Additional fundiprovided by. Corporate funding is provided by. Support for this episode was provided by. Now ill introduce you to my three guests who hope to be elected to congress in november. I. My name is young kim. Im Ashley Hinson. Im Lisa Scheller. Theseomen are trying to do something that hasnt happened very often. 11,040 amerins have served in the house of representativese since unding. 318 have been women. 100 have been republican women. 13 republican women serve in the house of representatives today. And when im elected in november, i will be e first koreanamerican republican woman to serve in the United States congress. Young kim is trying to win the congressnal district that was richardixons home base, once solidly conservative, mostly white, orange county, california. But like so much of america, her district has changed. And now she believes the repuican party must change, too. Just in this ll alone, we have a rean restaurant, we have vietnamese restaurant, we have taiwaneseamerican h bakee. It tells a lot about the diversity we have in th39th district. I believe the Republican Party has fallen short in encouraging and empowering women to run r office in the first place. That has been the case over the lt few decades. Congress is where make the laws. Its the policymaking body, and women tend to support policies that prioritize families, healthcare, education. And for someone likee who comes from a different ethnic background,we i thinring different perspectives. Kim ran for congress for the first time two years ago. November 2018, on election night, ictually won. I was ahead. A historic day at the 2018 u. S. Midterm elections. He i mean, when youre a by like twodigit margins, you almost feel like, okay, we got it. After the election, she went to washington, d. C. , for freshman orientation. But then, when the mailin votes were finally counted. A koreanamerican candidate running for a seat in the u. S. House of representatives has st. Her opponent became the first democrat to win the district since the great depression. I told everybody, i dont utow what im going to do, dont think that young kim is done. Young kim decided to run again. The rematch is set for this november. It wasnt an easy decision, but i know what im up against. But that doesnt scare me. I amot a quitter. You know . Winners dont quit. Es Ashley Hinson was the second violinist in theoines Symphony Orchestra in 2001 when she decided to chae careers. Joing us live this morning from washington, d. C. , iowa senator chuck grassley. Re i got my din broadcast journalism and worked for more than 10 years as a news anchor telling oples stories, which is what i love to do. She changed caree again four years ago, running for and winning a seat in the iowa state legislature. Hi, there, everybody. Im state representative Ashley Hinson. It was actually pretty simple. It was a its just a matter of saying, you know wh . Im tired of talking about it,do and i want t something about it. Ive found it incredibly rewarding to be able to go and work on policy issuesul and advocate and tell the stories of my constituents where theyre really important as were having those big discussions about public policy. I think my problem is, ive got a mask. This year, hinson is running for congress in iowas 1st dirict, challenging a firsttermemocrat, abby finkenauer. The future of our statetr and our cois on the line. When i hear that there are, you know, few conservative women, i think absolutely thats inspiring. And, to me, its a reasonul that i sstep up and run. Im a mom. Im a working mom. I have a very supportive husband. That i have someboind me who has made it so that i can be able to step up and do this. N i wahe other se of the street in. [ children shouting, laughing ]t give me a cheezits [ laughs ] should probably do that again. Were not going into the plan. More women are willing to run for office. I believe we are seeing a sea change in that, ani think thats a very positive thing. Lisa scheller is running to represent pnsylvanias 7th district, near where she grew up in coal country. I had some struggles in my life, and i took i went down a road of addiction, and it took me to a very, very dark place. By the grace of god, though, at age 22, i hit rock bottom. And rock bottom is a very solid foundaon for growth. Scheller has been sober now for 38 years, and she says she understands from personal experience the impact of the Opioid Crisis on her community. Hey, lauren, how are you . I founded a coffee shop in tamaqua. Hey, any chance i could get a lisa latte . Where the addiction rate is more than twice the national rate. And this coffee shop employs addicts in early recovery with the mission to end the stigma of being in recovery. Your mom is a huge success story. You know, i just cant believe the growth that she has had in the last few years. The goal is not for people to be baristas here foreve the goal is that to its a stepping stone. Its a pathway into the community. Today, Lisa Scheller also runs a Family Business that makes specialty paint using aluminum pigment. Im a businessperson and an enginr. Im not a politician. So what i plan to do in this campaign is really draw a clear picture of what the values that i represent, e values of personal liberty, equality of opportunity. Liberal Lisa Scheller, just another prochina, antitrump, fake conservative. Scheller ran in theri republican pmary against a man who accused her of not being a true conservative. It was close, but in early june, she won. Congratulions to all of you. This has truly been a team effort. Lisa scheller, Ashley Hinsonn young kim are each in tight races with four months left to convince voterswa to send themshington. Lisa scheller, welng kim, to firing line. Thank you for having us. Thank you so much for havings 2018 was actually called the year of the woman because of the Record Numbers of women that were elected the house of representatives. Who wouldve known that just two years later, a Record Number of republican women would file for federal office and file to run for the hoe of representatives . The three of you have cleared ose first hurdles and will be on the ballots in november. Ntd like each of you to tell me why it was imporor you to run in 2020. Ashley, why dont you go first . Sure. Well, i looked at the chaos and dysfunction in washington, d. C. , w and thought absolutely the right time as a republican woman to step up d be that important voice for conservative women he country and, most importantly, in the 1st district here in iowa. So, for me,no it was really rainer. I think there is a good reason for republican women to step up and run. We bring a unique perspective to t table, a voice that is missing in washington, d. , in some cases. I think the are more men named jim in the house than there are women in the Republican Caucus in the house. And sohen you think about that, its absolutely important to have a strongoi conservative stepping up to run. We have different, unue perspective, as ashley mentioned, as lisa, you mentioned. We bring a unie perspective. My backgund as an immigrant woman, mother, Small Businesswoman, woman needs to have a seat at the table when we discuss policies that affect all of us. Were not justousewives. You know what . Housewife, being a mom, its probably the best title that we we can all talk about becae it gives us the abilit to handle multiple things. We are multitaskers. We wanted to get things done, and we want to work in a bipartisan manner. And for us, we know how to get things done by reaching across the ais. I think the importance iv having greater gender balance in our politicalsity is exactly what young was saying. We really ed to have these this diversity of experience, thisiversity of perspective. The broader its more representati of what our country is. A little bit of the perspective that i bring from the struggles that ive had, one, being open about my recovery from addiction. Anive been 38 years continuously clean and sober from addiction. I understa the struggle that people go through when theyre going through this and the coection to mental health. And this is a perspective that i would be bringing to congress if i have the honor to be elected. So, as you are all trying to change the dynamic and the balance between republican women and Democratic Women as we know, there are 101 Democratic Women in the house of representatives right now and only 13 republican women. Youre all trying to do something about that. But even if we just step away from the partisan identification,dd if youp all of the women in the house of representatives, it is still only 25 , when women are 50 of the electorate. Go ahead, young. Why is that . Et be frank. In the past, Republican Party hanot doned as g a job of encouraging and recruiting woman to run for partisan s. And when they do, are we you knowait until they ma it out of the primary and then throw their support in. U know, in 20198, there were 17 cand. Open seat, i worked my butt off. I became the tough gogetter out of the 17 candidates, and i was left with running against a cafornia Lottery Winner who spent about 10 million. You know, even though i got help, the party came in after summer. And what im saying is, need to step up, and the partyom has toin earlier to help us out. Ert in 2020, were gonna its gonna be dit. So, young, what i think ure too polite to say is that the party recognized in 2018 the party, the party apparatus, the party infrastructure, the party elders recognized that they could do better after 2018. Oh, yes. Nd that there has been a recognition. Do you see a difference in how the party has respondedte to women candithis race versus your previous race . Oh, my god, a stark difference. I was, like, being asked to run instead of me going and begging people, can i run . Can lp me . Well, let me pose it to lisa and ashley a slightly different way. And its the following. Republicans tend to focus on individual achievement and individuals overroup identity. So how do you guys square this idea that we believehi in individual ement and we believe in the primacy of the individual over identity politics . Ashley, do you want to takene a stab at thatirst . Sure. Well, first and foremost, i dit run because im a woman. Im running because i have ideas and i want to work with people to find solutions. And i think that identity polics, yes, they have their place. We as women need to cheer each other on. We absolutely need to have each others backs. But we have to focus on the issues. We can do better on all of these issues. And bringing our unique perspective to theable will just help to find Better Solutions for all pple across the country. Hey, lisa, id love to get a sense om you. Youre just through a primary. I dont want to look back too much because its over. [ laughter ] t what was really interesting to me, lisa, about your primary is that your male opponent characterized you as not being conservative enough. You were following it, werent you. Dean browning said, liberal lying Lisa Scheller is a nancy pelosi clone. Do you think that gender plays differentlypu for ican women in primaries than it does in a general election . If i were to be perfectly frank about those atcks that were made on me as an ponent, yes. I will get will get attacked in a different way from my from susan wd Going Forward. But that way i think, i hope is over. And we can unify the Republican Party around me as the nominee representing pennsylva in the general election. Ashley, i think i saw you nod when isked the question about how gender plays for republican women in a primary electionen versus aal election and that there is a difference. Did you want to add anything to that . Yh, i would just add, i think, you know, when we were making calls and our team was making cal, there are still people who just i think in theeneral election,. What were going to see is, im also running against a liberal, firstterm democrat woman. And so gender, i dont think really matters in this race. Its about whos the qualified candidate, Going Forward, and i happen to be the mostif qud woman candidate its hard to avcongress. Current events. The fact that one of you is in iowa, one of you is in california, and one of y is in pennsylvania, and im coming to you from south carolina, because of social distancing, t because covid9 pandemic. You know, the things some of the things that you all have said you represent, the republicans represent d fisccipline, lower taxes, limited government have really been turned udown. The federal government has spent tremendous amount of money,il close to 4 on, in the last few months. So, ashley, i wonder if if you could take that one. Could you address how, as a conservative republican that believes in limited government and fiscal conservatism, how do you square that with how washington has responded to the covid19 pandemic . When you talkth abou bigger impact of whats happening with covid, i think weve seen people take advantage of a crisis to further their agenda, which is exactly whats wrong with washingn, d. C. , and politics, in general. When you see people taking advante of an aid package to add an extreme amount of spending to priorities ieat arent really about r and providing that assistance to businesses that have been hurt by this challenging time, i think thats exactly whats wrong with waington politics right no i mean, we need to be really recentering ourselves and focusing on helping the people who we are elected to serve and help. Fiscal responsibility should be more of the conversation as we think about fiscal stimulus and aid Going Forward . Yeah, i think we need to be very careful about these spending packages. They are huge. I think, you know, people have lost track of what a trillion dollars really mean for our country. Ms not monopoly money. Its real taxpayey. And that debt is going to be piled on my childrens back and my childrens childrens back. And i think that perspective has gone missingin hese conversations. Absolutely we want to make sure that these packages are helping those who they are intended to help. But we need to be very cognizant of that long term, long game when were making these decisions. And, ashl, i hear you. I mean, we need to be fiscally responsible in the way that we spend money because this is taxpayers m and what we decide to do ght now, its going h e a lasting impact. What the federal government did, in terms of bringing lief to help families and businesses at times likthis to get us through the crisis, i think its warranted. But when nancy pelosi pushes through a very partisan bill without ansupport from the other side, pushing it, even with e bipartisan opposition, this is exactly whats wrong with house of reentative and whats going on lisa, would you. To share with us . As youampaign through the fall and the covid19 pandemic is still with us, what is gonna be the most Important Message for you and for the peoplea of pennsylva im a Small Business owner, and i know the struge that other Small Business oers had. You know, we have to maintain safety and make su that we are safe and healthy, but we need to systematically open up our country, open up our states, put people back toork, get our economy going. Were talking about illions of dollars idebt, as you mentioned. The best way to counter that is a robust economy, a growing economy where people are making ne businesses are making money, and taxes are being paid on that money. And we need to still keep our taxes low because thats whats going to spur ourconomy and make sure that that growth happens. At the end of the day,r americans. This is the greatest country in the world, and we are resilient, and we are gonna come back from this, and were gonna come back stronger than ever. Our country is still working through the aftermath of the death of george floyd, nde africanamerican man who died at the of a white Police Officer on may 25th. D what id love is get your reaction to that tragic event. D ashley, ve to start with you. Seeing the video of what happened to georgeloyd made me literally sick to my stomach. My husband and i were watchingev it, and i thinybody was appalled about what happened there. Justice has to happen for hi he deserves that. And what that Police Officer did was absolutely wrong. I think seeing people destroy property does a disservice to the memory of george floyd and his family. I think what we need to be focused on is instead of destruction, constructivepr ess. Ashley just said george floyd needs justice. And thats something that people are saying across the country. Protesters, demonstrators, avage citizens are saying, this man needs justice. What do you belie justice looks like . Young, to you first. Sur let me first say that my reaction to the video, which eventually led to George Floyds killing, really shook me to my core. But i would like to ask people to use your to express how you feel,ght but lets do it in a peaceful way to bring about dialogue. And i ll support anyone who wants to have a conversation come to the table. But we need to do it in a peaceful manner. Lisa, what do you believe orstice will look like for george floyd andis family . So, when i watched also watched e video of george floyd being murdered, which is what it was, i was also physically very shaken. This shouldnt happen america. The officers responsiblebe need teld accountable. And i think thats gonna happen. I believe that has to happen. Protesting peacefuo are but the rioting and do, i understand the ang that people feel. Te maybe cant reo it directly because ive never been in that position. But pele are angry because of racism and discrimination. But it criminal activity. Anas it was just said, it does it does not honor the memory of george floyd. We come from all parts of the world, and were all created equal. And we need to get to oint where that is how we behave as americans. One of the things that has come to pass in the last few years is the Metoo Movement,po antics has not been immune