Breaking The Meta

Jackson Franklin is an Army combat medic, National Guardsman, and paramedic running in Indiana's 5th Congressional District and taking on incumbent Victoria Spartz in one of 2026's most closely watched grassroots races. Jackson has seen firsthand what he calls the "wealth care system", a for-profit structure that puts corporate middlemen between patients and doctors. He's calling for Medicare for...

Dax Alexander grew up on a dairy farm in Martins Mill, TX. One of the reddest corners of one of the reddest states in America. No name recognition, no PAC money, no political dynasty behind him. Just a software developer, a group of Young Democrat friends, and a decision that if no one else was going to run, he would. In Texas's 1st Congressional District, recently in a runoff after pulling 22% of...

Victoria Martz is a criminal defense attorney and public defender running for Indiana State House District 55 a rural stretch of southeastern Indiana where the nearest Walmart requires a 20-minute drive and the nearest labor unit is now 30 to 45 minutes away. She's running as a grassroots Democrat in deeply conservative territory, and she's finding common ground with Republican voters on the issue...

ICE took Justin Douglas's neighbors — Bhutanese Nepali refugees who survived ethnic cleansing and spent two decades in camps before America welcomed them in. That moment pushed this Pennsylvania County Commissioner to run for Congress in PA's 10th District. In this episode of Breaking the Meta, Justin Douglas (candidate for Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District) sits down for a full interview...

After the 2024 elections, Esther Kim-Varet did something almost nobody does: she Googled how to run for Congress, convinced her husband, pulled her kids out of school, and moved her family into a Republican district in Orange County to flip it. Now she's one of the top three Democratic fundraising challengers in the country — in what may be the only congressional race in America where two incumben...

William Compton is running for Congress in Kentucky's 2nd District in 2026, a rural Kentucky Democrat who exposed government corruption and got his own mayor federally indicted. In this episode of Breaking the Meta, Mike Winson sits down with William to talk about healthcare costs destroying rural families, veterans calling America a "laughing stock," why soybean farmers are getting crushed by tar...

Victoria Broderick is a working-class mom, tech support worker, TikTok creator, and two-time congressional candidate running to flip Tennessee's 4th Congressional District — a rural, heavily Republican district that's been represented by the same 16-year incumbent who reportedly told people in closed-door sessions that speaking to his constituents costs him votes. In this episode we get into what...

A teacher, HR professional, and children's advocate walks into a town hall — and walks out a candidate for the Indiana State Senate. That's essentially the story of Cindi Clayton, who is running for Indiana State Senate District 49 (Evansville/Vanderburgh County) in 2026. After decades of staying quiet politically, Cindi was pushed to her breaking point when her current opponent — Senator Jim Toms...

Former CIA Officer Runs for Congress to Restore American Institutions | Adam Dunigan VA-8 Adam Dunigan spent 17 years in federal service — five years in the Marine Corps and then a career as a CIA case officer. He watched American institutions deteriorate from overseas assignments, cashed out his retirement, outed himself as an intelligence officer, and walked away from everything to run for Virgi...

Nate Stout spent his career at Callaway Golf and Johnson Outdoors traveling America and coming home to Indiana — until he started noticing the institutions that built him were eroding. Public education defunded. Utility bills quietly padded with hidden fees. A 700-acre rezoning request with no public hearing and no clear answer about what's even being built. And a state representative who took two...

What does it look like to run for Congress with ZERO corporate donations — and mean it? Christopher Ajluni is running as an independent in Arizona's Congressional District 1, and he's doing something almost unheard of: refusing all campaign contributions and staying under the FEC's $5,000 reporting threshold to prove he answers to no one but his constituents. In this episode of Breaking the Meta,...

James Martin is a fourth-generation Treasure Coast native, Coast Guard veteran, and former national security staffer in the Vice President's office, and he's running to represent Florida's 21st Congressional District in the U.S. House. In this conversation, James shares his path from growing up in Hobe Sound to commanding Coast Guard cutters in the Caribbean and Middle East, to working inside the...

National Guard member Demi Palecek is running for Illinois State Representative District 13. Learn why this working-class veteran is defying orders, speaking out against ICE, and fighting for affordable housing, reproductive rights, and gun violence prevention in Chicago. Interview covers her military service, activism, grassroots campaign, and vision for Illinois. In this powerful interview, Demi...

Join Breaking The Meta for an in-depth conversation with Jordan Herrera, Democratic candidate for Missouri's 4th Congressional District. Jordan is a 16-year Air Force veteran, attorney, and advocate running to bring real change to rural and urban communities across Missouri. In this interview, Jordan shares his powerful personal story—from surviving domestic violence as a child to serving in Iraq...

Jonathan Bonner is running for Georgia State House District 68, and in this interview we discuss the future of Georgia politics, grassroots campaigns, veterans’ issues, healthcare affordability, and community leadership. In this episode of Breaking the Meta, Jonathan Bonner shares why he decided to run for office and how he plans to represent South Atlanta communities including Fayetteville, Tyron...

What happens when someone decides to challenge one of the most powerful figures in Washington? In this episode of Breaking the Meta, we sit down with Matt Gromlich, a lifelong educator and candidate running for Congress in Louisiana’s 4th District, currently represented by House Speaker Mike Johnson. Gromlich shares why he decided to step into the race, what voters in northwest Louisiana are strug...

In this episode of Breaking the Meta, we sit down with Stephanie Steiner, a retired women's health nurse and mother of seven who is running for Congress in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District. Stephanie shares her story, from becoming a young mother at 15 to building a career in healthcare and now stepping into politics to fight for rural communities, farmers, and working families. We discuss the bi...

In this episode of Breaking the Meta, host Mike Winson sits down with Andrew Rice, a scientist turned congressional candidate running in Connecticut’s 3rd District. Andrew explains why he decided to challenge a long-time incumbent, what issues voters in the district are talking about, and why he believes the Democratic Party needs a stronger working-class agenda. The conversation covers major issu...

In this episode of Breaking the Meta, host Mike Winson sits down with Kiana Bierria-Anderson, a progressive candidate running for Congress in New York’s 4th District. We discuss the affordability crisis on Long Island, immigration policy, accountability in government, and why a new generation of leaders is stepping up to run for office. Kiana shares her background in organizing, union leadership,...

Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District has been the poorest district in the poorest state in America for over 30 years. In this episode of Breaking the Meta, Michael Winson sits down with Evan Turnage, an antitrust lawyer and former Senate staffer for Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer, who is now running for Congress. They discuss corporate power, rising grocery prices, healthcare access, Medic...

A grassroots U.S. Senate candidate is challenging the political establishment in Oklahoma. In this episode of Breaking the Meta, we sit down with Jasmine Thomas, a nurse, military spouse, and community advocate running for the U.S. Senate with a PAC-free, people-powered campaign. Jasmine talks about why she’s running, the reality of healthcare and education in Oklahoma, and what she believes real...

Ohio politics is heating up ahead of the 2026 midterms, and District 56 could be one of the most important races in the state. In this episode of Breaking the Meta, we sit down with Laalithya Acharya, a 22-year-old biomedical engineer running for the Ohio State House in Southwest Ohio, to discuss public education, school vouchers, affordability, ICE enforcement, healthcare, and breaking the Republ...

Julian Beaudion is running for U.S. Senate in South Dakota, and his campaign is built around a simple idea: people come before politics. In this interview on Breaking the Meta, Julian Beaudion shares his background in law enforcement, entrepreneurship, and public service, and explains why he’s challenging Senator Mike Rounds. We discuss why so many South Dakotans feel forgotten, how town halls and...

Erin Petrey, Democratic candidate for Congress in Kentucky’s 6th District, joins Breaking the Meta to talk affordability, healthcare access, campaign finance reform, and America’s place in the world. From growing up on a Kentucky farm to working in foreign policy and renewable infrastructure, Petrey explains why she’s running and how she plans to restore accountability in Washington. In this full...

Georgia governor candidate Ruwa Romman joins Breaking the Meta for a deep conversation about affordability, housing, healthcare, and why she introduced a statewide data center moratorium. If you care about the future of Georgia politics, this is a conversation you need to hear. We talk about rising housing costs, corporate landlords, minimum wage, Medicaid expansion, rural hospital closures, ICE d...