this just felt like home for me. And it's also, Dov, it's incredible to see how you've invested more into the program and opened it up to a generation above, reaching 40 to 55 year olds, but also this year, launching a high school program. And so I think the impact of the retreat, that happens immediately, but also has a long lasting impact, we've really been able to make change within the Atlanta community. Dov Wilker:   Candace, how about for you? Candace Bazemore: Yeah. Well, you know, first of all, Gabby touched on all the things that are dear to my heart about, you know, what we've learned along the way in our journey together. I kind of like listening to her talk about some of the programs were a part of. I mean, to see people from Project Understanding, the Black Jewish Coalition at events for the United Way or for the Junior League. I recently hosted a fundraiser for the Amario's Art Academy, which was a sneaker ball to help this, this program that helps young kids connect with arts and art opportunities that they wouldn't normally have, because they don't have the access to afford expensive art programs. And to have Gabby and her husband show up and have such a great time, and other people from other programs that were associated. So it's great to see how much the community building how it blends across everything that helps the community grow and be more diverse. And she even mentioned the the team program, through Project Understanding, it's the Black Jewish Teen Initiative is what it's called. So applications are open for this great program where the teens get to participate, they're high school juniors and seniors from across Greater Atlanta, coming together to learn about, black Jewish relationships, to learn about, like the impact of racism, antisemitism, to learn about diversity within the black and Jewish communities. So I mean, I'm just super excited about some of the things that have come from these programs. And, and the fact that we're more forward thinking. So the idea of the book is a way to get in front of young minds, the idea of this program is to get in front of teen minds, the Project Understanding traditional program is for those emerging leaders. And now the new programs that are for people who maybe weren't around when these programs existed to instill, learn and build communities as they get older. We're looking at the whole life of people, how do you build relationships your whole life, so that those communities when you need them already there, you already know someone you can pick up the phone and say, Hey, how do I do this? What's the best way to do this? Or I made a mistake? How do I improve? How do I correct this? By having these relationships, there's more opportunity for grace. So, you know, gaps may happen, mistakes can happen. But if you have relationships, you have something that you can, dip into and say, Hey, how do we do things better? How do we do things differently?  Gabby Leon Spatt: I think it's also, you know, special to point out, we're one story, we're one outcome, right? There have been other individuals who have participated in Project understanding, who have started a barbecue team at the Atlanta Kosher BBQ Festival, which happens to be the largest kosher barbecue festival in the entire country. And that, you know, became a learning experience, just for themselves to be on the team, you had to go through Project Understanding, you know, and there's this cultural experience of explaining what kosher meat is. And you don't want to put extra salt in the rub, because it's already salted right. And when you like, the, you know, the barbecue, that has to be after Shabbat on sundown on Saturday, and the mashgiach has to light it. And then it's like, Who is that, right? And so the stuff that's happening in our community is so authentic, it just is happening, and it's so nice to see people just wanting to learn and continue the conversation past just the retreat. Dov Wilker:   I can also share that as an attendee of the BBQ Festival. It's not just that they're there together,they're grilling good meat. It's a very tasty experience to attend. Alright, so one final question. What are ways that we can highlight the positive worker interactions between our two communities? Candace Bazemore: Well, that's a great question. I always say the best way to highlight it is to ask people to share their individual stories. And me being a digital person, definitely utilize social media in order to get the word out about the ways that you know you're working together. If you're in a room with someone who doesn't look like you, and you're working on these tough problems and coming up with great solutions. share a post about that, encourage someone else to do that, too. If you have an event coming up, invite someone else out to come with it, that normally wouldn't be in the room. So I don't know how many times me and Gabby have been the only ones of us in a room before. A great example. I was in town during the great challah bake. And 300 Jewish women at the-was it at the Bernie Marcus center?  Gabby Leon Spatt: Yes, the Jewish Community Center.  Candace Bazemore: Jewish Community Center. Yeah. And so I was the only black woman or maybe one or two in the whole room?  Gabby Leon Spatt: It was just you. Candace Bazemore: It was just me, okay. And was having a good old time making some challah bread. Because challah's my thing. Obviously, Gabby has shown me how to make challah bread. So I'm actually pretty good at it. She's getting good at deep fried cornbread as a matter of fact as well.  Gabby Leon Spatt: Oh it's so good. I think it's opportunities like this, being able to be invited to share your story. And I think the caucus is really going to highlight a lot of what is happening across the country already, and give, you know, local advocates on the ground doing the work the opportunity to shine and to tell their story, because I think more than anything, storytelling is impactful, and it hits, at people's hearts and people's minds, and in our case, people's stomachs. Dov Wilker:   Well, thank you, Gabby, and Candice, Candice and Gabby, we are so grateful for the book that you've written for the delicious food, that you're helping to inspire being made across this beautiful country, and to your participation in the relaunch of the Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish relations.  Candace Bazemore: Thank you. Dov.  Gabby Leon Spatt: Thanks. Manya Brachear Pashman: If you missed last week's episode, tune in for an exclusive conversation between three women leading transformation in the Middle East and AJC Abu Dhabi Program Director Reva Gorelick onstage at AJC Global Forum 2023 in Tel Aviv.  

News. If you like it, help me name it. Article: Cambria County Woman Charged With Conspiracy To Commit Health Care Fraud. Author: U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Pennsylvania. (2023, May 11). The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Florentina Mayko, age 39, of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, was charged by criminal information with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud for defrauding Medicare and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services between 2017 and 2019. Article: Congressman George Santos Charged with Fraud, Money Laundering, Theft of Public Funds, and False Statements. Author: U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York. (2023, May 10). A 13-count indictment was unsealed today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging George Anthony Devolder Santos, better known as “George Santos,” a United States Congressman representing the Third District of New York, with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. Article: New York Man Admits Credit Card Fraud. Author: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey. (2023, May 10). During 2015, Lourenco opened 23 credit cards using the identities of three victims he had befriended, two of whom were senior citizens. Lourenco’s victims did not know he was using their identities to obtain the credit cards, nor did they authorize Lourenco to obtain the credit cards. Lourenco used the 23 credit cards to make more than $423,000 in unauthorized purchases. He also used the debit card for a joint bank account belonging to two of the victims to make an additional $57,000 in unauthorized charges. Lourenco admitted that he knew at least one of his victims was a vulnerable victim when he used the victim’s identity to commit his crime. Article: Okmulgee County Resident Sentenced For Brutal Murder. Author: U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Oklahoma. (2023, May 9). Lewis pleaded guilty to Murder in Indian Country—Second Degree on September 30, 2021. The investigation of the case revealed Lewis beat the victim to death with a television and a coat rack after an evening of drinking at the victim’s apartment. Police investigating an Emergency Medical Services call discovered the victim lying on the floor of his apartment and Lewis covered in the victim’s blood. Article: California Man Convicted of Health Care Kickback Conspiracy. Author: U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Texas. (2023, May 9). According to information presented in court, Donofrio conspired with others to pay and receive kickbacks in exchange for the referral of, and arranging for, health care business, specifically pharmacogenetic (PGx) tests. Pharmacogenetic testing, also known as pharmacogenomic testing, is a type of genetic testing that identifies genetic variations that affect how an individual patient metabolizes certain drugs. The illegal arrangement concerned the referral of PGx tests to clinical laboratories in Fountain Valley, California; Irvine, California; and San Diego, California. More than $28 million in illegal kickback payments were exchanged by those involved in the conspiracy. License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Hello Interactors,I've been absent the last few weeks. First our kids were back for spring break and then I was off to the American Association of Geographers (AAG) national conference in Denver, Colorado. Both were fun, exhilarating, and inspiring and I'm bursting with things to write about!We're officially in spring here in the northern hemisphere. I now turn to cartography and the role mapmaking plays in shaping how we interact with people and place. There will be themes of cartography in this initial spring post, but first I'm offering my impressions of the conference.As interactors, you're special individuals self-selected to be a part of an evolutionary journey. You're also members of an attentive community so I welcome your participation.Please leave your comments below or email me directly.Now let's go…BURRITO BOYS“It's got a nice kick to it”, he said, as I sat down to join him for breakfast. He introduced himself as Mark. He lifted his attendee badge that hung around his neck. It read, Mark Schwartz. We broke the awkwardness by talking men's basketball. The Kansas Jayhawks, my mom's beloved team, had recently been eliminated from the NCAA tournament. He informed me he got his PhD from Kansas in 1985 and is now teaching and researching at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in the geography department.Mark is a climatologist. More specifically, he's one of the foremost experts in phenoclimatology which looks at the effects of climate change on seasonal variability. We humans look to the calendar to tell us when spring arrives, but what if you're an ant or a plant? They already know, so phenologists look for the biological responses to seasonal changes. Phenology comes from two Greek words that roughly combine to mean ‘the study of bringing to light'.Mark co-founded the National Phenology Network (NPN). This is where the world turns to see when spring is officially arriving across the United States. Including journalists. Here's a story in the Washington Post on this spring's arrival and the NPN website. It features quotes from Mark.“‘What I like to tell folks is that you still need to be prepared for considerable variation from year to year. You won't simply be able to start planting your garden earlier each year…”Before long, another gray-haired man joined us. I observed older attendees at this conference naturally congregated. Gerontology...from geron and logia (the study of old men). Our new guest introduced himself as Ron. I could tell he was older than Mark and myself and I was right. When I was three years old, in 1968, Ron Abler was getting his PhD in Geography from the University of Minnesota. Soon after, in 1971, he was the lead author on an influential geography textbook on spatial organization. He went on to teach and conduct research at Pennsylvania State University and was the President of the AAG from 1985-86. There's an AAG award named after Ron, the Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors. Mark was a recipient in 2005.We were soon joined by another older gentleman, but closer to my age. He introduced himself as Joseph and I read his badge as Joseph Oppong. He was the recipient of the Abler award in 2021 and studies medical geography at North Texas State University. He received his masters in 1986 and PhD in 1992 from the University of Alberta in Canada and his bachelor's at the University of Ghana in 1982. Joseph was one of a few at the conference of African descent, but like the rest of America the geographic, cultural, and biological diversity of this academic community is increasing. This was apparent in my first session of the first day of the conference.JUST GEOGRAPHYThe morning before my breakfast with the burrito boys, I attended a panel consisting of four young academic women of Indigenous, Hispanic, Black, and mixed heritage. It included Fantasia Painter, an Assistant Professor of Global and International Studies at UC Irvine, Elyse Hatch-Rivera, a student seeking a law degree at Macalester in Minnesota, Gabriella Subia Smith, a PhD candidate in geography at the University of Colorado, and Dr. Danielle Purifoy, a geography professor at the University of North Carolina with a law degree from Harvard.Fantasia's paper: Our Lands, Your Lines: How Inter and Intra National Borders Try and Fail to Contain Indigenous Land. She argues “that inherent in the idea of “the desert” is the undoing of the settler colonial bordering project. This is not a desert. This is O'odham land.” Elyse's paper: The Right to Secure: The 100 Mile Border and the Making of a Carceral Geography. She “explores the emergence of the 100-mile border zone (HMBZ) in order to argue that the U.S. has expanded its borders inward and redefined notions of national security and our modern understanding of human rights.”Gabriella's paper: The Evolution of Colorado's Third District. She argues “Looking at the evolution of congressional districts can help us to better understand both the possibilities for equitable political representation and the limits of borders for fixing politics in place.”Danielle's paper: Setting [Futile] Boundaries: Black Municipalities in the White Settler State. She uses two case studies showing how decades work of “scholars of law, geography, and political science have taken up the social, political, and environmental impacts of this largely white municipal practice of geopolitical exclusion on Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities.”Here's a video of Fantasia introducing herself and her work at UC IrvineThe conference theme was Toward More Just Geographies and this session was a fitting kick-off. It was titled Futile Borders: Why Borders Fail and How Borders Function in the Incomplete Project of Settler Colonialism. These scholars, all of whom have a legal focus to their work, challenged the popular and simplified notion of borders as articulated in both popular culture and the legal text of the United States. They drew attention to the violence these words perpetuate through legal acts of interdiction, deterrence, and deportation.The panel description cites research pointing to “[s]ettler state violence and legal-spatial violence” that “permeate borders through border enforcement practices of surveillance and detention and also through attempts to map over Indigenous lands and nations by creating colonial certainty over jurisdiction and national membership.”While these laws exists to protect the rights of some “it is through law, legal decision-making, and formal processes, policies, and practices that legal-spatial border violence is enacted and sustained.” It is the law, as currently written, that “help to form, manage, and control borders and mobility [that] weaponize state violence and operate to assert settler legal authority.”During the discussion, one of the presenters positioned legal text as a form of fiction that feature fantasy borders on maps that ignore the non-fiction realities of plant and animal existence, persistence, and relationships – including with humans. These fictions provide the “legal reach of the state [to] extend externally and outwards in order to preserve imperial power while regulating and restricting immigration and mobility through racialized strategies.”This panel was a powerful introduction to the conference. It featured perspectives of bright, ambitious academic women of color who are bringing miles and piles of fresh knowledge to the academy and students. Many similar sessions were offered by women and BIPOC scholars who seek to challenge traditional institutional geographic histories, knowledge, and perspectives pervasive in the field of geography. I attended at least one a day for five days straight, but there were so many I couldn't attend them all.The field of geography, and cartography in particular, was invented in large part to discern and delineate the natural world for the purpose of dispossession and ownership of land and people for and by private and government actors. As one attendee told me, “Cartography barely has a just leg to stand on.” Consequently, these forums and platforms act as a mirror to the discipline of geography. They offer opportunities for scholars and practitioners to become more self-aware, reflective, and critical of geography's past and future. If sustained, this focus, attention, and prioritization of pluralized perspectives has the power to transform the discipline – to tilt the world toward more just geographies.It's a tilting earth that brings about seasonal change. Mark Shwartz and his team of geographers maintain a map that chronicles the bringing of light to the natural world. It offers no human bias, no imperial agenda, and reveals just how fictional borders really are. Phenoclimatology reveals human-induced climate change is causing spring's arrival to become increasingly meteorologically erratic and extreme.Many scholars at this conference pointed to how settler-state induced human and environmental violence have contributed to these climatic changes. They also showed how these forms of legal, economic, and spatial geographies are causing increasingly erratic and extreme societal injustices and imbalances. They're chronicling and remapping a discipline by bringing light to the world of geography. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit interplace.io

Lauren Boebert, Congresswoman from Colorado, joins Liberty & Justice Season 2, episode 8. Watch every episode of Liberty & Justice at http://www.whitaker.tv. Lauren became the first mom to represent Colorado's Third District in Congress after unseating a five-term incumbent Congressman and then, despite being outspent nearly 2-1, defeated her Democrat opponent on November 3rd, 2020. Lauren's historic victory showed that no amount of money can beat good, old-fashioned grassroots enthusiasm and hard work.Lauren was the founder and former operator of Shooters Grill, a restaurant that earned national notoriety for staff that proudly open carry as they serve their customers. She gained additional recognition in September 2019 by attending presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke's rally to tell him directly: “Hell, no, you won't take our guns.”When Colorado's liberal Democrat Governor tried to shut down small businesses across the state, it was Lauren who stood against tyranny and kept her business open. They operated safely and took every precaution to keep her staff and her patrons healthy. Because of this, Lauren's staff was able to continue making their hard-earned money and weren't sent to the unemployment line. Lauren will ALWAYS fight for small businesses.A Coloradoan living on the Western Slope, Lauren is active in her church and has spent years counseling at-risk women at the local jail, encouraging them to become self-sufficient and productive members of society who do not depend on government assistance.Lauren's husband, Jayson, has worked his entire adult life in oil and gas fields, primarily in Western Colorado. They are the proud parents of four boys.Matthew G. Whitaker was acting Attorney General of the United States (2018-2019).  Prior to becoming acting Attorney General, Mr. Whitaker served as Chief of Staff to the Attorney General. He was appointed as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa by President George W. Bush, serving from 2004-2009. Whitaker was the managing partner of Des Moines-based law firm, Whitaker Hagenow & Gustoff LLP from 2009 until rejoining DOJ in 2017. He was also the Executive Director for FACT, The Foundation for Accountability & Civic Trust, an ethics and accountability watchdog, between 2014 and 2017.   Mr. Whitaker is the Author of the book--Above the Law, The Inside Story of How the Justice Department Tried to Subvert President Trump.  Buy Matt's book here: https://amzn.to/3IXUOb8Mr. Whitaker graduated with a Master of Business Administration, Juris Doctor, and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Iowa.  While at Iowa, Mr. Whitaker was a three-year letterman on the football team where he received the prestigious Big Ten Medal of Honor.Mr. Whitaker is now a Co-Chair of the Center for Law and Justice at America First Policy Institute and a Senior Fellow at the American Conservative Union Foundation. Matt is on the Board of Directors for America First Legal Foundation and is a Senior Advisor to IronGate Capital Advisors. He is also Of Counsel with the Graves Garrett law firm.  Whitaker appears regularly to discuss legal and political issues on Fox News, Newsmax and other news outlets.  He splits his time between Iowa, Florida and Washington, D.C.

This Black History Month, Black.Queer.Rising. is back! We are profiling Black and Queer politicians/changemakers, artists, influencers, and more in this month-long series where we honor the impact of Black Queer legacies on today's society and culture while we forge Black Queer futures. For our first edition, we speak to Davante Lewis, Public Commissioner for Lousiana's Third District. Lewis is the first Black, openly LGBTQ+ person elected to Louisiana's state government. We spoke with him about holding political office, representation, and what Black.Queer.Rising means to him.

This Black History Month, Black.Queer.Rising. is back! We are profiling Black and Queer politicians/changemakers, artists, influencers, and more in this month-long series where we honor the impact of Black Queer legacies on today's society and culture while we forge Black Queer futures. For our first edition, we speak to Davante Lewis, Public Commissioner for Lousiana's Third District. Lewis is the first Black, openly LGBTQ+ person elected to Louisiana's state government. We spoke with him about holding political office, representation, and what Black.Queer.Rising means to him.

On Tuesday, a special election was held in the Tompkins County Legislature's Third District. The election was called after the resignation of two-term Democrat Henry Gransion last year. Granison resigned due to his battle with cancer, and passed away shortly after. Local Democrats chose former Director of the Tompkins County Public Library Susan Currie as their nominee. Currie ran unopposed taking over 98 percent of the vote according to unofficial results published by the county board of elections. With Currie's victory Democrats will return to the 11-3 majority they briefly lost after Granison resigned in October. WICB News Director George Christopher sat down with Currie to learn more about her and her goals in the county legislature.

Taylor fills in for Howie this week to discuss the strange news coming from New York's Third District. Apparently, representative-elect George Santos kept everyone in the dark for the entirety of his campaign. He embellished his resume and lied about his heritage. Now the question is, should Santos retire?

Grace discusses the bombshell information that New York's Third District representative-elect George Santos lied on the campaign trial about...well...everything. From his work experience to his ethnicity, a made-up man was elected—not Santos. Now that all the fibs have been revealed, progressives want Santos to resign. Tune in for Grace's opinion, plus more on Elon Musk's new Twitter frontier.

On today's very special Friday show, Crystal welcomes Phil Gardner to spill all the details behind the drama of Washington's Third Congressional District race from his vantage as the campaign manager for now-U.S. Representative-elect Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez. As we hear about the nailbiter of a race in Southwest Washington between a rural Democrat and a right-wing fascist, Phil outlines the strategy memo he wrote that propelled an untraditional and underestimated candidate to flip a seat that had been held by Republicans for 12 years. With little to no support for the campaign from the establishment, Phil tells how a scrappy campaign fought for every vote by leveraging volunteer enthusiasm and connecting with voters in every place across the district. He and Crystal then reflect on lessons learned, possible downballot impacts, the need for continued vigilance against anti-democratic forces, and the hope that is manifested by engaging and being active. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Follow us on Twitter at @HacksWonks. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii and find Phil Gardner at @gardnerphil.   Phil Gardner Phil Gardner is a Washington state political strategist and the campaign manager for U.S. Representative-elect Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez. He spent this fall working in Southwest Washington but normally lives in Tacoma. Phil's managed successful campaigns for federal, state, and local office, including those of Superintendent Chris Reykdal, State Auditor Pat McCarthy, Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards, and State Rep. Jessica Bateman's first campaign for Olympia City Council. Phil previously served as Chief of Staff for Lt. Governor Denny Heck. He also served as Heck's District Director and Communications Director when Heck represented the South Sound in Congress. Phil went to college in Washington, D.C. and worked on Capitol Hill where he developed a strong preference for living and working back home in the better Washington.   Resources “Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler concedes; Perez will face Kent for the 3rd District” by Lauren Ellenbecker from The Columbian   Phil Gardner August 9th Strategy Memo - Can Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez win? Yes.   “Kent, Perez brawl over two different Americas in WA congressional race” by Joseph O'Sullivan from Crosscut   Straight Talk bonus round: Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Joe Kent from KGW News   Election To Watch: Marie Gluesenkamp Perez on the Verge of Upsetting Pro-Trump Candidate Video edited by Meg Herschlein from More Perfect Union   “Why aren't national Dems bankrolling WA's 3rd Congressional race?” by Joseph O'Sullivan from Crosscut   “Congressional candidate Joe Kent wants to rewrite history of Jan. 6 attack” by Jim Brunner from The Seattle Times   “In Washington state, controversial ties and rhetoric are upending a House race” by Claudia Grisales from NPR-KQED   “How did Marie Gluesenkamp Perez pull off the upset of the year in Southwest WA?” by David Gutman from The Seattle Times   “The Future Is … Doorknocking?” by Alexander Sammon from Slate   “Marie Gluesenkamp Perez Is Going From An Auto Repair Shop To Congress” by Daniel Marans from The Huffington Post   “Party reps say Gluesenkamp Perez won House seat, not Democrats” by Brennen Kauffman from The Daily News   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. Well, this is an exciting show for me. I'm very excited to be welcoming Phil Gardner to the show. Now, Phil Gardner is known by a lot of people who are in political circles, Democratic circles - but for those who aren't, he is a political strategist and was the campaign manager for Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez, who is the newest Congressperson in Washington's Third Congressional District, which a Democrat hasn't won in how long? [00:01:13] Phil Gardner: 12 years. [00:01:14] Crystal Fincher: 12 years. And beat Joe Kent in one of the longest-shot victories that we saw this cycle, if not the longest-shot victory that we saw this cycle in the nation. So very excited to talk to Phil and talk about this race. Welcome to the show. [00:01:33] Phil Gardner: Thank you, Crystal. I'm really glad to be here - appreciate you noticing what we did. [00:01:38] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, absolutely - hard not to notice, but definitely noticed that you were making some moves even before the conclusion of the election. I guess just starting off - getting a little bit more familiar with you - what is your background and what was your path to get to Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez's campaign? [00:01:58] Phil Gardner: Yeah, so I grew up in Pierce County outside Puyallup, graduated high school in Tacoma. So I'm from, consider myself from the state - I was actually born in Texas, but I'm a Washingtonian - and have worked in and out of politics on the Democratic side, both here in the state and back in Washington, D.C. I worked for Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck as his Chief of Staff in Olympia and also back on Capitol Hill as his Communications Director. And then have done a bunch of different campaigns in either manager or general consultant roles, like Superintendent Reykdal's 2020 re-elect for our statewide School Superintendent, the mayor here in Tacoma - I was a part of her first election in 2017, Jessica Bateman - her first run for City Council. So I have had my hand in a bunch of different political and campaign things all over the state. And actually the first federal race I was ever involved with, I was an intern on Denny Heck's 2010 campaign in the Third Congressional District against Jaime Herrera Beutler, which was the last time the seat was open. So it's not quite a full circle moment because - obviously Jaime Herrera Beutler lost in the primary and this - sort of a very different tone than what that campaign was like, but it has been an interesting sort of 12-year journey for me to find myself back down there. [00:03:30] Crystal Fincher: Back down there and in a situation where - for quite some time, Jaime Herrera Beutler looked like a comfortable incumbent. But then this year happened - and after Trump happened and MAGA Republicans - seeing a different blend of Republicans in the district, certainly around the state, and a crowded Republican field. How did you get connected with Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez and how did just starting the campaign unfold? [00:04:04] Phil Gardner: Yeah, so this was an absolutely wild ride that I only got on maybe two-thirds of the way into it for a lot of people that were involved pre-primary - like Marie, most significantly. But I guess to think of the timeline here - for these federal races, they're really two-year affairs at this point just because of the amount of money involved and such. And Joe Kent declared his candidacy against Jaime Herrera Beutler shortly after the January 6th insurrection, so way back in early 2021. And then he got the endorsement of the former president and that sort of propelled him into the leading anti-Jaime Herrera Beutler Republican. And I was watching all of that as anybody checking the news was aware of it. I assumed in the end that Jaime would make it through to the general election one way or another because there were also many, many Democrats running. And I just figured that she's lost a lot of support from within her party, but surely there's enough of a base to get her through against widely divided opposition. But little did I know that Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez had much different plans for what was going to happen. She jumped in the race in February, which is quite late to jump into a Congressional race - February the year of. But as she said many times, she saw a bunch of Joe Kent signs going up around her county where Jaime Herrera Beutler signs used to be. And it reminded her in 2016 when she saw all these Trump signs appearing. And she felt that if this guy really beat Jaime, and there was a good shot at that, that the Democrats didn't have a good candidate who could beat Joe Kent. So she got in in February while she had a - I guess at that point - he was a six-month old at home, running a small business with her husband. But yeah, yeah. But she felt that this was - we needed somebody to go up against this guy if the worst were to happen. And a lot of people didn't really take her very seriously. I think that it's fair to say that - because people didn't think Jaime was likely to lose the primary, they didn't want to do anything to - they wanted her to be able to run the race that she wanted to run. And so I think there was a lot of Democratic establishment players in the state who were not as helpful down their pre-primary. Again, not saying that they were supporting Jaime necessarily, but they just didn't see it as a priority. And there were others who were helpful, but because of that, it was - I think for Marie, it was a kind of lonely primary in a lot of ways - because a lot of people just didn't understand and see the district as she did. And in the end, they were able to clear the field. There was some negotiations and talks between the Democrats down there and that sort of got itself sorted out. And she was the only major Democratic candidate on the ballot in the primary. And she advanced and got 31% of the vote. And then as we all saw, it turned out Jaime was in a lot more trouble than I think any of us really understood. And ended up coming in very narrowly behind Joe Kent, by about a thousand votes, but that's all it took. And again, I didn't see it coming. I was watching this as anybody was - but I did have a friend, Delana Jones, who is a mail consultant, and I worked with her on Victoria Woodards' campaign - and she did Marie's mail as well. And I remember - I think it was the Thursday after the primary, and I was actually sitting in my office at the State Capitol because I was Lieutenant Governor's Chief of Staff at the time - just sort of looking at the numbers. And Joe Kent was not ahead yet, but based on the trend from what was coming in, it was just obvious that he was going to pull ahead once they actually finished counting all these votes. And I texted Marie's consultant and I was like - This is going to happen. OMG, what the hell are we going to do? And we got to talking - and I had actually been planning to take the fall off and reset my career and sort of think about what I wanted to do because I've been doing nonstop Congressional service or campaigns since Trump took office, basically, and was pretty burnt out. But Marie, prior to the primary, had one paid staffer - and she did a great job in what she was able to do, but she had no campaign experience. She just graduated from college. And all of a sudden you're in this tightly, tightly nationally competitive race, if you could get the resources into there. So I said, Well, it's a less than 100-day thing. I know it'll end. And Marie's great - I'd never met Marie before, but I knew Joe Kent was a fascist and we could not let someone like that win a seat in Congress from our state. And we certainly could not do anything less than give everything we could to try and stop it. So I took a detour - I was actually in Taiwan for a lot of August because I had a prearranged trip to do that. So there was a lot of nights of working on candidate questionnaires while I was in Taiwan and then during the day - anyway, so I finally got back onto the ground in Southwest Washington - it was Labor Day weekend. And so for me that - yeah - that is in my mind when my direct involvement began, but that's how I ended up at that point. So it was not a plan, but when Joe Kent wins the primary, you got to scramble the jets. [00:10:09] Crystal Fincher: Got to engage. [00:10:11] Phil Gardner: Yeah. Yeah. [00:10:12] Crystal Fincher: Wow. So looking at just even Marie deciding to run, I completely get feeling the alarm of looking at Joe Kent, feeling that he could win, and the history of the district saying - and he could win it all. What made her think she could win? [00:10:37] Phil Gardner: Yeah. She gets her district, she gets her community. She lives 45 minutes from anywhere, God bless her. I've been out there to that house on that gravel road and it is rural - she gets her water from a well, her Internet from a radio tower. And out there in Skamania County in the Columbia River Gorge, communities are just different when you live that far away from large population centers. And your local government - the resources are just nowhere near what they are in other places. And I think she knew that a lot of communities in the district were a lot like that. And that's true about a third of the population that lives outside of Clark County, and even parts of Clark County are a lot like that. But I also think beyond that dynamic, I think she knew - in this community, but I think all over the country - that Democrats had not done a good job of recruiting candidates who really look like America or really look like their base. The sort of prototypical, let's-go-candidate-recruiting is - Can you find somebody who has won an office before? Can they self-fund? Can they raise a bunch of money from a pre-existing donor network? Do they not have family obligations that are going to get in the way? Can they take time off to work, or do they not even work anymore? And Marie doesn't check any of these boxes, which is why when parties go to recruit, they often - in fact, very, very, very rarely come up with moms who run small businesses, and live out in rural areas, and who have a father from Mexico. But just because of the circumstances of this, she didn't ask for an invite to be the candidate. She stepped up because she saw it needed to be done. And then she won the primary and came up against Joe Kent - and that usual sort of screener for who are we going to run in really competitive races that just didn't occur because it wasn't even on the radar of the folks in DC. But I think she could see that was so necessary in order to connect with people like her - who work in the trades, with Latino voters - who in some parts of the country, we've had a ton of difficulty in the Trump years, with a lot of sort of conspiracies and misinformation that goes around, but nevertheless has struggled in places like Florida and South Texas. But also in the wake of the Dobbs decision, having a woman who had recently had a miscarriage and who was having a family and planning to grow her family, be able to talk about the real consequences and impacts of Joe Kent's nationwide abortion ban with no exceptions. So I think she was - for Joe Kent - a particularly good foil, but she is also, I think, as anybody who has watched her, she is just a very gifted and talented public servant. I think it's wonderful that this is the way in which people have come to learn about her, but she has been down there in Skamania County really doing that work. She ran for County Commissioner in 2016. And Hillary Clinton, I think she outran Hillary Clinton by eight percentage points in a rural red county. So she knows what she's doing. I guess that is one message - I don't want to leave people with this notion that what happened here was a fluke or unexpected or not. It happened because she knew that this opportunity was there and then decided to take advantage of it. And slowly everybody came on board, or at least enough to get us over the finish line. [00:14:12] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, absolutely. And that was apparent for a while. This - one, it takes a great candidate to win, period. Even if you have a great team around you, if you don't have a candidate who does connect with people, who does understand the district, and who is really - feels a personal responsibility for making things better, it doesn't connect, certainly not at this level. So she was a great candidate - saw the opportunity, stepped up thankfully, and was ready to run. But it absolutely took a great strategy, which you put together. You shared publicly a strategy memo that you put together basically saying, Hey, can Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez win? Yes, she can. And this, in detail, is how. What did you identify? What was in that plan? [00:15:13] Phil Gardner: Yeah. So I wrote that back in August when it was - there were sort of two camps that happened right after the primary. There was a bunch of people who were like, Oh my gosh, this is obviously competitive. We have to jump at this. Let's do this. And then there are others who were like, We've got no shot. This just is not going to happen. And so I said, Okay, then I guess we need to explain to people who I don't think should have needed explanation, but did, that this is how we're going to win this race and just show beyond a doubt that we could. And so there are three components to it. The first is making sure that every Democrat knows who Joe Kent is and turns out in votes. And not just partisan Democrats, but progressives, working class folks, everybody who lives in Vancouver and Clark County - which is the most Democratic area - just very mobilize your base. This is stuff that Democrats, when they're on their game, know how to do - and devoting the resources and the attention to making sure that was going to happen. The second was in the rural areas - the six counties outside of Clark County - which run from where Marie lives in the Columbia River Gorge, all the way out to the Pacific coast, and then all the way up into Thurston County, nearly to the State Capitol. There are some cities in there that we knew we could maybe win, but - and then Pacific County, we thought we could win and we did win. But broadly speaking, we knew in those rural areas - we're probably not going to win a lot of these communities. But it makes a huge difference if we are getting 35% of the vote there versus getting 30% of the vote there. And I think that is something that Democrats have all too often written off about rural areas is - it's sort of, Well, we're going to lose those areas by a lot, so we shouldn't even try. And losing them by 10 points less than you lost them is a bunch of votes that could be your winning margin, depending on the sort of nature of the district or the state. So we wanted to take that really seriously. And we knew that Marie was a really great candidate to connect with those folks. And then the third aspect of it was - and these folks lived in all kinds of geographies - but making this very direct appeal to Republicans and Independents, who - anyone who supported Jaime Herrera Beutler, and just really could not stomach Joe Kent. And that was one of the most apparent things coming out of the primary. And the initial sort of looking at - who can Marie win - started with - who cannot stomach Joe Kent. And that is a very long list of people because Joe Kent often seems like he is intentionally trying to exclude and ostracize. And in fact, he is very intentionally trying to do that much of the time. But people can actually hear what he has to say and don't like the things he's saying. And I still don't think he's really ever caught on to that. But we knew that there were a bunch of people who supported Jaime Herrera Beutler, who maybe voted for Mitt Romney, but really didn't like Trump and the sort of direction the party was going under that. But these were not people who would typically vote for a Democrat, or really even consider a Democrat, unless you went out and made this very specific case to them and made it - not try to trick them, just be very honest, which was that - Look, Joe Kent is terrible. Here's all the terrible things in case you weren't aware. I'm Marie, I'm not a Republican, but I believe in democracy. I am going to listen to you. I'm going to hold town halls. I'm not going to embarrass you on the national stage. And asking those Republicans and those conservatives even to - again, not necessarily become Democrats, but just lend us your vote in this election against this guy, so we can beat him. That's basically what it said on paper. And then of course, the challenge is doing all of that all at once, and raising the money as you're spending it and etc, etc. But yeah, but that was the core. And we stuck with that through the end. [00:19:11] Crystal Fincher: And so that is really interesting. An experience that I went through - you talked about letting people know who Joe Kent is - it is actually hard to do justice to how bad and scary he is by just explaining. And was in a number of situations with - did the KIRO election coverage, right? So talking to people there in the newsroom, another Republican consultant, right? It's just - trying to explain how just problematic he is. And they're just like, Well, maybe well, I heard it was moderating in the general election and he's moving that direction. And I'm like, No, you don't understand. And I had watched a number of his video clips, just researching going into there. It's just like - Okay, I just need you - sit down, watch this. And they watched a clip of him just - it's like he was not in the same reality as other people. Just conspiracy theories - denied - like January 6th was some CIA conspiracy, just all these things. And one, just - my goodness, Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez also sitting there next to him and having to debate someone who's not making sense in the same kind of reality that you are, but also trying to explain things. But after watching him directly, they're just like, Oh, okay, I get it. It was so alarming. Even Republicans there were alarmed. And so there absolutely was an opportunity to mobilize people and to get votes from people who traditionally didn't vote for Democrats. Now with that, how did you negotiate and how did you move forward and talk through - Marie is a Democrat, she has Democratic values - making that appeal to Republicans. How do you broaden a base while maintaining consistency with your values? [00:21:13] Phil Gardner: Yeah. And it was a daily balance and a sort of figuring it out as we went. A lot of it was based on - well, it was mostly Marie's instincts. That's another - she did a lot of press during the election and afterwards. And as a communications professional who has prepped a lot of candidates for interviews, she does not require much at all. We chat about sort of the points she may want to make and if there's sort of one way she's explaining something and I'm like that may be misinterpreted, but by and large, she just knows what - she can smell what's good and what's off. And I think she knew what the media in her district was going to be. So using her as a guidepost - you know, she - right to repair, which is this issue that she talks about a lot, which is this sort of basic concept of if you own a piece of mechanical equipment or electronic equipment, you should be able to repair it. And there's home medical devices, tractors, iPhones, there's this long litany of things. And I will admit when I first heard her talking about this, I was like, This is, I don't, this is not a top of mind issue for voters. And it isn't - yet. I think it's becoming, partly because she is talking about it more and more in national media. But what was so interesting about it is people took it seriously. And it was very different from what they'd heard, not just a Democrat, but any sort of candidate talk about. And it did feel, the more they thought about it, more relevant to their day-to-day life than Joe Kent's latest vaccine gene therapy conspiracy or something. She also talked a lot about the dangers of microplastics, which is something that there's a bunch of research that - there's just more and more presence of these almost-permanent plastics in very small quantities in placentas and fish and just anything you can measure. And what better way to replace all that plastic packaging than with paper and cardboard products grown in Washington's Third Congressional District. She took this very, again, not something that was in the headlines or a lot of people were talking about, but managed to connect it right back into voters lived experiences and daily lives, and talk about in a way that was different from Democrats. So she wasn't trying to sound like a Republican. She was just trying to sound and be like a different Democrat. And it is working, [00:23:44] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, no. And I did notice that - the first thing I noticed was in the broader conversation about how Democrats, how the country sometimes is becoming more polarized - that bluer places are becoming bluer, redder places are becoming redder, and a number of Democrats are not performing well in rural areas. And to your point earlier, lots of times Democrats are not trying to compete in rural areas - thinking, Man, I just saw the margin in these other races when someone else tried to run, there's no way I'm gonna win there. So what's the point? But you saw the point. Hey, if you improve performance and you win in other areas, that's a win altogether. And one, her being a rural resident period and understanding the different context of life in rural areas, which is different. And I think a lot of people who do not live in rural areas, are not familiar with, or haven't spent a lot of time in rural areas - underappreciate just how different day-to-day life can look and be. It can be very, very different. And some of the things that you talk about in a metropolitan context, just there is no context for that thing out there. So talking about it just does not connect. It's not relevant. And I feel like, especially with a lot of Democrats not showing up in rural areas, that they are hearing lots of things from Democrats that they just don't see in their daily lives or that address their specific challenges. And Marie was able to directly speak to that, based on her own experience and really caring about making it better. And showing up and the campaign showing up - showing up is - you can't win without it. You got to do that. You did it well. You got the message out. But also trying to pull together a campaign, a Congressional-sized campaign, without a lot of external help was a challenge you had to deal with. There was lots of coverage about the national party not helping as much as they did in some other close races - whether it's because they didn't consider this being close enough to engage with or not - not receiving the kind of support that you, seeing it as a competitive race, probably hoped for. What was that experience like and how did you manage your way through that? [00:26:31] Phil Gardner: Yeah, it was excruciating at points. It was very frustrating, because we had an internal poll that we released publicly as far back as late August that showed Marie ahead by two. And this was at a time in national politics when the generic ballot was a little bit better for Democrats. And then there was this sort of whole freak out during the fall. And then I guess it turned out to be not quite that bad. But we had polling done by a very reputable pollster - I know people are trained to be skeptical of internal polling, but we hired a very reputable firm that everybody back in D.C. knew. And - [00:27:08] Crystal Fincher: By the way, most campaigns do. [00:27:11] Phil Gardner: Yeah. Like the campaigns - one, they're not going to spend all this money on research that's bunk. But it was, I think, two things. One was this knowledge that this district was - I don't think you'll find this in writing anywhere, somebody will say it on the record - but the district was drawn to elect a Republican. It's part of how our redistricting system works - is there's an incumbent protection that goes on. And this was Jaime Herrera Beutler's district. And in order to forge an agreement, they agreed to keep the incumbent safe. So with that knowledge that this district was drawn to elect a Republican, the notion that it could flip to a Democrat in a midterm with a Democrat in the White House, just - I think no matter what sort of facts you tried to put in front of people, they just could never get past that. But I think also that - I think people didn't - if Marie had been some, a man with a nice haircut - I just think there was something about who she was, and the fact that she was a young mom, and had never run for federal office before that people just thought, Well, surely she can't be putting together a campaign that could actually win. This is a novelty that's happening out there. And that was frustrating. But I could also see, as we were trying to convince people of our credibility, that our fundraising was going extremely well, especially online. We've - driven by a lot of that media coverage, but then also the long list of people who are horrified by Joe Kent. In the end - third quarter, the third fundraising quarter - Marie raised $2.2 million in the third quarter, which was more than any other Democrat challenging for an open seat or against a Republican incumbent, except for the guy running against Marjorie Taylor Greene. But Marie outraised Democratic incumbents in frontline districts. And I thought at that point, surely they will now see that this is not some fly-by-night scam we're running out here - it looks non-traditional because it must be, but surely now. And even at that point - no, Marie was never named one of the DCCC's Red to Blue candidates. And we asked for that - we knew that there was, it was unlikely that we were going to get air support that we can't legally coordinate, but we just wanted the designation so that when we called donors in other states, they would know we were - because there's a lot of these donors who, if you don't, if you're not Red to Blue, they don't think you're a serious candidate. And that would have cost the DCCC nothing and they wouldn't give it to us. And, of course now it's - they're apologetic and such, but I don't know - I try not to dwell on it and be bitter about it because in the end, we won. And I do think there's a silver lining in that because it wasn't on the DCCC's radar, the national Republicans also did not really get it on their radar. The national Republicans never spent anything for Joe Kent, which - we had always anticipated that as soon as we had our big fundraising quarter and started running our ads, they would come in with all these negative ads to slime Marie, and it just never came. And I don't know whether that was because the Republicans never really believed it was competitive, or because they just really didn't actually want Joe Kent in their caucus. And their attitude was - Well, if he doesn't make it, it's not our fault. It's his fault. And we've got a lot of other people who aren't so difficult that we're going to spend on. So I don't know, but it was - and he himself had a terrible, he was basically unable to raise any significant amount of money after the primary. Because I think once he had defeated Jaime Herrera Beutler, there was just not a lot of energy. And he was going around telling people that he had this under control - it was a safe Trump seat. And by the time he tried to pivot, it was too late to get his donors to notice or care. So that is one thing - I actually, I think Joe Kent ran a terrible campaign in the primary. He just had Trump's endorsement and that was enough. And then they continued that terrible campaign into the general and it finally caught up with them. But, yeah, it was still on the inside - it was, and if you were on the ground there, anybody who was able to come - it felt very competitive. We could see that obviously we had all of the Democrats - anyone who voted for Joe Biden was behind us. And we were picking off these - elected Republicans were willing to appear in TV ads to support Marie. And it's - well, surely there's some amount of people who are coming along with this because we can see them. It was just not clear whether it'd be quite enough. But the notion that on Election Night, it leaned Republican - I think if the rankers who had put it in that category been on the ground, I think they would have felt very differently. Because it was not a surprise that it was competitive to folks who were in the picture. [00:32:09] Crystal Fincher: Right. It was absolutely competitive - I think, just looking from the outside, it was - Hey, this is going to be close. Is she going to get enough? But especially in that situation, I think part of my personal frustration with some of the national establishment is that we also have to be willing to fight, and that we can't only engage when we feel like it's a sure thing. And if anything was worth fighting for, surely it was worth fighting - even if you hadn't yet engaged with how good of a candidate Marie was, you certainly could see how terrifying the prospect of having Joe Kent as a Congressperson is and was just unacceptable. And he was so far outside of what so many people consider acceptable or moral or decent. And we certainly have seen Republicans as a whole become more extreme, but he was like tip-of-the-spear extreme and proud of it and resistant to any kind of advice to do anything else. And so I am so thankful that you saw that opportunity, that we don't have Joe Kent as a representative. But also hope that the things that you talked about, the reasons why maybe they didn't support Marie - create a lot of people a lot of reflection - and people who do have the ability to influence the people and the ability to influence where resources are spent locally and nationally, starting from just who an ideal candidate is. We've talked before on this show looking, hearing - Oh man, they're a great candidate. And a lot of times that's code for a guy who's a military veteran, a guy who is a business owner. And really it's code for this person has a profile that could be a Republican, but they're a Democrat. And reality is so much broader than that. The community is so much broader than that. And the things that people are struggling with today just throughout everyday life are felt by so many more people. Even who is considered the working class a lot of times is coded as just white people. And it's so many people. And so having a young mom who is running - family running an auto shop, living in rural Skamania County - was someone who was absolutely relatable. And I hope we learned those lessons - certainly at the legislative level, candidates who look more, who are like Marie, or who are candidates of color or LGBTQ candidates are actually outperforming and increasing turnout to greater degrees than candidates in majority communities are. So I really do hope we take out the filter that sometimes prevents us from seeing the people who are the most connected within their communities and who do understand them the most. Going in and just how you went about defining who Joe Kent was and how you went about defining who Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez was - to people who maybe they realize an election is happening when they get the ballot in the mail, they were not tuned in throughout the months prior in the campaign, and you've got to reach them somehow, maybe not in person. How did you go about doing that? And what was your strategy there? [00:35:41] Phil Gardner: Yeah. In running against Joe Kent, this was one of the challenging things because as you alluded - well, you had said earlier - it's hard to understand how bad he is unless you sit down and really take the time to - Oh my God, he really - he really thinks that. And of course, we don't have the luxury of voters actually mostly having the time or interest to do that. So it was a real - what are the worst things of the terrible things he's said and done that we're going to be able to bring up? And we had some polling to help with this, but we also just used some intuition behind what was easy to explain and what was really going to click. And so we narrowed around a top five hits on Joe Kent because we would spice it up a little. But one is his national ban on abortion with no exceptions, which was his stated stance. Another was he told the New York Times that he wanted to put Anthony Fauci, they wanted Fauci arrested for murder. And there was one part in a Rotary that never got reported because it was a private event - but I was there - and someone stood up and said, Do you really believe this - that Anthony Fauci should be indicted for murder? And Joe Kent's response was, Well, he'll get a trial. This is what this man actually believes. [00:36:52] Crystal Fincher: Geez. Yeah. [00:36:54] Phil Gardner: Then there was the election denial, January 6th stuff - I guess that was actually - we mostly talked about that for the framework of Joe Kent wanting to abolish vote-by-mail. We found that was something that polled very terribly because - and I was a little skeptical to use it because I thought it would just be so unfathomable to people at this point that they wouldn't really believe anybody could or would do that. But it really did click. I'm glad we leaned into that. He wanted to ban immigration for 20 years to establish a white majority. And that's a conversation stopper in a lot of rooms. And what was interesting is that is the one that more than anything else, Joe Kent would react very emotionally negative to. The other stuff, he wouldn't really try to dispute it. But that one he would. I don't know exactly why that is. I think on a certain level, he may know how messed up and horrific and toxic - and he may just know that he definitely doesn't want his brand to actually be associated with the people sort of spending every day of their lives pushing for that policy, which are people who exist in white nationalist circles that Joe hangs out in - but yeah, it was - Oh, and then the fifth one, which he started talking about in the campaign - and he went to the right - was this whole defunding the FBI. Which, as a Democrat running in a Trump district, obviously we thought a lot about how was she going to talk about law enforcement because it's a top issue in any district, but especially when you're trying to win Republicans. And then Joe Kent just comes in and says, I think we should get rid of the FBI. And bunch of moms in Longview and Centralia, if you tell them - Are you going to sleep better at night with the FBI gone? - that's just not something that resonates with a lot of people in the communities that we needed to win over from the Republicans. So that was the sort of cornucopia of awful-Joe Kent. But there was even terrible stuff that doesn't even make that list. He wanted to legalize machine guns. He doesn't believe people should watch professional sports because it's emasculating to watch other men. Yeah, no, this is an actual thing. [00:38:51] Crystal Fincher: I didn't even know this one. Oh my gosh. [00:38:53] Phil Gardner: Yeah. His tweets are just - there's just so many, there's just so much - but a lot of it, it's can we really turn this into a mail piece or a TV ad? Probably not. But it is just so weird. And then with Marie, it was a lot of biography, but then basically just doing the counterpoint to a lot of what Joe was doing. She supports abortion rights. She believes in voting rights. She is not focused on these bizarre cultural conspiracies. And Joe said and did horrible, horrible mailers and statements regarding healthcare for trans people. And there was a debate in Longview where there was an audience participation point and they clearly organized to have his people come up and try to bait Marie on all these sort of cultural things about sports and bathroom. And this part never aired, I think, because the host realized that he had completely lost control of the room. But Marie would not yield an inch on any of those issues, and doesn't on any LGBTQ issues, and doesn't on any core rights issues - because that's who she is and what she believes. And that authenticity is what really matters and not engaging on these things that are so clearly just meant to divide. It was both mirroring him and just not swinging at the pitches that she didn't want to swing at. [00:40:09] Crystal Fincher: And that's so important. One, I think people in rural and even suburban situations that I've been in - there are people who understand that they may disagree with you on some things. But they want to be able to trust you. They want to know that you're going to stand by your word and that what you see is what you get. And so her having the courage to stand by her convictions, I think helped - even with people who - Hey, I'm a Republican, you're a Democrat, but I can see that you seem to want to help, that you seem to understand the challenges that we're facing, and you get things done. Am I going to agree with you a hundred percent? No. But do I think that you understand how to help me? I do. I think you can help. I think that makes a big difference. And just the campaign not taking the bait is a good thing and not engaging earnestly with bad-faith tactics and calling out the bad-faith tactics, instead of trying to fact check or engage in all the minutiae and all that was a smart decision. And one I hope other people see how you handle it, see how others handle it, and do the same thing. So now, we're at the point of the election. You have done a good job communicating who Joe Kent is, which - I really don't think people understand how challenging that is - even, some people think, Well, he's horrible. It must be really easy to run against him. It's hard to convince people - people who are horrible in a special way, impressively horrible, unusually horrible. It's hard to make people believe that someone actually is that horrible. People's first thought - Surely he doesn't believe that, man, this is a misstatement. This is an exaggeration. So you did that very well. Going through, turning out the votes, turning out the base, how did you approach just getting everyone to get their ballot in? [00:41:59] Phil Gardner: Yeah, well, we tried to work the mobilization messaging into those same persuasion messaging that we were doing, like the vote-by-mail. We would say, Hey, not only are we reminding you to get your ballot in and that your ballots coming in the mail, but you should be aware the other guy, Joe Kent - he wants to get rid of this whole system. He wants us to go back to standing in line at polling stations. So if you'd ever like to vote in another election by mail again, we would really appreciate your support for Marie. But it was a mix of very traditional mobilization operations. I guess with the voter mobilization, this was one of the challenges coming in after the primary was - to really do a lot of voter mobilization programs well, it requires money and investment and time. It's always put to the side by a lot of campaigns so they try to start it in July or something. To really have it really effective, you really need to have it in place starting pretty early in the year, depending on the size of the race. That just wasn't really present as much. There was a Coordinated Campaign presence from the State Party because Patty Murray was on the ballot, but there was nothing at the scale that we would have liked or would have been considered proper. But I thought that there was - the only option that – well, another thing is we couldn't really hire staff at this point from other place because any sort of top-field talent is generally already on a campaign at this point. But there was a lot of energy from volunteers, and we noticed that. And so we tried this – it goes by a lot of names – the snowflake model, where you're really taking volunteers and giving them job duties and responsibilities that in a lot of campaigns would really be paid staff - and I think ideally should be paid staff, or at least people should be compensated for work that they're doing that they're not volunteering on. But it's a complicated model because if people just lose interest or don't have the enthusiasm, it doesn't really gel together. But there was enough, I think, both positive enthusiasm for Marie and antipathy for Joe Kent that - our field director had never worked in politics before. He'd never worked on any campaign before. He was a friend of Marie's from college, who had just run a restaurant for five years that had gone under because of some supply chain issues. But he was very, very organized and very good at logistics. We hooked him up with a brilliant strategist in Oregon named Hannah Love, who knows all sorts of field and mobilization stuff, and she transferred knowledge. Eventually, we had 500 people coming out to canvasses. So it was a lot of traditional stuff like that, but in a sort of non-traditional way - mixed with our messaging. And then there were very specific communities who we wanted to go and talk to and make sure that they understood who Joe Kent was. One was the Ukrainian community, which is quite large in the Portland metro area, including on the Vancouver side. A lot of the members of the Ukrainian community here in the Pacific Northwest - it originated with folks who were fleeing the Soviet Union because they were evangelical Christians or Baptists and were being persecuted for their religious beliefs. Not everybody who's come over here since then is also a pastor or something, but they have family or friends - and so it's a very religiously conservative community. But they knew what Joe Kent's stance was on support for Ukraine, which is - Joe Kent doesn't think there should be any. In fact, he thinks it's all sort of a conspiracy theory to start World War III that Biden and Obama are all-in on and such. They didn't agree with Marie on a lot of things, but they knew that. Marie came and showed up and talked to them and looked them in the eye and said, I'm not going to abandon you and your family. And I think that really resonated. And then also up in Pacific County, the Chinook Indian Nation, which has lived in the mouth of Columbia since time immemorial - they have been seeking federal recognition for many, many decades. There's no real question that they have all the necessary paperwork, and people should look into this online if they want to learn more about it, but it really is a travesty that they've not yet been federally recognized. Marie met with the Chairman and learned about this and heard - and we put out a statement making very clear that she supports recognition and would fight for it in Congress. I know that the Chairman and members of the Chinook indian Nation made sure that everybody who lives in the district knew that. It's a lot of this very targeted outreach that - the cookie cutter appeals and mass appeals are necessary and good - but we knew we were going to have to squeeze every - look under every rock or every mountain, whatever metaphor you want to use. It's not just one thing, but it was a mix of things. [00:46:17] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, and you did a great job. So now we're to Election Night. What did it feel like when you got the results? [00:46:25] Phil Gardner: It felt really good. I guess we all lived through this, but how I was looking at it is - because our results didn't come until 8pm and I think the results from the East Coast were not looking quite as bad for Democrats as I think we had feared. And so I was like, Oh, okay, well, maybe we could do this. Because for all that we did, just so much of this is just national tides that you ultimately don't have first-hand control over, but - [00:46:52] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, and I should mention - going up to the results on the East Coast, that there was a lot of talk about races narrowing in the final weeks. There were a lot of internal polls that showed races narrowing in the final weeks of the campaign. So there was a big question about - are things falling out of our grip democratically? And so there was cause for a little bit of relief at least. And especially as we got further from the East Coast, further West - things were looking pretty good. And then 8 o'clock hits. [00:47:20] Phil Gardner: Yes. So we're there in the Hilton - at the Clark County Democrats, their Election Night party usually is. And we knew that what we got on Election Night was going to be the highest that we were going to get. It was going to be our high-water mark - because Joe Kent, one of his conspiracy theories was that everybody should return their ballot on Election Day so then they know, they can't figure out how many fake ballots they need to create if we vote late. It's just bonkers stuff. But as a consequence of that, we knew that he was going to gain in these later counts. So I said, If we're not ahead on election night, then that's probably ballgame, folks. But even so, we needed to be ahead by a big margin. We needed to be ahead in Clark County by more than 10 points. And it came in, and I think we're ahead by 12, 12 and a half. And it's a little more exciting in these districts with multiple counties because there's some suspense where it's - Oh, okay, but what are we going to get in Lewis and what are we going to get in Pacific? And they just kept coming in, and they kept coming in and hitting those marks. And I was just like, Marie was just - we always knew that it could happen, but then for it actually to be happening - it just felt very surreal and out-of-body. And she was just overjoyed. And of course, very quickly composed herself to go get the speech done, and do - I think she did 9 or 10 interviews that night. But it was, it felt really good. But at the same time, we also didn't feel like we could truly celebrate because we did know it was going to narrow. And so the race ended up getting called - Saturday night after the election was when all the media outlets came out. But I personally felt confident that I no longer had worry bugs crawling around my head that we were going to win - I felt that way on Wednesday night. And that was when I knew how many ballots had come in and I could see what the margins were. And I could also see - using these analytic models on the back end, I could essentially see the uncounted ballots - what those were probably going to be like. Because the ballots are roughly counted in the order they're received. So at that point, we know that there's this whole big batch of Election Day votes for Joe Kent, and I knew they would be better for him - but you look at the partisan modeling and I'm like - that's really not going to be quite enough for him. But there's one thing to know that and one thing to actually say it publicly, because you want to respect the process and that tiny chance you could get egg on your face. But that was, that was almost, that was excruciating in a sense. I mean, it was nice to have that internal confidence that we knew, but it was still maddening to go that many days after - but much better than obviously the alternative outcome. And they called that race Saturday night. And Sunday morning we were on a plane to DC. So she got to new member orientation just in time, but - not a day too late. [00:49:58] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, I saw that. I was like, that was quick. [00:50:01] Phil Gardner: Yep, it was interesting. They had invited Joe Kent, but they had not invited Marie at first. [00:50:07] Crystal Fincher: Interesting. [00:50:08] Phil Gardner: Yes. And then what they do in a lot of these races that are close, they invite both of them. And so then we were both invited and then Joe Kent was uninvited. But the materials for him were still lying around - I was at one point accidentally handed Joe Kent's parking pass for Capitol Hill. And I was - I'm sorry, this is actually not the person who won that election. And they were very apologetic and I get their - so it was just odd, almost - seeing the physical artifacts of this alternative reality that could have happened. [00:50:37] Crystal Fincher: I'm glad we are not in that timeline - that would be a very bad timeline. We have more than enough challenges in this timeline that we do have, but that was such an exciting and uplifting race. So now, because no one can ever rest and because Congressional campaigns start as soon as they end - now there's talk about, Okay, so can she hold the district? Can she get re-elected? It's one thing to have an aberration like Joe Kent on the ballot, but maybe that doesn't happen next time. How do you think she should be approaching these next couple of years? How can she hold a seat? [00:51:12] Phil Gardner: Yeah, I think the starting point is to understand that she can. There are Democrats who represent districts that are more Republican or voted for Trump by a wider margin. Mary Peltola up in Alaska is the most recent example, but there's also a member from northern Maine named Jared Golden, who has a very timber-friendly, very rural district that shares some similarities to the Third. So we know it can be done, so we're not trying to do something nobody's ever done. But it's going to require her basically doing what she said during the campaign. There's not going to be some giant pivot - it's the same person she's been. I think without - well, first of all, I think it's quite likely that Joe Kent runs again. I think Joe Kent is her most likely 2024 opponent because Joe Kent was planning on winning and then running again. And we didn't even get into this, but he apparently has no actual job - so he's not busy doing something else during the day other than running for office. So I anticipate he will run again, and I think he may have the name ID to be the Republican nominee again. But even without that, in the eventuality that Marie ends up running against somebody who is less conspiratorial on the Republican side, I think that voters are going to give her a chance. I think a lot of these Republican voters who originally voted for her because they were soured on Joe Kent - I don't think, at least from the conversations I've had with them and then some of the community members who have supported them - they are still with Marie. There will be a Republican. I don't know who it'll be. I don't know exactly how that'll impact how people make their choices down there. But it's at this point an opportunity for Marie to show that she is that independent voice, that rural Democrat, that Democrat from the trades, working mom - and show people what a sort of different kind of politics and different kind of Democrat is. One of the first decisions Marie has made so far - back in Congress, there are these sort of ideological caucuses. There's a Progressive Caucus, and there's the more conservative one called the Blue Dogs, and then there's one sort of in the middle called the New Dems. And Marie's decided not to join any of them. She's joining the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who was supportive during the campaign too. But I think she doesn't feel like she fits into a box really well, and her district doesn't really fit into a box well. And she's gonna need to be seen and be different from the sort of Puget Sound-area Democrats in the delegation and figure out exactly what that path is with her district. Because the nice thing is she showed up not owing anybody any favors, because so few people believed in her. So I'm just very excited to see - she's 34. She's born in 1988. It is just so amazing that we have, from our state, this just incredible public servant who really does represent generational change and change in a lot of ways, and is doing it in a seat where we beat a fascist. I'm just so excited and delighted to see what she's able to do. [00:53:52] Crystal Fincher: I love it. And obviously, you did an incredible job on this campaign. You did great work. What other staffers or volunteers should we be on the lookout for from the campaign who are also superstars? [00:54:05] Phil Gardner: Great question. So we had at maximum five staff. Tim Gowen, who was our Field Director, is going to be joining Marie's district office. Peter Sandifer, who is our Political Director. Julian Chapin, who read Michelle Goldberg's New York Times article, emailed us and said, I'd love to drive across the country and come work for you - and that's how you get to become a Deputy Field Director on our campaign because that's the kind of world it was. And then Madeleine Newton, who was the staffer before the primary and stayed on as the Deputy Campaign Manager. And then a whole suite of consultants from around the Seattle area and some back in DC. I'm also just excited to see a lot of these volunteers who were engaged for the first time - what they end up doing. We had a lot of people who said they voted for Jaime Herrera Butler in the primary and then knocked on doors for Marie - it was the first candidate they ever knocked on doors for. It was, there are certain campaigns - they're usually presidential campaigns - but there are certain campaigns that really just leave a lasting impact on the people who were a part of them. And I think for a lot of people in Southwest Washington, this is going to be one of them. And I'm excited to see where that goes. [00:55:06] Crystal Fincher: I'm so excited about Southwest Washington. It's politically, in my opinion, the most exciting area in the state and the area with the biggest opportunity in the state. Just looking legislatively, there are districts that are so close that have been so close that have been on the other side of 48-52%, 49-51%, 49-50% races over the past couple few cycles. With a Democrat in Congress, new people engaged in the district, people hearing from Democrats and talking to Democrats who maybe just hadn't before - presents so much of an opportunity. What do you see the opportunity being downballot moving forward? [00:55:47] Phil Gardner: Yeah, well, I do think there - in Clark County especially, which this is the biggest county in the district, 61-63% of the vote where Vancouver is. But then there's a band of suburbs right around Vancouver as well. And Marie won by 10 points there. And it is one of those counties, like the suburbs of Atlanta or the Dallas suburbs, that once Trump came on the scene, there was a lot of moderate suburbanites who were - I don't know about this direction that this party's going. And so in addition to Joe Kent sort of accelerating that and Marie being appealing, there has been this phenomenon over the last six to eight years down there, where those Clark County suburbs are becoming much more friendly towards Democrats. And I think that, like you said, we keep getting real close. We redrew two of them pretty significantly and got up to 48%, 47% in a few of these. But I think it will be interesting and I'm optimistic that - there's almost a tipping point in a lot of these communities, where once the sort of prevailing cultural norms become more progressive, become more open-minded, become more friendly to folks on the Democratic side of the aisle - that that just keeps going. And I don't quite know where it stops. I think it'll take some time for it to happen, but I think it's going to keep going in that direction. And I think that's going to create some real opportunities for Democrats in those - in the 17th and the 18th, especially. But also need to run great candidates - candidates who are going to work hard, who know districts. And I will leave that to the folks working in state politics to figure that out. But I think that candidates who fit profiles that we know voters are going to like, we know this person is compelling, we know there's so much about them that fits in with our messaging, really making the person the message. I think we should look more seriously at those sort of opportunities and maybe not so much at what do we think is always going to be the best sort of candidate based on what's always been done. [00:57:43] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Any parting thoughts that you would leave with people about things that you learned from this campaign or how people should be operating moving forward? [00:57:53] Phil Gardner: Gosh, I both feel like I've learned so much and had no time to really stop and process at all. But I guess I'll go as big picture as we can get because that was a motivator for me in this, which is that I - sure many people listening to this - have felt very deep fear and concern that we're slipping into a sort of very anti-democratic culture and government. And this creeping fascism that we see all around us in different forms - the trajectory is really, really, really concerning. I believe Joe Kent represents that, and that was a big motivating factor for why I was willing to throw up everything to go and do this. And then it turned out Marie was fantastic as well, and so we get sort of a twofer out of it. But I think after this election - because Joe Kent lost, because so many of these election deniers around the country lost, I do think we should feel heartened that there is apparently a bottom for a bunch of voters. And there are consequences to saying these things. But I also still feel that history is a long time and this is just one election cycle and we can't rest on our laurels. So as I look forward into 2024 and beyond, I would love love nothing more than to get back to the days where we're just fighting and trying to advance progressive causes on the sort of traditional D versus R axis that we may have known. But I think at least for the time being, there is also this very dark anti-democratic force that is out there and very present - and it's going to require more than I think what is typically thought of as being necessary. The careerists are not going to be able to solve this. It is a problem beyond the people just clocking in to work on campaigns. And we all work very hard and I think there are many brilliant people, but this is a force beyond what we have dealt with before. I spend a lot of time thinking about how we make sure that doesn't grow and doesn't go on. And again, I think we gave it a good bop on the nose this time, but I think it may be back and don't take our eyes off that ball. So that was a little darker than I intended, but I do think it's important. [00:59:55] Crystal Fincher: But real. I spend quite a bit of time thinking about that. It's real, but there is hope. There is cause for hope. [01:00:04] Phil Gardner: Yes. [01:00:05] Crystal Fincher: And I think that in so many circumstances, I needn't look any further than my own family history - that that has been the only thing that has got people through some of those times - engaging, being active, doing what you can, and just holding onto that hope, and continuing to push. So appreciate so much you joining us today to have this conversation. Thank you for saving us from Joe Kent. And for putting Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez on our radar and in our Congress. Just such a huge win. Such an exciting win. I know some - Election Night - I'm just like, Look at the Third District. People are like, Okay, what were you working on? I'm like, But look at the Third District. And stuff that I was working on turned out really well, I was really excited about that. But this was as exciting, I think, as a result gets because - I'd shared with people before - certainly felt that this race was worth engaging in, and fighting for, and knew it should be close. Didn't know if it could be. So had thought about the reality of Joe Kent and allies having significant control in our country and it was terrifying. So yeah, just so excited to be able to talk about this race with you, and such a great job on both the strategy and execution. And I also love hearing that your Field Director was new to politics and knocked out of the park anyway. And you were just a scrappy bunch who fought through without any - very little establishment support - and just made a way. So really good job, really exciting. And thank you for joining us today. [01:01:43] Phil Gardner: Thank you. Absolutely. Thanks for having me on. [01:01:45] Crystal Fincher: Thank you all for listening to Hacks & Wonks. The producer of Hacks & Wonks is Lisl Stadler. Our assistant producer is Shannon Cheng and our Post-Production Assistant is Bryce Cannatelli. You can find Hacks & Wonks on Twitter @HacksWonks and you can follow me @finchfrii, spelled F-I-N-C-H-F-R-I-I. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to get our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered right to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave us a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the episode notes. Thanks for tuning in - talk to you next time.

Editor-in-Chief Matt Hall and reporter Emily Sawicki (@emily_sawicki) sit down to talk about election results that have come out of the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's office so far. Most local races can be called, but there are still some contests up in the air, including the third city council seat, the Measure SMC bond, the Third District supervisor seat, and the LA mayor race. Why is vote counting so slow? What might city council results mean for the next two years? Who are the 3,500 people who voted for Keith Coleman? We offer some answers, some analysis and just a little speculation. 

Pete Gives KS Third District Libertarian Candidate Steve Hohe the Business | 11-2See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The midterm elections are now above the horizon-- we have 35 days left before the ballots are cast. Today, we're hearing from the main challenger to Representative John Curtis of Utah District 3, Democrat Glenn Wright. Glenn Wright, Democratic candidate for the third district joins the show to discuss his campaign. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Peter Meijer has served his country as a member of the US Army Reserves and then as part of Team Rubicon.  He has continued his service as a Congressman for Michigan's Third District.

The Voice of a Nation with guest host Ilana Freedman - My guest today is State Senator Zach Nunn, Republican Candidate for Congress from Iowa's Third District, running against Democrat and Nancy Pelosi's rubber stamp. What do you do when the President of the United States and his administration are doing everything within their power to destroy the country you live in - the country you love?

The Voice of a Nation with guest host Ilana Freedman - My guest today is State Senator Zach Nunn, Republican Candidate for Congress from Iowa's Third District, running against Democrat and Nancy Pelosi's rubber stamp. What do you do when the President of the United States and his administration are doing everything within their power to destroy the country you live in - the country you love?

Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Dorsey Hager made his monthly appearance on the America's Work Force Union Podcast and provided an update on Intel's $20 billion semiconductor plant project. He also discussed the need to recruit new members, provided thoughts on Ohio's state legislative district maps and gave an update on the campaign of Kelly Harrop, Communications and Outreach Director for the C/COBCTC, who is running for a House seat in Ohio's Third District.     AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond appeared on the AWF Union Podcast and discussed the upcoming AFL-CIO convention, where he and President Liz Shuler are running for full-term seats. He also talked about the AFL-CIO's position on gun reform.

Twenty years ago, when I first came to America, I felt like a complete outsider. I didn't look like, sound like, or dress like people around me. I chased goals that I didn't really care about because I thought that's what was expected of me. But the harder I tried to fit in, the more I struggled personally and professionally. You see, I was defining success from other people's perspective. Our guest today is US Congresswoman Sharice Davids, from Kansas' Third Congressional District, who shares her inspiring story of overcoming obstacles and rising to the top by defining success on her own terms.  Sharice was raised by a single mom who spent more than 20 years serving in the US Army. A proud graduate of Leavenworth High School, Sharice was the first person in her family to attend college. She worked her way from Johnson County Community College to Cornell Law School, juggling multiple jobs to put herself through school. Sharice went on to work in economic and community development on Native American reservations, helping tribes to create programs and initiatives for growth. This work inspired her to apply for the prestigious White House Fellowship program, where she served under President Barack Obama and continued to create economic opportunity for others. Sharice ran for Congress to give Kansans a voice, and to make sure everyone has the same opportunities to achieve their goals that she did. In 2018, Sharice was elected to represent Kansas' Third District, becoming one of the first two Native American women ever to serve in Congress.  In 2020, she was re-elected to her second term. She has spent her time in office working tirelessly to tackle the issues most important to Kansas families, including strengthening small businesses, lowering the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs, and making sure the government is working for the people — not special interests. In this episode, Rep. Davids shares her perspective on why it's important to first embrace who you are for others to embrace and accept you as you are. She also shares why service matters, how to build a thriving community, and what strategies helped her achieve her goals. Visit www.iambeyondbarriers.com where you will find show notes and links to all the resources in this episode, including the best way to get in touch with Rep. Davids.    Highlights:  [03:57] What shaped Representative Davids' life[09:22] Gaining clarity on your career path[12:50] How Representative Davids got into politics[15:31] First time running for office[24:18] Facing the possibility of failure[26:52] Campaigns are entrepreneurial[29:22] Owning her seat at the table[35:23] Advice to other on pursuing a career in politics[41:36] How to engage with Representative Davids[43:07] The meaningful work of LPAC Quotes: “When dealing with rejection on the campaign trail, I had to remind myself that  this is not about me, this is about the future of our country, our democracy.” - Rep. Sharice Davids “The biggest opportunities for growth come from moments when you are experiencing something that is hard and challenging.” - Rep. Sharice Davids "Running a campaign is a very entrepreneurial process." - Rep. Sharice Davids  "One thing that changed my life was realizing that I get to decide what success means to me." - Rep. Sharice Davids About Sharice Davids: Sharice Davids is currently serving Kansas' Third Congressional District in Congress. Sharice was raised by a single mom who spent more than 20 years serving in the US Army. A proud graduate of Leavenworth High School, Sharice was the first person in her family to attend college. She worked her way from Johnson County Community College to Cornell Law School, juggling multiple jobs to put herself through school. Sharice went on to work in economic and community development on Native American reservations, helping tribes to create programs and initiatives for growth. This work inspired her to apply for the prestigious White House Fellowship program, where she served under President Barack Obama and continued to create economic opportunity for others. Sharice ran for Congress to give Kansans a voice who represents our values and interests, and to make sure everyone has the same opportunities to achieve their goals that she did. In 2018, Sharice was elected to represent Kansas' Third District, becoming one of the first two Native American women ever to serve in Congress. In 2020, she was re-elected to her second term. She has spent her time in office working tirelessly to tackle the issues most important to Kansas families, including strengthening our small businesses, lowering the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs, and making sure the government is working for the people — not special interests. Sharice was raised by a single mom, who spent more than 20 years in the Army followed by a career in civil service at the US Post Office. Sharice graduated from Leavenworth High School. She attended Haskell Indian Nations University and the University of Kansas before graduating from Johnson County Community College and later the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She went on to earn a law degree from Cornell Law School. Sharice calls herself a “former” first generation college student, since her mom earned a degree in history from UMKC in 2016. Sharice is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, a Native American tribe in Wisconsin. Sharice is highly trained in martial arts and has competed as both an amateur and professional in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Sharice was one of 16 selected to participate in the prestigious White House Fellowship program (2016-2017). Sharice has lived and worked on Native American reservations, working with tribes to create economic development opportunities, programs, and initiatives. Sharice regularly speaks at conferences as a nationally recognized expert on economic and community development in Native communities. Sharice, along with her brother, created Starty Pants – a video podcast that highlights entrepreneurs in the Greater Kansas City area with a focus on women, people of color and LGBTQ founders. Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharicedavids/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShariceDavids

May 16, 2022 — The candidates for Third District Supervisor and County Superintendent of Schools took questions at the Little Lake Grange in Willits yesterday. Incumbent Third District Supervisor John Haschak and challenger Clay Romero differed on most issues, though each expressed support for the local cannabis industry, and they agreed that they would prefer to keep the county museum in Willits open. Haschak has the endorsements of the Mendocino Cannabis Alliance and the Covelo Cannabis Advocacy Group. In his opening remarks, Romero spoke about being “very critical of government mandated lockdowns.” His website declares that masks have “very limited effectiveness,” and goes on to provide a popular piece of medical misinformation that wearing a mask for more than an hour will lead to other diseases. Romero emphasizes the importance of promoting business and easing regulatory burdens, and highlights his commitment to public safety by writing that, as a property owner along the Firco road, he worked with CalFire on an emergency access route that would allow firefighters access to Brooktrails during an emergency. The first question on voters' minds at the grange yesterday was about how candidates plan to prepare for a long-lasting drought. Romero offered two points, saying that, “A significant amount of the water that's available is out at Lake Pillsbury. I would be in favor of raising Scott Dam to see if we could capture more of that water...but we do need to be prepared with what we have…I know that the rains will come again.” Haschak does not expect wet conditions to return, due to climate change. He also spoke about funding for water projects, in the context of his work on the drought task force with Supervisor Glenn McGourty, including an ongoing project to draft a policy about extracting water from one location and trucking it to another. He said the county has received $23.3 million in state grants for various projects, but that, outside the Ukiah groundwater basin, “we haven't had the knowledge of what we have in our aquifers and the quality of that water. So we really need to work on getting grants to get that kind of knowledge…especially in Covelo, Laytonville, Willits,” he reported. The candidates have decidedly different views on climate change, with Romero expressing reluctance to allocate county money to counter or prepare for it. “I think it's probably ill-conceived,” he said. “I think it's a mistake to be addressing something like this and identifying money to be spent on something that ultimately would lead to no fruition at all…because when you're talking about the globe, what about the incredible environmental damage that's going on in China? They don't seem to be even remotely concerned with what we're calling climate change.” Haschak is a believer in climate change, saying that, “If we don't do anything, we are all going to perish from it.” He said he was proud of the Board of Supervisors' unanimous decision to allot $2 million to carbon reduction initiatives like solar panels. He added that he serves on the Mendocino Council of Governments (MCOG), which is working on installing more electric car chargers, and that he and Supervisor Dan Gjerde are working with Sonoma Clean Power to get customer rebates for energy efficient appliances. Some questions went unanswered by either candidate, with Haschak taking up his allotted time to explain the complexities of an issue and Romero providing answers that were lean on detail. One question, about whether or not the candidates would enforce state laws, even if they disagreed with them, referred directly to frustration over pandemic restrictions and their as-yet unquantified fallout. Haschak said that, “Certainly, if a law is passed, we have to abide by it because it's a state law. But the process is, we try to amend it, make it so it serves our needs way beforehand.” As an example, he added that the state budget has just come out, “and there were some things, such as the elimination of the cannabis cultivation tax, which the County of Mendocino had promoted and lobbied for.” Romero provided a counterpoint, assuring the public that, if elected, “I would really much rather be representing and looking out for the interests of the people I represent, over some meddlesome state agency. I'm here to represent you. And I'm certainly not going to be put upon by any agency, whether it's state or federal. Now, I may not have a choice in the matter. Maybe they've got something over my head, as surely as a rock hitting me in the head. But ultimately, when it comes right down to it, I'm still a citizen of this county, of this state, of the United States. And I will pen a letter that will be in the best interest of the people, that they are not put upon by a law that I find harmful or detrimental to you.”

May 10, 2022 — Incumbent Ted Williams and challenger John Redding are vying for the Fifth District Supervisor's seat in next month's election. They presented their positions at a League of Women voters event last week, fielding questions about healthcare, fire preparation, drought, and economic development. A major issue on the coast is the uncertain future of the Mendocino Coast Healthcare District, and whether or not to dissolve it. Redding, who is Treasurer of the district board, fears that the county, which is struggling to balance its budget and has failed to collect millions of dollars in cannabis tax revenue, could take charge of healthcare on the coast. At stake is what he believes is local control over the decision to bring the existing hospital into compliance with seismic codes, build a new hospital, or rely on clinics. “What I'm not in favor of is dissolving the Healthcare District,” he said. “That would mean the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) would, without a vote of the people, dissolve the Healthcare District, and the successor agent would be the county. And they would seize our money, our taxes, our land, and there would be no representatives anywhere close to the coast to provide governance,” Williams countered that local control involves a lot of dysfunction on the district board, and doubled Redding's estimate of $50 million to build a new hospital. “I tune in to those meetings,” he said. “I see a lot of bickering. I don't see much progress. There's complaints going to the Grand Jury and FPPC (Fair Political Practices Commission) and questions about was an attorney hired…and I think it's casting a shadow over the real discussion that needs to happen. A new hospital could cost $100 million, plus. Might only generate $2 million revenue… It's really a challenge for the segment of our population that can't afford to go to Ukiah or Santa Rosa for regular healthcare.” When it comes to abortion rights, Williams is a staunch supporter, saying restrictions on abortion limit a woman's right to participate in society. Redding said that, while he is pro-life, he does support the right to choose. He said that when the Healthcare District board was presented with a proposal to allow the clinic to perform chemical abortions, he voted in favor of it. “I would not in any way limit a woman's access to abortion, and I think I've proven that with my vote,” he said. Fire and drought are region wide issues that are top of mind as summer approaches. Though he is dubious about relying on the state, Redding thinks huge wildfires are largely the state's responsibility. He cited the state's years'-long policy of preventing wildfires by clearing and logging, saying, “This is really a state problem that affects us…we really need to put pressure on the State of California to follow through on its commitments.” Williams, a volunteer firefighter, invoked historical factors as well. But he also advocates a local response, saying, “”It's our problem, because we live here, and fire may be in our backyard.” He highlighted defensible space and chipper programs, adding, “There are also opportunities to coordinate the funds that are available to get local workforce out, putting people to work, who desperately need work.” Both candidates support the idea of water storage, which is emphasized in the governor's drought strategy. But while Williams touted the county's success at winning a $5 million state grant to build water storage in the town of Mendocino, Redding tied storage into his emphasis, which is encouraging private economic development. “To rely on government grants makes me uncomfortable,” he said, recalling a former boss who told him, “hope is not a business plan. And when you're hoping that you're going to get a grant from the State of California or the federal government, that's not a business plan.” Redding suggested hiring an economic development coordinator and supports funding West Business Development Center, which the Board of Supervisors agreed to continue doing last week. Williams agreed that economic development is a glaring need, but opined that, “the county's role in that needs to be to provide infrastructure where businesses want to exist, where people want to live.” He added that he is reluctant to shift financial resources away from core services like road maintenance, public safety and social services, “all of the services that the most vulnerable people rely on, and the services that would attract businesses to our area.” The candidates differed on the nature of the board's relationship with the sheriff's office, with Redding associating Williams, and an attempt at a system-wide audit of the sheriff's department, with efforts to defund the police. Sheriff Matt Kendall has since endorsed Williams. KZYX will have more election coverage this month. This Thursday, May 12, from 3-4 pm, we'll hear from Assessor/Clerk/Recorder Katrina Barolomie and Pat Dunbar, from the League of Women Voters. On Monday, May 16, from 6:30-8pm, we'll host a debate with Fifth District candidates Ted Williams and John Redding. And on Monday, May 23, frome 6:30-8pm, we'll host a debate with Third District candidates, incumbent John Haschak and challenger Clay Romero.

Neil Kumar is a Republican candidate for U.S. Congress, representing Arkansas's Third District. He is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and Sons of the American Revolution, with blood that has been Southern since the 17th century. Kumar, who is a graduate of the University of Chicago and a native Arkansan, has written for numerous publications, including the Abbeville Institute, American Renaissance, Identity Dixie, The Political Cesspool, Clyde Wilson's Reckonin', and VDare. Kumar and I talk about his ancestry, his “rightist” political awakening, and his Christian conversion, how whites have racially disarmed themselves, how the power-hungry left has pathologized whiteness, how too many Southerners are on the defensive (instead of on the offensive and rightfully taking command of the moral high ground), and how his bold congressional platform aims to remedy those very deep and dangerous problems. With a degree in anthropology and now knee-deep in law school, one wouldn't think that such a young man could be so common-sense and so wise. But Kumar is and his writing proves it. Here are some of my favorites:“Reconstruction in Arkansas”“All that is ugly, broken, and foul”“An open letter to Walmart”“White open spaces”“John Brown's body: A review of ‘The Secret Six' by Otto Scott”“You reap what you sow” Also mentioned in our conversation are my interview with Lauren Witzke and the progressive and predictable hack job inventing an SCV “leak” along with its gaslit “aggressive neo-Confederates” narrative. I say, damn straight we're aggressive! So, on this 158th anniversary of Pickett's Charge (the final day of the Battle of Gettysburg, which waged from July 1-3, 1863), let's consider Kumar's message and his candidacy as a much-needed frontal assault against the undeniable Southern genocide, the pathologization of whiteness, the destruction of the family, and the mass proliferation of godlessness and globohomo. “Come on, boys! Give them the cold steel!”

What You Need to Know is the media won’t cover what’s happening. We want them to look at the clear, widespread fraud that happened this election. But if they won’t do it, we’ll take the coverage of the Trump Campaign legal team. In a funny way, the Fake News’s willingness to manufacture a negative story has led them to talking about the real problems. A majority of people of both parties agree that they think there was fraud in this election. It’s not that far fetched. Everyone needs to see the details of fraudulent election activity because most people believe it’s a reality! People are sick of this and we’re going to get to the bottom of it. Congressman Jim Banks of Indiana’s Third District, talks about being the Next Chairman Of the Republican Study Committee and all that will entail in that position. Rep. Banks is so happy for Trump and all that he’s accomplished. Trump is a fighter and We the People need a fighter! Dr. Brett Decker, writer, author and professor at Defiance College, talks about what’s going on in the state of Michigan in regards to the election. Dr. Decker talks about the division in America and how we need something to bring restoration! Wrap Up: Republicans have not always been conservative enough but we are always grateful to know of good congressmen like Jason Smith. Be sure to keep an eye on him!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.