Candidate Interview-Melissa Strange US Congressional District 4

In this interview, Democratic candidate Melissa Strange discusses her campaign for U.S. Congress in Kentucky's 4th district, her policy priorities, and her vision for government reform. She shares her background, insights on district diversity, and plans to bring change to Congress.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Blue Dot, Northern Kentucky's premier political podcast. Brought to you by the Kenton County Democratic Executive Committee. Welcome back to Loot Up Podcast, where we are looking ahead to the 2026 midterm elections. Kentucky's fourth congressional district has been under the same representation for over a decade. But there is a new voice looking to change the conversation from partisan good luck to practical solutions for you. Thanks for joining. I'm Natalie McDonald.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

And I'm Brian Cale. Joining us today is Melissa Strange. She is a lifelong Northern Kentuckian with an educational background in business, international relations, political science, and economics, and is now a Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress. Melissa, thanks for being here.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Thanks for having me. So I've heard from you, but I'd like to hand it over to you, Tatar listeners, a little bit more about yourself and what got you interested in running to unseat the incumbent Thomas Massey. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

Yeah. Um, as Brian mentioned, I'm the lifeline Northern Kentuckian, born and raised in Villa Hills. I live in Harlinger now. We built a house behind my husband's parents, which isn't crazy because they're actually fabulous people. Um so it's nice living so close. Uh I have two older um adult boys. They're 24 and 20. I I've been an academic team coach for a long time. We've we've been very involved really in their in in their lives, getting, you know, getting them up to college and teaching them a lot uh about you know our government, our politics, our you know, our wonderful democracy. Um through all of that, I have grown more and more frustrated, I think as we all have, with watching how things are going. And um, I really just felt like I couldn't sit on the sidelines and and watch it anymore. Um I grew up with Matt Lehman, who ran against Massey in 22, uh, over from the same little tiny street in Villa Hills. And so then when Massey ran unopposed in 24, and on election night that night, I kind of burst blurred out in a bit of rage to my husband, who is very sweet and has no desire to be in the public in the public eye whatsoever, that I was gonna run against Massey because I couldn't take it anymore and I had to do something. Um, and a lot of that is because growing up here, being surrounded by most everyone I know and love here being Republican, I've listened to all of them say for 13 years how much they didn't like him. And they just voted for him because he was who was on the ballot, not because they thought he was doing anything for the district or anything else. And I just couldn't take that anymore. So um I snapped because I couldn't take that, and I couldn't stand the idea that my boys don't think that government really works because they don't remember a time where it has.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Yeah, that's uh running unopposed, you know, is really hurt us and it's really hurt. We've talked about how it it degrades the the candidates on the Republican side. They don't have to get serious about it necessarily. So it's uh it's a lose-lose for both sides in our in our government. And this race is really interesting. Uh, if you win the primary on May 18th, you will be going against, as we had mentioned, Thomas Massey, who is facing a pretty tough primary himself. And then there is the problem of his voting record and inability to have passed one piece of legislation in 13 years in Congress. It seems to me that he's pretty vulnerable.

SPEAKER_02 3:27

Definitely. I think he's definitely scared. Um, yeah, as you mentioned, his voting record, he has never, until the FSTN Act last year, he had never successfully passed a piece of legislation. He's voted against plenty. Um, pretty much, it feels like just about everything that earned him the reputation of Mr. No in Congress. But he has literally not passed anything, um, and definitely nothing for this district. Most of any of the legislation that has been presented in the last several years that would have helped this district or problems that we're facing, like the infrastructure bill with the funding for the Friends Fence Companion Bridge, uh, he voted against. And his justification is typically always the cost of things or other things bundled into the bill. And and I and I understand that logic to an extent, but uh you come to a point where you know you're not gonna cut off your nose to spite your face, right? You you're gonna have to accept the good with the bad sometimes to get what the people in your district really need because that's who you're there to represent. He also is a little bit contrarian in in what he chooses to vote for, like he voted against the real ID legislation years ago because he he cited that was government overreach, but now he's voting for the Save Act. So I I don't really understand, I I can't really reconcile that there, how that wouldn't be also government overreach in his mind. He voted against a bill to stop forced organ harvesting that that condemned the trafficking of harvested human organs. I he it was a like a 406 to 1 vote. He was the one. It doesn't make sense what he does, but he's always that one weird. Yeah. Anytime you see a how a vote in the house where there is a a very micro minority, like one or two against, you can look it up. It's almost always him. Um, and so because of that, he he well, he ticked Trump off enough that now Trump's gotta handpick somebody to primary him. And I think he's nervous. I I talk to a lot of people in the district, and it's really kind of funny because everybody I talk to starts with or prefaces it with, I know I'm in the minority, but I think he's gonna lose the primary. But I hear that so often, those people aren't in the minority because that seems to be the larger opinion. Um and it goes back to he just really didn't make himself a lot of friends in his own party over the years. And I think that's gonna come back to bite him. Um I think most of the people I've talked to who have softened on him a bit are are really dumbs in independents because they look at him as standing up to Trump and being principled and doing the right thing. So that's a very, very small window of time, but they can't help him in the primary, and it's really gonna come down to primary turnout and who shows up.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Yeah, I think it's interesting when you do hear people say, Oh, but he's it's look at Massey, he's standing up against Trump. But what he's standing up against Trump is on like protecting pedophiles. Like, I don't think you should get a gold star for doing something that is just blatantly correct. Exactly. So I think when people give him props, I'm like, well, that doesn't, that that's great. I mean, there's no doubt, but he shouldn't get a gold star for it. But let's talk about all the other things. Like he voted against an anti-lynching bill. Like he said all of these things. So, you know, he I just think that I'm I I think that people are giving him a pass a little bit. Like you said, it's like kind of like Democrats and independents. And we'll see what happens because we'll we'll we'll see how um strong, how much of a stronghold Trump has with his pick in this primary. Definitely. But um, well, that's enough kind of about his platform. We already know that we don't want that. Nobody wants that, right? How about yours? I I know you talk a lot about affordable and accessible quality of life. If you could pick, I guess, you know, a couple, one or two federal policies that you'd champion to really help working families in Centon Boone and Campbell in your district, is there anything that kind of sticks out to you that you would really want to go in and fight for?

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Sure. So there's a lot of things. I mean, again, when you look at the major issues that are affecting most people right now, you know, between just affordability, living wage, healthcare, education, all of those things, a lot of them kind of have a foot in both the state and federal world. So different types of legislation that can do different things. And some of it is leans a little bit more towards state. But I mean, I think first and foremost, this tariff issue has got to be overturned. Congress is the one with the authority to to enact tariffs, not the president, and they're letting him do it. So that is something that is immediate that that is that is putting so much additional cost burden on families that were already really stretched with inflated prices and everything else that we were already dealing with. Another thing I think that really would be a policy from a federal level that I think we could really make a you know a difference for a lot of families is the child independent tax care credit. That one specifically is the way it's designed. First of all, it's it's the static amount. So it's not adjusting for inflation, it's not adjusting for cost of living, it's not kind of growing and expanding as you know, costs of living change. It's also not refundable. So what that means is basically for families, especially below the poverty line, who do not have really, you know, a tax burden because their income is so low, there might be a, you know, they might be eligible for$6,000 in tax that tax credit because of having two or more children in child care, but they don't get any of it. All it will do is take their tax burden down to zero. So if they're already at zero, that six thousand dollars credit means nothing to them. They should be able to like receive that as a refund and actually have it held towards something more than just decreasing their burden. They should be able to recognize, you know, to realize that that that's money. Um, and then I think we need to raise that cap too, because if you look at the cost of child care in this area, you know, full, you know, full-time interesting care is gonna run you on average, like I think$12,000 to$18,000 a year. And right now the ta child tax care credit for one is$3,000 and two or more is six. Um, it's just it's just not enough. Um, so we have so many families in this area and really across the country who are spending a huge portion of you know of their income on child care. Then when you couple it with the the housing affordability issues that we have here and they're spending probably the rest of that income on housing, there's it doesn't really leave a lot, much a lot of room for to do much else with that that income that they're working so hard and taking time away from their families to be able to earn. They're really just surviving.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Yeah, that's and that's a similar issue, and it would dress in a in a different way, like pre-K for all. Whereas you're you know, allowing parents, enabling parents to have stable and reliable childcare, which allows them to get back into the workforce, you know, even altogether, or at least in a full-time basis, perhaps, or whatever, or more, which is going to help us. It just helps grow the economy. It helps turn these families into more into consumers, which you know grows everything and helps everybody. It's a great economic stimulus. And your point about the people who need you know that child care, you know, for instance, tax credit or or those dollars for child care the most, because the way it's set up, are the ones who don't get it. I mean, that is just absolutely contrary to what I think we're trying to achieve. Um, and of course, another, of course, uh big hot topic, uh, you know, in in many election years, we would only have one or two that we could pick on the other side to say that, you know, everything else is going okay. We've got this one area, and we're gonna dig into that, but it's across the board right now. I mean, it's take the pick. It's, you know, look at look at the polls, right? I mean, Trump and and the Republicans and his administration are underwater on every major issue. And one of the top ones, of course, is health care. And this has been a you know huge flash point in Kentucky because of the loss of billions of dollars through the big betrayal bill. And, you know, what what are you seeing and your plans and taking the health care fight to ease the burden on your constituents?

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Definitely. So that bill is atrocious, as we all know. Um, the I mean, the the first thing we would have we need to do immediately is repeal that bill, or at least the major portions of it that affect all the all the cuts that were enacted for Medicaid, SNAP, you know, all of these programs, the things that are putting our, you know, up to 35 rural hospitals in the state of Kentucky at risk of closing. Um, we we have to do something, or that is going, I mean, that's gonna be catastrophic, not just on our healthcare industry, um, you know, shifting the population to you know, people having to drive farther, now overcrowding hospitals in other areas, but then also just the fact that they're the biggest job provider in a lot of those communities, it's it's gonna have an economic ripple effect that's a disaster on top of the healthcare portion. I think we also need to immediately extend the ACA credits to bring those premiums back into at least where they were. Frankly, I still think they were too high, but they were at least more manageable for people. And then we once we stabilize things, then we really need to start working toward true healthcare reform. I love the idea of universal healthcare. I think eventually that is some where we need to go. I don't, as with any major change, I think sometimes you you have to maybe take a more stepped approach to get there. But I think that we can lay out a plan to work toward that as the goal. And I think it should be the goal because I think, you know, we we have to keep our people healthy to keep our economy healthy. I if, you know, if people are sick and struggling, then they're not working. It all all of it, it's like, you know, it's a house of cards. It all is dependent on one on on the other. And the minute something breaks, it all collapses. So I think that's something that we really have to do. But whatever we do, we have to do it right, and we have to do it very, very deliberately so that we aren't continuing to fight this fight years down the road. We don't have this pendulum swinging back and forth of we enact legislation when we get power, and then half the country hates it. And as soon as that pendulum swings back, they undo it and enact stuff that the other half of the country hates, and it just goes back and forth. We're never moving forward. We're just kind of stagnant. So I think we have to make some major reforms with all of those systems, but we we need to be really careful on how we do it, and we need to we need to make sure we're do it taking a really measured approach that that creates change that will last.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

And that's why we need somebody in Congress who's not gonna just vote no on everything. Right. You know, I and I and you talk about all of these issues, even immigration and healthcare. And you know, I mean, I think Trump had a healthcare plan he was gonna rail out in in two weeks when in his first term, right? Oh, it's two weeks. But there's no legislation being there's no legislation being proposed. It's just making fires and putting out fires. So we need someone who's gonna go in there and say, let's let's sit down and let's get some legislation banged out. Let's do something that's gonna be long lasting for people. And like you said, all across the spectrum, people don't like this. They don't like the chaos we're in. And in the fourth district, you know, we have quite a diverse mix. We have like kind of the urban centers of Covington and Newport, we got the suburbs, got some rural stretches down there on the Ohio River. You're gonna have to be able to, you know, connect with all of these people across the district, Republicans, independents, democrats. Everyone's looking for change, right? So, how do you plan to be able to like reach out to people from such a diversity of areas that you'll be representing?

SPEAKER_02 14:55

Yeah, that's a great question. Again, this is a big district. It's 21 counties. Um, it goes as far east almost Ashland, and it comes all the way back across the top of the state down and it snakes down all the way to Bardstown. So it it's quite a lot of ground to cover, although I won't complain. I know others in other states who have much larger geographic districts, which I couldn't imagine. Um, but it is very, very diverse. I mean, we have uh you know, the top and bottom and everywhere in between on the socio and economic spectrum. We have so I mean, rural, urban, suburban, but the one thing that's been kind of interesting as I've as I've traveled around, because I think the number one answer to that question is you've got to show up. You have to be present, you have to be where the people are, you have to talk to them. And really more importantly than that, you gotta listen. And I much prefer to listen than talk to people. I like to go down and hear that. Actually, I had somebody say to me the other day, gosh, when I first met you, you were so quiet. I said, That's because of when I wanna I wanna take it all in. I want to listen, I want to hear, I want to understand before then I act. Um, but you have to be where the people are and you have to talk to them and you have to understand. Um, but what I've found that's uh fascinating to me, and this was actually kind of a little I I'm surprised that it it didn't occur to me sooner, but um as I travel around, you know, it's really easy to say urban versus rural or you know, suburban, you know, like to kind of just categorize them into those broad groups. But so far, every single county I have been to, no matter how similar they might be to their neighbor being urban or rural, they all have their own distinct personalities. Every single one of these counties is different, and what they need is different, you know what what's what's important to one of them is is maybe not a huge issue for another one, but then this is huge. And so you really have to understand each distinct personality, not just that. Like growing up here in northern Kentucky, I think, you know, I boom, Kevin, and Campbell, I bundled them all together, that's home, right? But what they're still even within those three, they're very different. And they all have different personalities. So you have to be on the ground and you have to be, you have to be interacting with them to re and engaging to really understand how different their needs are, and make sure that that way you know what you need to be representing and what's really important. Because if you did it just from if you sat in one little corner of the district and you know decided you knew, you're gonna you're gonna miss a huge, huge, huge part of the population.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

Yeah, that's it's really interesting that you would say that because way back in the day, I took a uh History of Kentucky class at Thomas More when it was Thomas More College from Professor Bill Bryant, who's uh passed away now, but a great guy. Great guy. But he, you know, we have 120 counties in Kentucky, which I don't know if that's the most counties per geographical size of a state, but I mean it's a lot, right? And a lot of states don't have that many. And he talked about just because of, you know, they're almost like these little thiefdoms. Everybody had their own personality, their own needs. They're all kind of very um, I don't want to say isolated, but they were, you know, they were kind of there, our community, you know, we want what we want, type of uh thing, established all these counties. And then what you just said kind of just reinforces that that notion that that as close as they are and they can border on each other, but as soon as you cross over, you know, they are different in many ways. I think it's really interesting. Um and then I love when you talked about the healthcare and how we need to be very intentional about it and a lot of planning, right? And it's a long-term plan, it's gonna be a step process. Like, for instance, you're a professional, we've all been professionals. I'm retired now, so I'm the only one that doesn't have to worry about planning anything. It's great, by the way. But in your professional life, if you didn't plan things and were very intentional and step things out and really had a vision and a goal and how you're gonna get there, you wouldn't have a job, right? But yet in government, which is probably one of the most important, you know, arguably one of the most important uh functions there is in our society, we've lost that. So that's gonna require you, and especially as hyperpolarized as we are, it's gonna really require you to sit down with those Republican colleagues, and you may have to kind of encourage them or force them a little bit down this path. And we need to take our time and plan this out, and we can't go for these quick hit, you know, bites that you know, they get us a little bit of popularity for a couple of days and then they're gone. So, how do you do that? You know, what have you had in your experience and what have you seen that makes you feel like you're the right person to sit down and be able to do that?

SPEAKER_02 19:40

Sure. So, so yeah, planning has been my job. I was a director of demand planning and production planning for years and years and years. Now I'm a supply chain strategy director. So, yeah, planning is sort of what I do. Um, and definitely tons of experience in trying to bring people together, trying to collaborate, leading teams, you know, working toward a solution to a complex problem when you've got a lot of different, you know, voices and opinions in the room. It's something that's very that's very normal and very natural to me because it's just my everyday. I think, you know, in general, I'm a firm believer that I think people, there's a lot more that we agree on than we don't. Um it maybe sometimes it's packaged a little bit differently, but for the most part, like the core, you know, at the core, a lot of it is is pretty similar enough that there's a lot of common ground there you can find to work with. I mean, sure, there's some hot button issues that that are more polarizing, and those are the ones everybody wants to focus on. But I I think that there's a lot of stuff, especially when we're talking about issues like like economic issues and healthcare, you know, things that are that are really less truly controversial and more just about basic life needs um and quality of life that I think most people probably don't so broadly disagree on. And I think you just need to sit down and talk about it. Um, I think you also need people who are willing to sort of follow their own moral compass and vote their conscience rather than care so much about what the party's telling you you should be doing, or you know, leadership is saying no, don't do this. You you watch that all the time now in Congress, right? Where you know these most of these people can't possibly agree with what they're doing, but they're doing what they're told. And I am not that way. You can ask my parents. I have never been wired to just do what I'm told if I don't think it's the right thing to do by God. So I think that that's that's something that people need to be able to have a little more courage, I think, to be able to stand up and and do what's right when it's they know it's the right thing to do. The other thing I think is we don't need to make everything, you know. I I feel like this is always the the narrative. Everything in life isn't a zero sum game. There's not there doesn't always need to be a winner and a loser. There are plenty of ways to do these things where everybody wins to an extent. A little bit, right? There may not be anybody getting everything they wanted, but that's what compromise. compromises about. And that's how it works because we're representing a hugely diverse population. And everybody wants and needs different things. But there's a baseline and I think we can eat that and and and find things that work to a fair extent for everyone. It doesn't always have to be somebody's the big winner and somebody's the big loser. And I feel like that's too often how we govern it.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Yeah, you know what I think of when you talk about that is how the Senate just unanimously voted to fund the TSA. And then Mike Johnson was told no, we can't do that. So he told everybody to just go home for the break. And it's just it's just that kind of dysfunction. It's intolerable, really. I mean there's people who haven't received paychecks and they're like obviously Trump doesn't want to lose even though then it's losing like we could that that was a really good example of a bipartisan solution. Right. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 22:52

But then I thought nothing beyond shock, but even that that one shocked me. It really did. I thought here's an easy pass for the House to say the Senate did it. I mean they could have thrown anybody under the bus if they wanted to but they stuck to their hard line and now everybody's on vacation it's going to go for another two weeks. And there's nobody but the Republicans, you know, the House Republicans are going to get the blame for that. It's ludicrous. Well thanks Natalie for reminding us of that one.

unknown 23:19

Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

Well if we want to talk about accountability in Congress you're part of a a really cool group of candidates who've been working in DC called Take Back BAC Congress. And this is really for balance and accountability with our candidates and it's a political action committee focused on electing Democratic candidates who pledge to enact certain reforms. You have certain pillars I think right um it's a super fascinating group so I'd love to hear a little bit more about it. I heard a little bit but tell us tell us more.

SPEAKER_02 23:48

Sure. So yes I'm so excited to be part of this group it's it's it's it's I it's been a fantastic experience so far and I know it will continue to be. We can guess as to why but why they're not addressing these things and these are things that quite honestly pretty many pretty much all Americans feel are critically important. And everywhere I go no matter who I talk to Democrats, independents, Republicans, doesn't matter when you talk about these things everybody in the room's going yes. Like they they feel it there they all agree. And it it transcends the political spectrum it doesn't matter. Everyone feels that these things are important yet nobody in positions to do anything about it are actually talking about them. So we came together and said you know what we will and if you send one or two of us to Congress and we feel this way well we're you know little fish in a big pond trying to make anything really significant happen in terms of change. But but if there's a whole bunch of us who feel this way and you send you know some or all of us there together well now we've already got a caucus and we are already bound together and ready to go in there and bring more people into the fold and truly try to make change. So the five pillars are again things that to me are basically no-brainers where the first time I read them I said yes absolutely sign me up. I completely agree. And they are congressional term limits. So we are right now we're proposing six for the House two for the Senate. So 12 years each again you could be in Congress for a total of 24 years. I think that's plenty long enough. I know I don't plan on being there that long I want to I want to retire at some point in my life but the whole point is you know you're there to serve the public you go in you do your time you serve the public you go home. The second one which is also huge and might even come before congressional you could do congressional term limits is overturning Citizens United. Absolutely as we all know it is one of the most consequential and you know really devastating decisions that that has been made in in a very very long time. And it is solely responsible for the massive influx of of dark money and money from corporations and billionaires and everything else that you see and hear about all the time that are flooding our election system. It makes it so difficult to really nearly impossible for the everyday American to engage in this process and actually want to run for office. And I say that as someone who, you know, again assuming I make it through the primary will be up against one of two candidates both of whom have millions in the bank and billionaires waiting in the wings that just keep funneling money to them. So I'm not going to be able to outspend them. I'm just going to have to outwork them because there there's no other way to do it. But it still makes it extremely difficult. The third thing is a ban on stock trading. Again the this to me is the most obvious of all of them if you are if you are part of the body that is enacting legislation that creates policy which moves the markets and you have that knowledge up front before that's going to take effect there's absolutely no reason why you should be allowed to be trading stocks. Again both sides have been guilty of it it's a it's it really if this is not a Parkland issue. It is simply wrong and it needs to stop. The next one is a moratorium on lobbying so far too many people go to Congress you know yield that position of power for whatever period of time leave and then immediately turn around and turn that in a way to make money for themselves by working as a lobbyist and taking advantage of that that power that they still that those connections that they still have. I believe there's maybe like a one to two year pulling off period right now we're recommending five. And just again we can't we can't prevent them from doing it forever but something at least a little bit longer to where maybe those relationships have lessened and you don't quite yield the same power that maybe you would have before and that that have the same level of influence so that you're not just going into public service to turn around and make personal profit. And then the last one is an enforceable judicial code of ethics for the Supreme Court. And that again we've heard all the things about the different connections and the money and the the things that have you know gone on with some of our Supreme Court justices and we see them so often not being willing to recuse themselves from cases when something comes before the court that they have a personal connection to so we're relying on them to do the right thing and there are certain ones who always do and there are the rest of them that don't. So I think you you definitely have to have some way to universally across the board right now is on the honor system and that's clearly not working. So we need something that that really is is more official to say you know these are the rules for YouTube.

SPEAKER_00 29:14

Yeah. The honor system's not working your honor exactly I mean I I think the people thought surely Supreme Court justices will be above all of this but they've proven that they're out there you know to get what they can just like everybody else especially in a lot of the recruit uh recusal stuff you know it's yeah I think those pillars are great and like you said no brainers. I don't know of anyone who could really disagree with any of those and the forming the pack and like you said having that the power of you know of numbers you get a portion of those people in you've already kind of worked and organized and have your singular thought process on those five pillars and can can get right to work. That's a fantastic idea.

SPEAKER_02 29:59

Yeah and I should say too like right now we have I think I feel like we add people every day. I think we're up to like 82, 83 candidates right now. Okay. Um I looked at the uh I looked at your website uh before the pod and I was scrolling down the list and the pictures the names kept going I never got to the bottom so I wondered wow that's yeah I think we've we've got at least 35 or 36 states and and we're well over 80 candidates right now and we keep adding our goal is to get to at least 100 by the primary um and then really we'd love to have be up to maybe 200 by the general. And some of them you know we'll we we lose true attrition like through you know some some have won their primary many have won their primaries some have lost their primaries but they're still you know for us they're still part of the group they've still signed on to this if they run for anything in the future they're still part of this and they're still questioning the message. So um definitely you know we'll we'll see who who who we have in the end but it's it's keeps growing I mean every day I'll see you know two or three people pop up in my in our in our chat like welcome so and so from this state you know because that they just keep keep adding people on because that again everyone everyone can agree with it. And then the nice thing too is that they did form a PAC. I think sometimes PAC can have like a little bit of a negative connotation but the whole point of the PAC is any money that gets donated to the PAC gets just divided equally around the candidates. It's just meant to support the candidates because of things like Citizens United where there are a lot of candidates who aren't running as independently wealthy people who can just fund their own campaigns. And so it it really is just meant to be a source of support for the candidates who are willing to make that commitment. So that's where that is.

SPEAKER_00 31:37

Wow. Well so before you can make that um pack and the goals a reality and even before you get to face off against either Massey or or Ed Galrine you do have a primary challenger.

SPEAKER_02 31:50

So you have a primary you have to get through and can you tell us what uh you feel sets you apart uh you know from your opponent in the primary and how you're better prepared to take on Massey or Galrine in the general sure so um so yes I do I do have a primary opponent I have a lot of respect for him um I appreciate his desire to run he has an absolutely harrowing story um healthcare story which again speaks to why we need people who can get in there and do reforms and make you know make the changes that we also badly need so so more people don't have stories like his and keep having to endure those things. I've spent over 25 years in the private sector though trying to you know find ways to find solutions to to complicated problems as I said and I'm I'm very very used to to working sometimes in some some adverse conditions right like being a woman in manufacturing early on I I spent a lot of years where I was the only woman in the room and that that creates some different challenges to trying to be able to find ways to navigate the situation and and and still make your voice heard and make sure that that you you're you know being able to drive the conversation even when that you that you're not the one they're expecting it from. But I have a lot of a lot of experience there and a lot of time just working with people like I said you know in my own community who aren't just like me or don't necessarily agree all the time with everything but being able to show that we can all peacefully coexist and we can you know work toward the the common goal for the you know what what we need or our kids need or whatever the case may be. I just I'm really really passionate about about not just addressing those you know kitchen table issues if you will but also like I was just talking about fixing government. And I think that's kind of something additional that I also bring is being part of this coalition, already you know doing the work of you know engaging and forming this caucus and and being part of this long before you know I'm even know if I'm on the off I'm on the general ballot. I'm already doing the work and will continue to do the work. The other thing is you know obviously just as healthcare is super important, so too are other things like education and and the economy and employment and national security and there's just there's so many issues that are really important. And I I think you have to be able to focus on all of them. And so for me I'm I'm very good at at multitasking and being able to manage all of those things and spread my attention to everything that needs attention and and I think that that's something that I I'm I'm strong and would do very well.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

That's fantastic. I mean kudos kudos to you as you said the only woman in the room in the manufacturing environment um and you know women have faced that um in their careers almost you know regardless of of discipline or or segment but manufacturing and I spent some time as a IT subcontractor at uh out of when it was GE aircraft and in engineering was another you know there would be one female engineer in the entire room and she had to be that much better and that much more vocal and that much more assertive to have her voice be heard and her ideas be respected and I've always appreciated that. So thank you for fighting and taking that fight attempting to take that fight to to uh the US Congress.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

Yes. And thank you for sharing all of your great information and your platform but you are a friend of the show so you know we have a lightning round oh yes I love this part. It's my favorite so we're gonna put you through that and I think the first one's the first one's I think pretty easy. We'll kick off with with a softball for you Melissa warm her up easy warm her up. Uh what was your very first job?

SPEAKER_02 35:42

Okay so my very first job I guess technically was working at my parents' video store when I was young that was probably I'm honestly like grade school so I think they opened it when I was nine but yeah so we had a small business when I was younger and it was a family affair we all worked there.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

Oh that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 36:01

So I did that for several years until Blockbuster kind of shut shut down local local businesses and kind of took over the whole video rental scene. But that was probably definitely my first real job because I did get I think I did get paid. I can't remember clothes yes you got to live there. And then my first real real job was the moment I turned 16 and got a license my father drove me I went to the gap outlet out on Maniola Pike and I work there and I to this day can still gap fold a stack of jeans in record time. It is like automatic I still do it I fold all jeans the same way in this house and it goes back to my days with gap outlet.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

Retail's tough I've worked retail before it's it's not an easy job. Well this gets into my little geeky heart because I love trivia and you have been an academic coach for 16 years.

SPEAKER_02 36:55

You've led undefeated seasons you've led teams to the governor's cup um different academic competitions and that being said would you rather be a contestant on Jeopardy or the 1% club yeah so this one's easy Jeopardy yeah and mainly because my husband is like again as much as I love trivia and all the stuff he is like 10 times the level that I am in fact tonight's trivia night we go to the pub every Monday for trivia with him and my son. But my husband fun fact was on Who Wants to be a millionaire in 2000 before we had kids um right after we were we hadn't been married very long. Even though it's a very cool story he made it in the chair it was super exciting and everything that Regis I wouldn't have remembered my name at that point if you would ask me because with the lights and the stress it was so stressful. But he has tried forever to get on Jeopardy and he's made it to the interview rounds multiple times and they I usually say like you have to make it several times before they ever let you on the show. And he has gone and he takes the test all the time and it would just it would crack me up if I made it on Jeopardy before he did. So I would totally do Jeopardy just because of that. Because he would he would be serious and it would be fun.

SPEAKER_01 38:09

That's a little mean but we like it. He would agree that's awesome. All right what is one thing you want to cross off your bucket list this year.

SPEAKER_02 38:22

It's probably probably a little trite but uh get elected to Congress. Uh major life change I guess um yeah I've I've again I've been in my job for 27 years. I love it. I love the company where I work and what I do but I'm kind of kind of ready for something different and that's that's sort of my bucket list is maybe a change one way or another but I I definitely that would be a nice change.

SPEAKER_01 38:43

That sounds like let's do that. Good good way to cross off. Alrighty after a long week what is your guilty pleasure go to it can be food it can be movies whatever yeah I am again I'm I am super boring.

SPEAKER_02 38:57

Gosh I should not even say that I really am like I I I prefer stable yeah I prefer stable but no I again just laying on the couch with my cat and and doing puzzles on my iPad I am a puzzle junkie on my on my iPad and now I never get to do them anymore because I'm never home at night to just sit and relax. So probably that just something just really relaxing and like not doing actually anything just something that I can my my mind can keep working but I don't have to I don't have to be really present. I like that. Have you ever tried to do an actual puzzle with a cat in the room oh no not a real puzzle. Oh it's gotta be on the eye like a big salt puzzle.

SPEAKER_01 39:38

Yeah I'd have other puzzles but that would be a disaster they just knock everything off it's in it's literally impossible to do a puzzle if you own a cat. So all right my last one for you is you work for a private flavor company what is the most unique flavor that has ever crossed your desk is that is if that's applicable.

SPEAKER_02 39:58

Hmm um so I again so I I work more in the supply chain part so it normally I'm exposed to what we're launching or you know if something if something new is coming out than then we would and in the early days of Wild we used to get to try things a lot more um than we do right now. So I was more involved. But I remember back gosh it was early maybe 2003 2004 um we don't we don't they're not a customer of ours anymore um but we worked with Jones Soda at the time and they came out I don't know if you guys are familiar with I think they still might do it and do different iterations but they do like a Thanksgiving pack. Oh and they had I think five flavors it was like a turkey and gravy oh mashed potatoes I think there was like a cranberry sauce green bean casserole I think and maybe like fruit cake or something. So they were five different things and I remember being so excited and thinking oh this is so cool and I brought it home to my to my husband's family and I'm like oh we're gonna try these whatever they were the and I'm a really picky eater anyway so this is not I don't try things easily but they were the worst things I've ever tasted in my life. The mashed potato in particular I feel like I can still taste like I still remember how awful that taste was it was just horrific and I love mashed potatoes but wow and I mean the flavors were spot on but just consuming that in a beverage was weird and like not what your brain was expecting and it was traumatic. My family still sucks I would so I would say those.

SPEAKER_00 41:30

It reminds me of those uh jelly beans they have that have all those really disgusting flavors like earwax and yeah my kids used to get those and be like no thanks.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

Well yeah I don't want any surprises.

SPEAKER_00 41:43

Yeah right well uh Melissa it's been great having you and uh we really appreciate you coming on and thanks uh for sharing your story with us and your and your vision so where can listen uh listeners learn more about your campaign and get involved yeah so um you can always go to my website which is um uh strange4k y that's f o r k y dot com and there's more information about me there links to my socials um and then you know just general information most most of my social activity is is Facebook or Instagram so um that's uh Melissa Strange for Congress Melissa Strange for Congress on Facebook um and at Strange4KY on and then stuff but um yeah again come in check it out volunteer we'd love to have anybody who wants to help because this is certainly a campaign where we're gonna need a lot of it so yeah yeah and then obviously if anyone's got to donate always appreciated but certainly again there's lots of ways as I tell everyone there there are so many ways people can support you besides money.

SPEAKER_02 42:44

So I really you know if somebody wants to be involved and engaged we welcome them you know whatever in whatever capacity.

SPEAKER_01 42:51

Sounds good fantastic thank you so much it was great talking to you and um yeah we can't wait to see uh see what happens here and see you see you move on through the through the primary it'd be great great well thank you so much for having me this was awesome thanks Melissa take care that's it for this candidate interview be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don't miss any of our upcoming podcasts or exclusive material. And don't forget you can join the conversation at our Facebook and Instagram pages or at bluepodcast.com till next time stay curious take effects and focus and never ever stop fighting for matter peace out everybody