Dem Governors, Hurricanes, Earthquakes, and Politics: Oh My! And a Drunken Assault by Chuck Edwards

David Wheeler: 00:00:01

Welcome to Muck U. This is David Wheeler with my co host, Mo Davis.

Col Moe Davis: 00:00:05

Hey, David, how are you?

David Wheeler: 00:00:07

I'm great. How are you, my friend?

Col Moe Davis: 00:00:08

Hey. Sun shining. It's another beautiful day here in western North Carolina. So it doesn't get any better than this.

David Wheeler: 00:00:14

It sure is. It sure is. Have you heard the news about American Muckrakers?

Col Moe Davis: 00:00:18

What's the name of the group?

David Wheeler: 00:00:19

They're called American Muckrakers. No, no, evidently we started, we started a university.

Col Moe Davis: 00:00:27

Oh, wow.

David Wheeler: 00:00:28

You know what it's called?

Col Moe Davis: 00:00:29

I have no idea.

David Wheeler: 00:00:30

Muck you.

Col Moe Davis: 00:00:31

Ah, perfect name for a university that'll look great on a diploma hanging on somebody's wall.

David Wheeler: 00:00:37

Exactly, exactly. Well, I appreciate you taking some time. I thought it'd be a good time in our history here.

I think we're at our 21st or 22nd episode and pretty proud of what we've done so far. But you've got an announcement that I think all of our listeners will be interested in hearing. What, what's up in your life this coming year?

Col Moe Davis: 00:00:59

Well, I'm hoping to kick Chuck Edwards back to the drive thru wind at McDonald's. So I'm going to run against him and see if we can't look after the people of western North Carolina for a change in the House of Representative.

David Wheeler: 00:01:12

Oh, well, I saw that Cook Political Reports has this at a plus 5 GOP advantage. What are your thoughts on the winnability of the district?

Col Moe Davis: 00:01:23

ll, a couple things about the: 2020

back in: 2020

And that's it took used to in the old days, this district included all of Polk county and half of Rutherford, the western half.

So to make a district for Tim Moore to win and go represent, they took all of Rutherford and the eastern half of Polk and put it in that new district.

around here, you never know.: 2020

after the primary in March of: 2020

And it really impacted, I think, again, I think the Democrats did the right thing being responsible and not putting people at risk over a political campaign.

ap not being able to do it in: 2020

I know in the last race, Caleb Rudow. The Hurricane Helene hit September 27, which is just a couple of weeks before election Day, which made it difficult to campaign.

I'm hoping this time around there won't be some other calam. But, you know, the way things go around here, we've gone from hurricane from. From COVID to Hurricane Helene. We had a hail storm last week.

ing to happen between now and: 2026

David Wheeler: 00:03:36

Yeah. And there was another earthquake over the weekend. I. It was reported in the Charlotte newspaper. And.

And Corey Valencourt from Smoky Mountain News is following the story of Chuck Edwards assaulting a guy. The top headlines on that are he spoke, evidently walked to the podium with a cocktail in his hand.

So he'd been drinking, had cocktails while he was speaking, and then got down from the podium after bashing the intelligence of the Rotarians that were at this event by making it a partisan speech instead of a speech about recovery in western North Carolina.

From everything, all the reports that I've read, people were offended and somebody gave him a piece of their mind, and Chuck slapped him on the back, evidently with a clipboard or something like that. The guy filed a charge, and then the men in blue, doing what they normally do, is they helped it cover up for one of theirs.

So once again, Chuck Edwards, just like Madison Cawthorn, you remember all this shit that Madison Cawthee tried to bring a gun into the Asheville airport. He brought knives into schools. He sped, you know, sometimes 20 to 30 miles an hour over the speed limit, and he never was held accountable.

So once again, Chuck, in the tradition of Madison Cawthorn, is not being held accountable. And I just. I just find that not only nauseating, but infuriating that these guys get away with this shit all the time.

What Are your thoughts on all this, Mo?

Col Moe Davis: 00:05:07

Well, I agree.

I mean, Chuck Edwards ought to be up in Washington pounding the pavement for his constituents rather than down here in Asheville pounding his constituents. Yeah, but you're right. I mean, it's not, you know, one.

David Wheeler: 00:05:20

Of the things I used to be in the event business, and one of our rules of thumb was don't kill the client. And, you know, beating up voters is probably not a good way to get votes.

Col Moe Davis: 00:05:32

Yeah, I never realized that the Rotary Club was the fight club, but, yeah, quite, quite an event on, on Saturday night. But you're right about, you know, the comparison with Cawthorn.

Apparently, if you're a Republican congressman means you never have to take responsibility for your own actions and you're never held accountable. Anyway, Cawthorn's continued.

In addition to all the crap he did here, you probably saw, now he's down in Florida and he rear ended a state trooper and again got a, you know, slap on the wrist and no real consequences for his act. But, you know, if you're in a leadership position, you ought to. You ought to be responsible and accountable. And clearly our.

The members that we send to Congress from here aren't.

David Wheeler: 00:06:14

Yeah, and the other thing that kills me is they never apologize.

You know, Chuck Edwards could have 86 this entire episode by going to that guy's house on Sunday morning and apologizing face to face, man to man, and say, listen, I, you know, I, I got out of control last night. Apologize for that and, and I owe you an apology. Instead, deny.

They put out a press release on Saturday night saying the other guy started it and he was drunk. So, you know, they're just, they're using their own playbook of redirection when they're, you know, at. At fault.

And, you know, it's just another indication of how much old lap dog Chuck Edwards is for Trump. I mean, he just, he uses his playbook. And I, I just hope you can. You. You may have a primary, it looks like. Sounds like.

whoop this guy in the fall of: 2020

Col Moe Davis: 00:07:08

Well, we're going to give it our best shot. But again, you're right. Remember, Teddy Roosevelt said, the buck stops here.

And, you know, the current state of affairs on the Republican side is past the buck and never being responsible. We can do better than that.

David Wheeler: 00:07:22

I just, I keep going back to: 2020

If, if we had gotten rid of Cawthorne and Mo, had Won how different things would be in this part of the state. We'd have a member of Congress that actually gives a shit, that shows up, that gets stuff done and knows it's not all about him all the time.

And it's a servant lever leader.

I mean you, you've been a teacher, you've been a judge, you've been in the Jag and you've had people under your command and good leadership knows it's not about you. So what are you going to do to win this mo? I mean what, what's the strategy and how do you think, how do you think you can beat Edwards?

Col Moe Davis: 00:08:03

Well, I think he's going to beat himself if you look at the policies that are, you know, that he's behind.

That's like when he was at AV Tech, remember he stood up there and said, you know that really the Democrats were fear mongering about cuts to Medicaid.

Well, look at what they passed this week, you know that out of committee, you know, in order to get tax breaks for multimillionaires like Chuck Edwards, people on the bottom rungs of the ladder are going to lose. Healthcare coverage, nutritional assistance, Head Start, Meals on Wheels.

And it's ordinary people are paying the price for elites like Chuck Edwards to live their lavish lifestyle. And it's more for them and less for, for us.

oser. You know, when I ran in: 2020

So I had about 191,000 people that showed up to vote for me. I mean if I can get 87% of those people to show up again, we win the seat. So we got to have a good strong turnout on the Democratic side.

But again, if you look at the makeup of this district, if every registered Democrat showed up to vote and I got all those votes, I would lose. So it's going to take more than blue votes to win this, this race.

So we've got to reach out, we've got to, we got to open up the aperture to a broader audience.

And I think when we talk about Medicaid and you know, getting rid of fema, getting rid of the Department of Education, you know, these are things that are going to hurt not just Democrats, but Republicans and independents and folks that are just tuned out of the political process.

So I'm hoping that's going to motivate people to, to turn out and what will be an off year election, I mean, my best guess is probably be somewhere around 330,000 votes, Cap.

So we need folks that are wanting to have a better future for themselves and their families to show up and vote and not get distracted by, you know, the other side's really good with one hand going, oh, you get those scary immigrants and oh, you got trans women and you know, all these social issues they use to distract ordinary folks, while with the other hand they're picking their pockets. So we're going to concentrate on appealing to folks that aren't like Chuck Edwards, that aren't worth $16.6 million and that work for a living.

Because I don't know if you saw there was an article in the last day or two saying that 60% of American households can't afford to live a minimum, a minimum, a minimal quality of life. They can't afford it. And in this district, about one out of every five kids below the age of 18 are living below the poverty line.

So taking away their health care, taking away food, taking away support for their schools, that's not good for western North Carolina.

So we're going to, we're going to focus, you know, trying to get people not to get distracted by fear tactics on issues that don't impact their daily life and to focus on the ones that really do matter. And we're going to go to Washington and try to, rather than fight the people, we're going to fight for the people.

David Wheeler: 00:11:20

Yeah, that's a good way to win is not to beat up other, beat up your voters. I think the last thing western North Carolina needs is another millionaire in Washington.

We've had, out of the last three, we've had three millionaires. And that's got to be pounded home. I think that we need somebody that actually understands what's going on in people's lives.

And, and Chuck, Chuck Edwards is probably as disconnected from reality as, as Madison Cawthorn was.

Col Moe Davis: 00:11:47

Well, I'll take a look at it. You can go back and look at Cawthorn or look at Chuck Edwards.

Folks can go to the Federal Election Commission website and they have the financial data.

It's like for me, I'll have to register with the FEC here soon and you have to submit regular reports on where you're getting your money and where you're spending it.

% of the money he raised in: 2024

I mean, do you think that General Dynamics is investing in Chuck Edwards because they love western North Carolina or Steve Wynn, the billionaire casino owner out in Nevada? You know, is he investing in Chuck Edwards because he loves western North Carolina? Hell, no. They're. They're buying access.

You know, I hear a lot of people say that, you know, they've tried to contact Chuck, you know, particularly since Hurricane Helene. Most never hear anything back. And those that do, it's usually a form response.

But I guarantee you General Dynamics or Steve Wynn can pick up the phone and probably talk to Chuck personally.

David Wheeler: 00:12:57

Yeah, and I'm on the first ring as well. Yeah, I mean, we've invited him to this show, and we're issuing that invitation again to have a civil discussion. It's not going to be a.

A nasty discussion at all. But I don't know, he's. He's afraid of engaging with reality, and. And these guys. I just don't understand it.

Any good politician would turn that situation like Buttigieg, you know, he goes on Fox all the time, and he turns those stupid questions they have upside down. And, you know, a good friend of mine lives in Ohio, and he's in the. He's in the insurance finance business. And.

And he's kind of the last guy as a lawyer, last guy that I would think he would be impressed with. Pete Buttigieg. And out of the blue the other day, he texted me a link to Buddha judge's speech in Iowa saying this was unbelievable.

Incredible was the word he used.

All right, so, you know, a good politician turns that stuff side up, turns it sideways and to your advantage, and I don't understand why folks don't do that. So. But how much. How much. How much did Chuck raise last time around? Do you remember from.

Col Moe Davis: 00:14:05

I don't recall. I just. I remember the biggest chunk came from. I think it was $390,000 from a. A pack that is run by Kevin McCarthy.

David Wheeler: 00:14:15

Oh, geez.

Col Moe Davis: 00:14:16

And again, you know, Kevin McCarthy's not dumping $390,000 into Western North Carolina because he loves the mountains.

David Wheeler: 00:14:22

Right.

Col Moe Davis: 00:14:23

He's doing it because he wants, you know, somebody in Washington that he can tell them what to do, and they'll salute and say, yes, sir, and do it. Yeah, I think, you know, another.

Another reason I'm running is We've got almost 50,000 veterans that live in western North Carolina, and our VA hospital, which, you Know, where I'm sitting right now is about a mile from the VA hospital, and that's where I go to get my health care. There are 170 VA hospitals around the country. And the one here in Asheville, the Patient Satisfaction Survey, it's ranked number two in America. Wow.

So we get great healthcare at the va and Chuck, you know, wants to defund the va.

You know, he was defending the, I think it was a 17% cut to the VA staffing, saying, you know, that was going to make it more effective and more efficient.

If you, you know, if you believe that bullshit, you know, go down to your high school and tell the football coach that, hey, to make your team more effective and efficient, just put nine players on the field this year and see how that goes.

So, you know, cutting the VA and getting the va, I've made the pledge that when I get to Congress, I'm going to decline the congressional health care plan and I'm going to continue getting my care at the Charles George VA Medical Center. So, you know, when I'm talking to veterans, this isn't just lip service. You know, I'm in it with you.

And I'm going to hopefully get a seat on the Veterans Affairs Committee and also on the Natural Resources Committee. Veterans Affairs Committee. I can fight for the va.

And on natural resources, they're the gatekeeper and purse keeper for our national parks and our national forests, which again, are getting cut by Chuck Edwards and his friends so that they get tax break. And we already had a $32 billion backlog of maintenance in our national parks and national forests. And that's before Hurricane Helene hit.

So that's the key to our economy around here is tourism. You go downtown in Nashville on a Saturday night, now you.

Not only can you find a parking place, you can walk in a restaurant without a reservation and get a table. And that's not going to change until, you know, tourists are coming back. And right now, the Blue Ridge Parkway, large segments are still closed.

You know, we got to take care of our national parks and national forest and they need more, not less.

David Wheeler: 00:16:37

Yeah. And ATR is Appalachian Trail, is. Sections are closed.

Realize that's not a Park foundation issue, but still, some federal money in there on some work programs would open that back up. And yeah, you're absolutely right. It's essential.

Even my little small town up here in Spruce Pineapple, you know, we're down the road from Rhone Mountain in the AT Trail, and the, you know, the community has seen a huge drop off in overnighters coming down or asking to be brought down from Roan for the night. And those things matter. But I, you know, I think, I think you're talking about the right things.

I think it's going to take a lot of work and raise a lot of Money. You raised 2.3 last time, which that was a pretty good chunk of change.

And, and I'll, I bet you with help of our listeners and others, we can, we can broach that or beat that amount this time around. And so we'll, we'll have more on this down the road. MO has not officially filed yet, so we're not asking for donations. But keep an eye on this space.

And Mo, thanks for the update on your career move.

Col Moe Davis: 00:17:39

Yeah, absolutely. Stay tuned.

David Wheeler: 00:17:42

This is David Wheeler with American Muckrakers. We'll be right back after this message.

And we're hoping you'll take a look at our website and consider a donation today@americanmuckrakers.com well, we're fortunate today to have.

Col Moe Davis: 00:17:57

Another great guest on Muck You! Joining David and I.

It's Sam Newton is the communications director for the Democratic Democratic Governors association, which right now there are, I believe, 23 Democratic governors, including our own Josh Stein here in North Carolina. I found out, you know, doing a little research, Sam and I have a lot in common. We both attended George Washington university up in D.C.

and we also have a, an educational connection to the Dublin where Sam attended the Clinton Institute at the University College in Dublin, which if you ever get a chance to go to Ireland, it's a beautiful place.

But my connection is when I was there in Dublin, I did the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl where you spend two and a half hours hitting different pubs and drinking. And at the end there's a quiz and whoever wins the quiz gets a T shirt.

And I was proud to come back to America with my Dublin Literary Pub Crawl T shirt. So, Sam, thanks for thanks for joining us today.

Sam Newton (DGA): 00:19:02

Yeah, thanks so much for having me on, colonel I'm excited to be here. And I did not realize that we were both GW grads. And what a coincidence that we both were in Dublin.

I think next time we do this, we should just be at a pub over there having a Guinness. How about that?

Col Moe Davis: 00:19:15

Oh, I agree. Yeah, I remember, I think it was I ended up in a tie with a Canadian guy.

And so the tiebreaker question was about which of I think it's Kitty Kiernan, which of her parents owned the Dukes, which was an old pub there where Michael Collins, the revolutionary hung out. And turned out it was her mother and the other guy, I guessed the father. So I came home with the T shirt and the Canadian guy went home empty handed.

So.

Sam Newton (DGA): 00:19:44

Well, I'm definitely never going based off that alone, I'm definitely never going up against you on trivia, or at least we could be. Or, or at least I'm going to be on your team.

Col Moe Davis: 00:19:51

How about that?

Sam Newton (DGA): 00:19:52

All right.

Col Moe Davis: 00:19:52

All right. Well, I'm glad to have you on the team and thanks for the work you're doing.

I mean, it's, the times we're living in are really, you know, it'd be hard to fathom if you go back 10 or 20 years and describe what we're living today, people would think you're, you should be committed. But you saw where the last, I guess yesterday the Republicans passed the big beautiful bill through the committees. And I was really surprised.

I'm finding myself more and more people that I've just historically disagreed with agreeing with.

And it was Josh Hawley who said this bill is, quote, to quote him, taxing the poor to give to the rich and a lot of it's going to get dumped back on the states and on, on the governors.

And I'm just curious, on, from a gov, the governor's perspective, what's their take on this big beautiful bill that's making its way through Congress?

Sam Newton (DGA): 00:20:51

Yeah, thank you so much for bringing that up. And it does feel like we're living in chaotic times.

And that really seems like what you get when Donald Trump's in the White House and Republicans are in Congress. You know, I believe that Democrats are the party that's looking out for the middle class and working people.

And this bill would do the exact opposite. And it's pretty frustrating because Donald Trump won on a promise to lower costs on day one.

But since he's been in office, the terrorists have jacked up costs. And now what this bill is going to do is rip people off health care.

And earlier this week, all 23 Democratic governors who represent a majority of the US population banded together and put together a statement speaking out about how these cuts to Medicaid and to SNAP would hurt the people in their states. And I think it was really important that they did this for two reasons. I think the first is a lot of The Republicans in D.C.

are just trying to say, oh, we're just shifting the costs back to the states. There's not going to be cuts.

But what the Democratic governors who actually work across the aisle and our executives and have to balance budgets is they said that's not true at all.

The notion that this is going to be anything other than massive cuts is ridiculous because it's not possible to backfill this funding with state resources. And so people are going to lose health care.

And you guys are in North Carolina, where Governor Cooper, it took him years, but he got it done and expanded Medicaid. I believe there's over 600,000 people on Medicaid in North Carolina right now. It's been a huge success.

And this is going to be particularly devastating for rural communities. Like, let's just zero in. When Medicaid gets ripped away, people lose their health care.

Less people in rural communities are going to start going to those hospitals. The rural hospitals and health clinics are going to close. We've seen this in Republican states that haven't expanded Medicaid.

They have rural hospitals closure crisis. The doctors and the nurses leave those communities that that's losing customers for small businesses. It's a hit to the local economy.

And then even worse, grandparents, parents and kids have to drive hours to get the health care that they need. Or even worse, they won't get it at all.

And so it's important that we are talking about this every single day and holding the Republicans accountable. And you can bet that if this bill becomes law, Americans are going to be very angry when their health care is getting ripped away.

And we're going to be holding the Republicans running for Governor in the 38 races we have this year and next accountable. And we're going to be making this a really big issue.

Col Moe Davis: 00:23:22

Yeah, it's a big deal here in western North Carolina. You know, as you know, we got hit hard by Hurricane Helene, and it's going to take a long time to get back to whatever the new normal is going to be.

But, you know, Donald Trump came down, said, you know, he's going to build back, you know, bigger and more beautiful than ever. And people here are still waiting. And the plan is to eliminate fema.

And I'll be honest with you, you know, fema, the response was not perfect, but it was pretty damn good from, from what I saw. And this notion of, of, you know, getting rid of FEMA and dumping that back on the states.

North Carolina, the mountains here, have an estimated $60 billion of damage from Hurricane Aline. And our state budget is $32 billion a year.

So if this got dumped on the states, it would take two years of, you know, if you did nothing else in government, it would take two years of the budget to cover the damage here. So Josh Stein has spent a lot of time out here in western North Carolina.

And I know folks appreciate it, but what are the governors saying about this proposal to dump, to dump FEMA and make the states pick up the disaster relief?

Sam Newton (DGA): 00:24:39

I'm glad you brought that up because this is really one of those issues that should not be about Republicans or Democrats.

I think everyone can agree, especially those hardest hit by these devastating natural disasters that just put the politics aside, do the right thing and help people out.

And I think Governor Beshear in Kentucky is someone who has been very outspoken about the need to protect FEMA and has been honest about the fact that he's worked with the Trump administration to help eastern Kentucky recover from the floods and help western Kentucky recover from the tornadoes. And I know you guys are. I've been to Asheville before. I think it's beautiful. Granted, I was mostly there just for the hiking.

I think that's why a lot of people go there and probably live there. So I hope you guys are doing okay. It's great to see that Governor Stein has made it a top focus. That's one of the big things he campaigned on.

And I know it was his day one priority. I think I saw just recently that he announced $55 million in grants for more than 2,000 Western North Carolina businesses.

So I hope people continue to get the help that they need. And if Donald Trump tries to get rid of FEMA and makes these huge cuts, that's just not going to hurt.

That's going to hurt people in red states and blue states. And so it just really can't be political. And it is the job of Democratic governors to work with anyone to deliver results.

And that's exactly what they do.

ates that Donald Trump won in: 2024

David Wheeler: 00:26:20

Well, Sam, Governor Stein is doing a great job and we're big fans of him, Mo and I. And, and, you know, folks think FEMA is not doing their job.

They should see the 27 trucks out here that are loading debris off state highways and out of private property. Governor Stein went to bat for folks that have damage on their own private property. And he's getting debris removed with FEMA money.

And that's in my little county here. The county has. They very smartly gave the money to the county. The county. $20 million for this small county, about 12,000 people, Mitchell County.

$20 million is being used to help remove debris. So if folks think Democrats and Democrat governors aren't effective, they aren't. They aren't living on the same planet.

I do, and I live in this community and I see these trucks all the time. I give every one of them a thumbs up because thank goodness they're here doing that.

And thank goodness Josh Stein is working his ass off for us out here in western North Carolina.

But my question for you, Sam, after my little rant, is why is it that the Democrat governor DNA is to get done and the Republican DNA is drama and politics?

You look at Florida, you know DeSantis, he's admired or enmeshed in a, in a controversy around $10 million of state money that his wife got it for her foundation. J.B. pritzker doesn't have those problems in Illinois. Governor Hochul doesn't have crap like that going on up in New York.

Why is it that the Democrats have to be the adults in the room all the time, but then we get all the blame when, you know, when election time comes around?

Sam Newton (DGA): 00:28:18

You know, I think that is a great question and I'm glad you brought it up. I'm happy to talk about the contrast between Democratic governors and Republican governors every single day.

One way I like to think of it is function versus dysfunction or freedom versus extremism. Right. You see Democratic governors focusing on creating jobs for people whether or not they have a college degree.

When Governor Josh Shapiro went to office, one of the first things he did is he got rid of a requirement, a college degree requirement for tens of thousands of state government jobs. That created a bunch of opportunity for people with all sorts of backgrounds to get a good paying job and support their family.

Governor Hochul is someone who is leading the nation by expanding prenatal care for mothers.

And in Kansas, Governor Kelly is helping families out with the high cost of groceries by she got rid of, she worked with Republicans to eliminate the grocery tax. That's saving Kansas families an average of around 500 bucks a year.

And so Democratic governors do remain very laser focused on those kitchen table issues that make people's lives better every single day. And it's not just good policy, it is good politics.

And we, I think, have had electoral success at the state level because the Democratic governors are able to block out the noise and really zero in on those issues and then drive the contrast with the Republicans, as you said, who, you know, really do feel way more concentrated on dividing us, banning abortion. And I think Governor Walz said it great.

He was our chair in: 2024

He was waking up every day and he was making it easier for kids to get free meals at schools, which is, you know, making sure kids don't get hungry.

But it's also basically a tax cut for middle class families every single day who don't need to worry about how they're going to pay for their kids lunch. But the Republicans were focused on all these divisive and chaotic culture wars.

And so that's a contrast that we're talking about every single day, the dga and one that we're going to be talking about, the two big races we have this year in Virginia and New Jersey, which I'd be happy to talk about, too.

David Wheeler: 00:30:33

Yeah. And that was going to be my next question.

You know, Tom Vilsack's a very good friend of mine and I remember in his first election, I think it was 98, the DGA came in in October and saved his ass with serious advice that put him over the top. Who are our candidates in this in New Jersey and in the other election in Virginia this year?

Sam Newton (DGA): 00:31:02

For sure, I'll start in Virginia because we have a very strong Democratic nominee and former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger.

She is someone who's always put public service first and always put Virginia first and just focusing on doing the right thing and getting real results, whether that's when she was a federal law enforcement officer or in the CIA focusing on keeping families safe or when she was in Congress and was rated the most bipartisan member of Congress in Virginia because she was working across the aisle to help veterans and help strengthen Social Security.

And that's going to be a huge contrast with the Republican who's running, who's the lieutenant governor, Winsome Earl Sears, who, you know, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have put so many federal jobs. That's having a huge impact in Virginia. People are in Virginia where the economy is tanking because of it. And Winsome Earl Sears said it's not.

She doesn't understand why it's a huge, huge thing that people are losing jobs. What are you talking about? Everyone thinks their job's a huge deal.

That's how you pay your bills, that's how you support your family, that's how you pay for your housing. When someone loses their job, that is a huge deal.

And it's just absolutely outrageous that someone's running for governor as a Republican in Virginia. But one supporting this agenda that is ripping away jobs from people in Virginia, but then on the back end basically mocking their concerns about it.

So it's going to be a close race. Virginia is always close. There's going to be a lot of eyes on it.

We can't take anything for granted, but we do have a strong candidate and former Congresswoman Spanberger, who's going to put Virginia first and focus on affordability, whether it's health care or housing, funding public schools and keeping families safe first. Winsome Earl Sears, who would drag the state backwards, doesn't seem to care about Virginia jobs and has a record of supporting abortion bans.

David Wheeler: 00:32:59

And would she be the first female governor as well?

Sam Newton (DGA): 00:33:03

Yes.

David Wheeler: 00:33:04

Virginia. Yeah, that's cool.

Sam Newton (DGA): 00:33:06

And. Yeah, it is cool. And right now, just as a quick side point, we have eight women Democratic governors, which is historic and the most we've ever had.

And so this is a big opportunity to add number nine.

David Wheeler: 00:33:19

All right. And then Jersey.

Sam Newton (DGA): 00:33:21

Yeah, yeah. And then going up to New Jersey real quick, there still is a primary. The DGA is neutral.

In open Democratic primaries, we have a big benchmark of very qualified leaders.

We're going to let the voters sort it out, but we're confident, no matter who wins, we're going to have a strong nominee that's focused on affordability and making life better for people in New Jersey and will also stand up to the chaos that's happening from Donald Trump. And Republicans in D.C. like fighting to protect Medicaid and SNAP and standing up for New Jersey schools.

And then, in contrast, on the Republican side, there's Jack Cittarelli, who's want, who's run and lost before, and he has a few other opponents. Cittarelli did get the Trump endorsement this week, but I think it came a little too late to settle out the primary.

There's still a ton of infighting there, and they're all trying to see who can hug Trump the most.

And that just shows that whoever wins that Republican nomination will be someone who's extreme and out of touch and really just cares more about loyalty to Trump than New Jersey. So those are our two really big races this year in Virginia and New Jersey, and we're excited about them.

David Wheeler: 00:34:28

Yeah. And the Democrat, I hope, will build upon my good friend Phil Murphy's hard work.

I think Phil gets a lot of crap, but people don't realize how much Trump is messing with Jersey these days because he wants to and because he wants to unsettle things there. But over to you moving.

Sam Newton (DGA): 00:34:51

And I would just say sorry to jump in real quick, Governor Murphy has been chair of the DGA twice. He's done an outstanding job.

And I think a lot of people kind of forget that when he became governor, he inherited a total disaster from Chris Christie.

And he really, he really got the state back on track, focusing on restoring fiscal sanity, getting credit upgrades, raising the minimum wage, cutting taxes for the middle class. He's been a really strong example of how a Democratic governor can come in and kind of clean up the mess of these Republicans.

David Wheeler: 00:35:22

Yeah. And again, no drama. Just get shit done, move on. Let's make things work for the people. And, you know, God bless Phil. He's a good guy.

Col Moe Davis: 00:35:31

Hey, Sam.

There's a story on CBS News this week saying that 60% of American households can't afford a minimal quality of life, you know, much less try to live the American dream. How did we manage to lose the bubble on being the party that is for the, for the working class, and how do we get that back?

Sam Newton (DGA): 00:35:54

You know, that's something worth thinking about every day. So I think it's a fair question. I'll be honest. I don't know.

I have the exact answer of how we, of how we seem to have lost right now, that people don't associate Democrats with being the party of the middle class, but we need to right now. I think there's a real opportunity focusing on, on the economy every single day.

Going back to what I said at the top, Donald Trump ran on a promise to lower costs on day one. Since then, he's done nothing but raise costs and try to rip away health care.

And so there's a huge opening for Democrats, I think, especially Democratic governors, to focus on being the leaders who are trying to make life better for the middle class and working class people. And, you know, a lot of our Democratic governors are talking about affordability every single day. I mentioned Governor Kelly cutting the grocery tax.

a really tough reelection in: 2022

She was talking about bringing American manufacturing jobs back from China into Michigan, which is home, which was the birthplace of the middle class in many ways. And she was talking about tuition free community college. And so it is an important thing that we need to be thinking about.

And I think for people who are out there, aren't totally sure where to look or what to do at the dga, we say look to the states, look to the Democratic governors. We have 38 races over the next two years.

We have 23 Democratic governors who are waking up every day and delivering on the economy, delivering on public education, delivering on health care. They are strong executives who truly do care about the middle class and they get shit done.

And so I think that is the best path forward and where we need to look.

David Wheeler: 00:37:39

Well, that's terrific. And our guest today has been Sam Newton with the Democratic Governors Association. And our special thanks to Julia Hammelberg for helping set this up.

Sam, if folks want to donate to these governors, what's the best way to do it?

Sam Newton (DGA): 00:37:55

You should text demgov to: 30201

David Wheeler: 00:38:07

All right, terrific. Thank you, Sam. Thank you, Mo. This has been muck you.

Sam Newton (DGA): 00:38:12

Thanks so much for having me on.

Col Moe Davis: 00:38:14

Thanks, Sam. Really appreciate it.

Jimmy Muckraker: 00:38:16

This has been muck you. Co hosted by Colonel Mo Davis in Asheville, North Carolina, and David Wheeler in Spruce Pine, North Carolina.

Thanks to our guest today, Sam Newton from the Democratic Governors Association. Learn more about the DGA at Democratic Governors Document. Special thanks to Julia Hammelberg of the DGA for her help with this episode.

merican Muckrakers. Copyright: 2025

Follow us on Blue sky under AmericanMokrakers.com and on substack@AmericanMokrakers.substack.com you can learn more and donate@AmericanMokrakers.com David and Mo hope y' all come back soon for a new episode. And remember to never take shit from anyone, especially Trump.