Patti Vasquez and guest co-host Dan Schaefer are joined by Liz Nicholson, candidate for Cook County Board of Review Commission.

Catch "Driving It Home with Patti Vasquez" weekdays from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/driving-it-home).

And find the "Driving It Home (Full Episodes)" podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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Broadcasting from Iowa Democratic Wing Ding in Clear Lake, Iowa, Patti Vasquez is joined by Josh Turek, Iowa candidate for U.S. Senate.

Catch "Driving It Home with Patti Vasquez" weekdays from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/driving-it-home).

And find the "Driving It Home (Full Episodes)" podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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Broadcasting from Iowa Democratic Wing Ding in Clear Lake, Iowa, Patti Vasquez is joined by Zach Wahls, Iowa candidate for U.S. Senate.

Catch "Driving It Home with Patti Vasquez" weekdays from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/driving-it-home).

And find the "Driving It Home (Full Episodes)" podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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Broadcasting from Iowa Democratic Wing Ding in Clear Lake, Iowa, Patti Vasquez is joined by Nathan Sage, Iowa candidate for U.S. Senate.

Catch "Driving It Home with Patti Vasquez" weekdays from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/driving-it-home).

And find the "Driving It Home (Full Episodes)" podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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Broadcasting from Iowa Democratic Wing Ding in Clear Lake, Iowa, Patti Vasquez talks to Rob Sand, Iowa auditor and candidate for Iowa governor.

Catch "Driving It Home with Patti Vasquez" weekdays from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/driving-it-home).

And find the "Driving It Home (Full Episodes)" podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

 

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Broadcasting from Iowa Democratic Wing Ding in Clear Lake, Iowa, Patti Vasquez is joined by Julie Stauch, Iowa candidate for governor. 

Catch "Driving It Home with Patti Vasquez" weekdays from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/driving-it-home).

And find the "Driving It Home (Full Episodes)" podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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Broadcasting live from Iowa Democratic Wing Ding in Clear Lake, Iowa, Patti Vasquez talks to Jackie Norris, Iowa candidate for U.S. Senate. 

Catch "Driving It Home with Patti Vasquez" weekdays from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/driving-it-home).

And find the "Driving It Home (Full Episodes)" podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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Patti Vasquez is joined by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. 

The mayor emphasized investments in youth employment, mental health services, affordable housing, and violence prevention programs, highlighting a $100 million investment over two budgets to support community violence intervention (CVI) workers.   

"And what we're seeing is that violent crime is down as a whole in the city of Chicago, particularly homicides, down 30 percent. Shootings and shooting victims are down nearly 40 percent. . . . And so it's really attributed to the CVI workers in particular that, quite frankly, have worked hard to make sure that they prevent shootings, and, if shootings do take place, that we don't have this perpetual cycle of violence by preventing retaliation.

"Don't get me wrong: one shooting, one homicide is one too many, but we are seeing historic lows. April: the lowest amount of homicide since 1962. Memorial Day weekend shootings and homicides were down -- the lowest and the safest, quite frankly, Memorial Day weekend in almost 20 years. Same thing, even, for the Fourth of July, the least amount of violence in almost 10 years. Again, a lot of work to be done. It's my top priority. But we are certainly moving in the right direction."

Johnson also addressed the need for clear identification of law enforcement and adherence to constitutional policing to ensure the safety of all residents. 

"Whether you are an immigrant, undocumented, or whether you were born here, there is something called the Constitution, and you either support it or you do not. And clearly, [President Donald Trump] and his administration, they're trampling all over our Constitution."   

Catch "Driving It Home with Patti Vasquez" weekdays from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/driving-it-home).

And find the "Driving It Home (Full Episodes)" podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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Patti Vasquez is joined by Illinois Democratic State Sen. Laura Murphy.

Murphy discussed the upcoming "Fight for Our Communities: Citizens Against Tyranny" event with Indivisible Elk Grove Township, highlighting concerns over cuts to social services due to the recently enacted Republican One Big Beautiful Bill Act. She noted that social service agencies in her district, particularly the Center of Concern in Des Plaines, have already faced cuts due to unfulfilled federal funding promises.

Murphy also addressed the public transportation crisis in Illinois.

"RTA, CTA, Pace and Metra are facing a significant fiscal cliff from activities that occurred mostly during COVID, and they had federal dollars to supplement them during COVID so they could continue to operate. And those federal dollars now are drying up, and/or [have been] spent, by the end of this year. So we have to revisit how we look at transit."

She added: "When I tell people this, they're amazed: that currently the state has no oversight over any of those bodies. The CTA, the RTA, Metra and Pace operate autonomous, and part of the problem is they operate autonomous from each other. So part of our governance changes is going to require some state oversight."

Catch "Driving It Home with Patti Vasquez" weekdays from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/driving-it-home).

And find the "Driving It Home (Full Episodes)" podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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Patti Vasquez is joined by John Fugelsang, actor, comedian, podcaster and radio host, TV pundit, and author of the forthcoming book “Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds.” The book is scheduled to be released September 9.

Catch "Driving It Home with Patti Vasquez" weekdays from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/driving-it-home).

And find the "Driving It Home (Full Episodes)" podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.