Crashing The Political Party

This week AJ speaks with Jeff Kelly, Cascade Party candidate for WA State District 38 candidate!

This week, we've got an Office Hours episode! Producer Kelly Attaway joins to ask AJ questions from listeners, and he explains how alternative candidates influence elections, how voter forecasting is like observing a mosh pit, the importance of healthy skepticism for generative AI in politics, how ranked choice voting works with easy examples, and more!

For this episode, we're joined by Greg Ballard, the Lincoln Party's nominee for Indiana's Secretary of State. AJ and Greg talk about his background, why he's running what a Secretary of State does, his policy priorities, what it took to get on the ballot, book recommendations, questions from listeners, and more!

AJ is joined this week by Dave Bushaw, an independent candidate running for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. They talk about why he’s running as an independent, his top campaign priorities and proposed solutions, what he believes he can offer that his opponents can’t, growing voter interest in the labor movement, his admiration for Eugene V. Debs, his organization Real Men’s Circles, book recommendations, and more!

This week’s episode features Michael Bridgeford, an independent candidate running for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District. AJ and Michael talk about why running as an independent makes sense for him, his three biggest policy priorities and proposed solutions, what it’s like running to represent such a diverse congressional district, his major-party opponents’ refusal to participate in debates, the questions he’d ask his opponents, book recommendations, and more!

Senator Rick Bennett, an independent running for Governor of Maine, joins the show this week to talk about his background, switching from being a Republican to being an independent, his policy priorities and proposed solutions, his experience cutting through partisan conflict as Senate President, changes needed in the Maine government, Maine's history as friendly territory for alternative candidates, book recommendations, and more.

Colt Shelby, the 2026 Libertarian Party nominee for Arkansas Governor joins the show this week to talk about who he is, his top policy issues and solutions, what he hopes his kids learn from his campaign, and to take listener questions.

AJ is joined by Andy Ellis, the Green Party's 2026 nominee for Governor of Maryland. They talk about Andy's background, why the Green Party made sense for him, policy goals, what success looks like outside of winning, book recommendations, and more!

This week we’re joined by Teri Ann Hourihan, the No Labels Party candidate for Arizona Governor. We talk about her path to the candidacy, her policy priorities, what governing would look like for her, book recommendations, and more.

In this week's episode, AJ talks with Greg Lopez, an independent running for Governor of Colorado. They talk about Greg's journey from Democrat to Republican to Independent, getting on the ballot in Colorado, his topic policy priorities for the state, governing in a politically and geographically diverse state, working with Democratic legislatures as an independent, lessons from his military service, book recommendations, listener questions, and much more!