On this episode we welcome back Frank Patka who has experienced the criminal justice system first hand, and is working to help other formerly incarcerated people integrate back into society.Av The Rational Republican

Dave Drotzmann is the current mayor of Hermiston and candidate for Senate District 29.Av The Rational Republican

On the second episode of our Eastern Oregon trip, we speak with Brent Clapp who is the owner of EOAlive Media and candidate for county commission.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome Calvin Bennett on the first of two Eastern Oregon podcasts. Calvin is the ASB President at Eastern Oregon University, and a Young Republican.Av The Rational Republican

Commissioner Ben West returns to talk about Clackamas County and the ORP Platform Convention which he attended recently.Av The Rational Republican

On this episode we welcome 2 guests: Alex McHaddad and Reagan Knopp. Alex is the former treasurer of the Oregon Republican Party and has part Palestinian heritage. Reagan is a political consultant and twitter personality with some experience in Israel.Av The Rational Republican

Andy Huwe joins James and Nick to talk about his run for Senate District 29. We end up talking infrastructure and good governance in addition to issues facing northeast Oregon.Av The Rational Republican

In this episode we take a break from your normally scheduled political podcasting to talk about the dissolution of the PAC-12 Conference. Jeff Stone joins us as this will be his 51st season making the trek from Portland to Autzen Stadium.Av The Rational Republican

Commissioner Nash is currently serving as County Commissioner for Wallowa County, he is the President of the Cattlemen's Association, and he has announced his candidacy for Senate District 29. Learn more at votetoddnash.comAv The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome Tony McDonald who is intimately involved in Texas GOP politics and we had a fun conversation comparing and contrasting a Blue state with a Red state.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome Eric and Bernard from Citizens Climate Lobby, a climate group who are "ok with nuclear" and don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick discuss the pending legislation to give all homeless persons $1,000 per month and UBI in general. Also, how to fix Portland's myriad problems.Av The Rational Republican

In the wake of Gov. Brown commuting the sentence of many death-row inmates, we brought on Xander Almeda to talk about her decision and about the death penalty in general.Av The Rational Republican

Stephen Lloyd is the chair of the Young Republicans of Oregon, former chair of the Multnomah County Republican Party, and nearly 10-year veteran of the oil & gas industry. In this episode we talk with Stephen about fracking, nuclear, and the environmental impact of energy extraction.Av The Rational Republican

Ben West is the recently elected Clackamas County Commissioner. He currently serves as a city councilor for the city of Wilsonville and was the rising-star award recipient at Dorchester 2022.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome back Alex McHaddad, treasurer of the Oregon GOP and friend of the pod to talk about the November 2022 election and how it went for Republicans. Disappointed with the Governor's race? We are too, but there is reason to be optimistic about Oregon voters' choices in this past election.…

Jason Fields, the Republican candidate for House District 26 is our favorite kind of candidate to have on this podcast: moderate, thoughtful, and decisive. Some might call him a "rational" Republican (cue rimshot). Nick couldn't make it this time, so pretend he made a couple TV references and you should be good to go.…

George Carrillo is a former candidate for Governor in Oregon who has publicly endorsed Republican Christine Drazan. We talk about why he made that decision as well as some inside baseball from a long-time Executive Branch employee.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome former Representative and former Deputy Secretary of State Rich Vial to talk about his run for Senate District 18 as a non-affiliated candidate. We also talk Betsy Johnson and how to mend the political divide in Oregon.Av The Rational Republican

Jeff Heflrich joins James and Nick as the Republican candidate for State House district 52. Jeff is a Veteran, former police officer, and held this seat from 2017-2019.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome Tim LeMaster, a fellow Veteran who is running for House District 43. Tim is passionate about making his community better and helping those in his district.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick talk about the fallout from Dobbs v. Jackson which overturned Roe v. Wade.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome Kori Haynes who is the Republican candidate for HD39 and her guest Courtneigh Swerzbin to talk about the the race and what's going on in our public schools. Bonus: what do David Duke and PPS have in common? Skip to the 41 minute mark for the answer.Av The Rational Republican

CAPT Wooldridge is a 27-year Navy Veteran who commanded the Blue Angels on three separate occasions. He is currently a prolific public speaker and in 2018 made an attempt at running for Governor of Oregon.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick dig deep into the election results from the May 2022 Primary election. Political nerds welcome!Av The Rational Republican

Cheri Helt is a small business owner and former State Legislator who is running for the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) which is probably the least-known statewide elected office, but as with any office, the position has a meaningful impact on our lives.Av The Rational Republican

Judge Day is former Chairman of the Oregon Republican Party, and is running for Appellate Court. This is the first time in many years where an incumbent Judge has a credible challenger, so we were excited to talk with Judge Day to hear about it first hand.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome Lyndon Kerns, delegate from the Klamath County Republicans and whose family has been farming the Klamath basin for over 100 years. Learn more about the community's struggles at https://www.farmwater.org/food-security-and-water/Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome Alex McHaddad, former Chair of the Union County GOP. Alex is also the treasurer for the Oregon Young Republicans and candidate for ORP Treasurer.Av The Rational Republican

No Nick this time, but James was able to sit down with Betty Campbell to talk about Xpose Hope, a local charity that helps women get out of the sex industry. One of my (James) favorite episodes in a while.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome Aeric Estep who is running for State Representative in House District 37. Interestingly, James and Aeric knew each other in college back... 15 years ago. Tune in for a great conversation.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome Patrick Sheehan who served in the Legislature from 2011 to 2013 in the famous 30-30 "split" house. Patrick was succeeded by now Secretary of State Shemia Fagan. If only we had known...Av The Rational Republican

For the first pod of 2022, Nick and James welcome recurring guest Xander Almeida to the podcast to reflect on 2021 and what we can look forward to in 2022.Av The Rational Republican

On this episode, James and Nick welcome Dennis Porter. Dennis helped James out in his 2020 run for State Representative and is now very involved in Bitcoin policy with 53k Twitter followers and a podcast titled Smart People S*it.Av The Rational Republican

On this episode, James and Nick get the opportunity to speak with Rep Ron Noble who represents House District 24 in wine country, Oregon. Rep. Noble is also running for Congress in CD6.Av The Rational Republican

On this episode, Nick takes over hosting duties and asks James about his recent announcement to run for Metro Council Seat 4. What is Metro? Why this seat? What do you hope to accomplish? All great questions that we dive into on this podcast!Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick sit down with Angela Plowhead who is running for Congress in the brand-new congressional district: CD6! Angela is an Air Force Veteran and psychologist who is putting in the legwork to make a serious run at this position! For more info, visit angelafororegon.com.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick dive deep into the ORP Platform Convention that took place the last weekend of September and James gives some behind-the-scenes insight into how the process takes place and what happened.Av The Rational Republican

The guys get deep into abortion policy in Oregon, Texas and nationally. Two guys talking about abortion? Tune in to find out why we think that's ok.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick go solo (...duo?) on this one to discuss the recent fall of Afghanistan, what lead up to it and how it could could have been prevented. James spent 3 tours in Afghanistan with the US Army, so he gives his take on what's going on.Av The Rational Republican

On this episode, we welcome Michael Cannon, director of Health Policy Studies at the Cato Institute. This is a follow-up to our interview with Dr. Sam Metz (who connected us with Michael) to look at a more libertarian solution to healthcare.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome Lori Chavez-DeRemer to the show. Lori is the 2-term mayor of Happy Valley and is now running for Congress in Oregon's 5th District. Learn more at lorichavezderemer.com!Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome Dr. Sam Metz who lives in District 36 and met James during his run for State Representative. Sam sits on several boards promoting single-payer healthcare and was kind enough to sit down with us to discuss how we can get more care to more people for less money.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome Alex Titus and Ben Bowman, hosts of The Oregon Bridge podcast for a collaboration episode. Check out The Oregon Bridge on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome Kevin Frazier, publisher of The Oregon Way blog. The Oregon Way has published articles from many of our mutual friends and is a centrist publication that tries to show both sides of issues. Visit theoregonway.substack.com to learn more!Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick are joined by Stephen Lloyd, chairman of the Young Republicans of Oregon and until last week chairman of the Multnomah County Republican Party. Unfortunately Stephen was recalled a week before recording for promoting diversity and inclusion on behalf of the GOP.Av The Rational Republican

On this episode James and Nick welcome Deanna Rusch who serves on the Clark County Commission Review Board and is a former Camas, WA city councilor. We discuss what it's like being across the river from Portland and some of the differences between Washington and Oregon politics.Av The Rational Republican

James and Nick welcome Stuart Hall who has been involved in Oregon politics for decades to discuss Ranked Choice Voting. With Republicans in a super-minority in the state of Oregon, I think it's valuable to discuss some alternate methods of counting ballots so that our elected officials more accurately represent the majority of voters.…

On this episode we welcome Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis to talk redistricting. Rep. Davis is the vice chair of the house redistricting committee and gives us an inside look at the issues surrounding redistricting during COVID and the blatant gerrymandering that has affected Oregon for the past 20 years.…

James and Nick are joined by Allen Alley. Allen is former chairman of the Oregon Republican Party, candidate for Treasurer and for Governor. Allen hosts a podcast Alley & Pasero which airs live on Facebook Sundays at 8:30am and is available on all your favorite podcasting services.Av The Rational Republican