Tag Archives: Purple District

Interview 1: Embattled Rep. Don Bacon, Nebraska Republican, gets the goods for his district …

Curtain raiser (curtain raised) on my conversation with Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.).

Podcast Episode #1 – Rep. Don Bacon talks with Article One

We spoke in late September shortly before the ebbs and flows and ebb of the negotiations between the White House and Speaker Nancy Pelosi on reaching a 5th COVID-related economic recovery package.

As of this writing, it appears Rep. Bacon’s outlook proved prescient.

Bacon touches on politics briefly in our chat but mostly we discussed his work as a lawmaker representing a deeply purple district in a deeply divided Congress.

The retired Air Force lieutenant colonel shares bits of his personal life, areas where he disagrees with President Trump and ways that legislating in Congress has helped the folks of the 2nd District in Nebraska.

Take a listen and let me know your thoughts.

*** Correction – I accidentally assigned Bacon to the 5th district … mea culpa … Bacon represents the SECOND District … many thanks for the heads up (she types sheepishly) ***

Get ready to hear from the purple district lawmakers …

The response to Article One has been fantastic – lawmakers and senators are enthusiastic to talk with me about the job of making laws and investigating those other two branches of government.

I plan to release four podcast episodes this week that feature lawmakers who represent so-called purple districts – swing districts – battlegrounds.

Over the past few weeks, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-N.Y.) sat down to speak with me via zoom. The conversations were wide-ranging and informative.

From left to right: Rep. Bacon, Rep. Spanberger, Rep. Schweikert and Rep. Brindisi

Each lawmaker is locked in a tight re-election contest. Brindisi is even running against the former lawmaker he unseated in 2018, former GOP Rep. Claudia Tenney (N.Y.)

These races are considered “toss-ups,” or “leans” one way by the non-partisan Cook Political report. Brindisi and Spanberger represent districts that President Trump won in 2016. Bacon and Schweikert’s seats are top targets by the House Democrats’ campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC.)

Check out the next post for these lawmakers’ respective answers to the question: will Congress and the White House agree to a fifth package before Election Day?

As soon as the episodes are live, I will add an embedded link on this website and/or you will be able to subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.