September 8, 2025 • 45 mins
Colonel Moe Davis is back in the mix with his co-host David Wheeler, and they're taking a deep dive into the political swamp on *Muck You!* This episode is all about the jaw-dropping victory of Catelin Drey, who flipped a Republican-held Iowa Senate seat that Trump won by 10 points! Yep, you heard that right—Catelin knocked it outta the park by snagging an 11-point win, proving that grassroots campaigning can make waves even in the reddest of districts. They chat about the strategies that helped her connect with voters, the importance of tackling local issues over national drama, and how a little personal touch goes a long way. So buckle up, because this episode is packed with insights, laughs, and a whole lot of political gold!
Takeaways:
- Colonel Moe Davis believes that grassroots organizing is the secret sauce for flipping traditionally red districts blue, as evidenced by Caitlin Drey's recent win in Iowa.
- Caitlin Drey emphasizes that talking to constituents and addressing their everyday concerns is crucial for politicians to build trust and rapport within their communities.
- The podcast showcases how local electoral victories can significantly impact state politics, particularly in challenging the policies of unpopular governors and ensuring public accountability.
- Moe and Caitlin discuss the importance of engaging with voters on economic issues, asserting that pocketbook concerns resonate more than national political narratives in local elections.
- Drey's campaign strategy highlighted the power of door-to-door outreach, demonstrating that personal connections and local engagement can shift voter sentiment even in a Trump-leaning district.
- The conversation underscores the significance of diversity and representation in politics, as Caitlin Drey advocates for addressing the needs of immigrant communities through inclusive campaign messaging.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- American Muckrakers
- Morningside College
- Morningside University
- Moms for Iowa
- Moms for Liberty
- Kim Reynolds
- Senator Mike Zimmer
- Josh Turret
- Zach Walls
- Nathan Sage
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Welcome to Muck U, the podcastwhere we wade through the swamp of
politics and corruption tobring you the unfiltered truth. I'm
your host, David Wheeler, cofounder of American Muckrakers, and
thrilled to be joined by mypod partner, the one and only Colonel
Mo Davis. Mo's a retired AirForce colonel, former Guantanamo
prosecutor, and a fearlesstruth teller who's never afraid to
(00:29):
call it like it is. He's alsomarried way up to Lisa. Today we're
diving deep into how aDemocrat won by 10 points in a state
Senate district. Trump won by10. So grab your boots and let's
get mucking over to you, Mo.
Hey. Well, thanks, David, andit's a pleasure being back with you.
It's a beautiful day here inthe mountains of western North Carolina.
(00:52):
Looks like fall is on its wayand hopefully we make it through
this September without anotherhurricane. So thanks for joining
us. And yeah, we've got agreat guest today, one I think folks
will really be interested inhearing from because I know a lot
of folks out in this area areinterested in hearing about what
it takes to win in a reddistrict. So Catelin Drey made the
(01:15):
news here recently. I think itwas August 26th. She won a special
election out in Iowa Senatedistrict number one, which is, David
said, was a district thatTrump won back in November by nearly
11 points. And Caitlindefeated her opponent, Christopher
Pro, who was a Trump magoRepublican by almost 11 points a
(01:37):
couple of weeks back. So,Catelin, hey, thank. Thanks for taking
time to join us today.
My pleasure. Thank you forhaving me. And congratulations on
your successful nuptials. Itsounds like you, you're doing well.
Well, we're at about the 37year points. We're still in the.
Okay.
We're still in the.
Still in the honeymoon phase.
Well, still in theprobationary period. So if she can
(01:58):
make it 13 more years, thenwe'll call it permanent. But now,
David, David's right. I think,you know, after she married me, she
quit drinking. So it. I thinkshe's learned from her mistakes.
So. All right, let me startwith the big question. Hawkeyes or
Cyclone?
I do not have a horse in thatrace. The ultimate politician. Wow.
(02:24):
You've heard. You've beenelected for two weeks and you're
already there. That's awesome.Good for you.
Yeah, I'm gonna stick to thetalking points.
I normally, I normally don'twatch Iowa football, but that was
one of the better games on. On Saturday.
So, yeah, I think it was anexciting game. I am very much of
the mind that I just hope bothteams have fun.
(02:45):
Yeah, well, they. They bothplayed well, and it was a great game,
so I enjoyed watching.
Yeah.
Okay. So how did a nice girlfrom South Dakota end up in politics
in Iowa?
Well, I have lived here inIowa for half of my life. I. My husb.
I both went to. It wasMorningside College, then Morningside
University now, and got a goodliberal. Liberal arts education.
(03:09):
And I. I moved out of thecountry right after we graduated
from college, and he got a jobin Sioux City. That turned into a
really pretty spectacularcareer. You know, we didn't know
that at the time, but I cameback from Honduras after living there
for a year, and he had kindof, like I said, gotten a decent
job, and the rest is history,as they say. Um, I've kind of. I've
(03:34):
made mention of this before,but the people that I went to high
school with in South Dakotaare not surprised that I grew up
to want to lecture peopleabout the rules. So I think that's.
That's the short end. But, youknow, my parents are lifelong public
servants as well. My mom was apublic school teacher for 35 years.
(03:55):
My dad worked for theDepartment of the Interior at the
Fish and Wildlife Service. Andthey just. They both really instilled
in me the value of doing theright thing for our neighbors, even
if it's hard or unpopular, andthat we take care of each other.
That lesson kind of morphedinto. Into this. And I think my dad
(04:18):
said after the electionresults came in, he's like, it's
pretty unbelievable, which isa lot of words for him. He's a very
stoic, sturdy, Nordic fellow.Right. But I was like, you know,
I. I don't know if it'sunbelievable for me. I kind of. I'm
not surprised. It is shockingor surprised. I can't remember. You
know, like, shocked, but notsurprised. Something like that. Because
(04:42):
this. It is the truly, like,the highest form of service to your
community to serve in kind ofcapacity, and that is truly something
that is intrinsic for me.
Yeah. Well, it sounds like youhad a pretty busy life before August
26th. You're. You're a mom, amarketing professional. You're the
founder of Moms for Iowa,which I discovered is totally separate
(05:04):
for Moms for Freedom in Iowa.
Moms for Liberty.
Liberty.
A bit of a. Bit of a play, ifyou will. Yes.
Yeah. You're two different organizations.
Very different.
But I notice it looked likeyour platform was pretty closely
aligned with the things thatMoms for Iowa has been advocating
For. So why don't you tell ourlisteners a little bit about. Well,
(05:25):
first off, what made you thinkin a district that Trump won by about
11 points, that you had asnowball's chance in hell of winning?
Well, I mean, we saw whathappened in January with Senator
Mike Zimmer. We've had threespecial elections prior to this one
in the state of Iowa thisyear. And they've all seen, you know,
(05:46):
plus 20 or more performanceshift. And so that was a pretty solid
indicator to me. But reallyit's about the fact that I have lived
here for almost 20 years. Ihave been involved at various nonprofits.
I, you know, my husband and Iare deeply rooted in this community.
(06:09):
We have a kiddo who startedschool the day before election Day.
We've built our lives here.And whether people know us personally
or professionally, they knowus to be good, kind hearted, common
sense people. And I think thatcontributed. But also, you know,
my opponent tried to run thenational playbook on a very local
(06:33):
level and it didn't stick. Youknow, they were kind of lobbing insults
about my beliefs about theborder and, you know, digging. They
dug up a photo of me fromalmost 10 years ago where my hair
was pink, which was not a, youknow, it's not a controversial thing
(06:53):
to have hair that's adifferent color. I thought I wore
it well. And most peopleagreed with me, I think. But they
tried to kind of make thesewild, you know, accusations stick
in a place where people knowwho I am and know what I stand for.
And I think that ultimatelywas, was kind of one of many deciding
(07:16):
factors.
Your Senate district includesSioux City and Woodbury County. And
I was looking at thedemographics of your area in the,
where David and I live here inthe mountains of western North Carolina.
And I know they're a lotdifferent, but there's some similarities,
too. If you look at thedemographics of our area are pretty
similar. The median householdincome is about the same, the poverty
(07:40):
rates about the same. And thiswas a district that voted for Trump
by about nine and a halfpoints last fall.
Yep, yep, yep.
So looking at your campaign,like you said, your, your, your opponent
tried to play the traditionalMAGA playbook and bring up all.
Yeah.
The irrelevant issues. And itlooks like you stuck to the economic
(08:02):
issues. And so what's the gameplan? How do Democrats win in a district
like where we are and where,where you are.
Yeah, I think the end of theday, the border and, you know, democracy,
they do affect people's lives,but not their daily lives necessarily.
And Obviously, for our, youknow, immigrant communities, right
(08:25):
now is a very scary time. Andthey are also still trying to think
about how to put food on thetable, how to care for their children,
how to get the health carethat they need. And so those economic
pocketbook issues appealacross demographic and are ultimately
what has the most significanteffect on people's day to day lives
(08:49):
in for the most part. Right. Inever, ever want to discount the
immigrant experience because Iknow right now is an exceptionally
scary time. But an Iowa statesenator does not have any control
over border policy. And so totry and extrapolate that into what
this race was decided on isquite foolish. And I think the Republicans
(09:12):
saw that play out. And yeah,I, I hope that we can take that pocketbook
message and run that kind ofplaybook. And the other thing I would
say is just stop talking atpeople and talk to them. You know,
what is it that you're seeing?What is, what is hard for you right
(09:32):
now? What could we dodifferently or better? And how do
I, how do I do that for you?And you know, I was giving out my
personal cell phone number onthe doors saying like call, you know,
call me before, during, afterthe election. I'm happy to help however
I can. And I think that reallymade a difference. I also know that's
(09:52):
really difficult to scale for,for larger races. But thankfully
district is smaller and I willjust correct you a little bit on
the Geogr trophy, so I, so Idon't get in trouble. But it's, it's
a, a slim section of Woodburycounty. So there's, there's more
(10:13):
rural Woodbury county kind ofaround. But this district is basically
Highway 20 north to the countyline and then from the river over
to, to Lawton. So the twomajor areas are Sioux City, which
is most of the district, andthen Lawton, which is kind of an
exurban smaller town rightoutside. So it's not all of Woodbury
(10:37):
county, which is good becausethat'd be a lot more mileage.
But your, your, your electionbreaks the super majority. So what
does that do for the Democratsin Iowa?
Ultimately, what I think itdoes is for the constituents of Iowa,
it gives them a little bitmore power to push back against our
deeply unpopular governor. Andthat's going to be really, really
(11:00):
major. As we kind of siftthrough her last term as governor,
she's already announced she'snot running for reelection. I think
she can see the writing on thewall that she's been unpopular. Her
policy has benefited only asmall number of People. And so that's
the, that's the main point,right. Is we can push back on some
(11:21):
of the more controversial,unpopular policies, but also have
a say in cabinet nominations,which really important.
That's good news to hearbecause as we all know, a lot of
these decisions andimplementation takes place at the,
at the cabinet level. And Kim,Kim, your governor there, has gone
(11:44):
off the rails. So it's glad,I'm glad to hear that you guys will
have at least a little bit ofoversight with her last couple years.
Because actually in the lastcouple years, you know, when a, when
a governor's on their way out,that's when they do the most damage.
So maybe you guys can put akibosh on some of that. But so I,
I love campaigns. I, I, asmost of our listeners know, I grew
(12:06):
up in Iowa around Tom Harkin.Later in life, got to know Tom Vilsack
very well and consider him afriend. And I think that one of the
secrets of their success waskind of what you're talking about,
which is no bullshit. Let'sjust campaign on who we are and how
we're going to win or whatwe'll do for folks. So you had a
(12:27):
very brief campaign, obviously.
47 days.
47 days.
Technical about it.
Yeah. And now let's, I wantyou to be honest here. When did you
know that you were going towin? I mean, one of the things that's
tough about campaigns isnobody wants to lose. But in same
token, you kind of know what'sgoing to happen, especially when
(12:50):
you're active, like you wereon doorsteps. So when did you know
that you were gonna.
There was not ever a doubt for me.
Yeah.
Really. I told, and I toldpeople that on the doors. Right.
Like, confidence is,confidence is one thing, but how
did you know you had the votes?
I mean, the math made sensejust from, you know, like I said,
what we saw from other specialelections. We focused really significantly
(13:17):
on turnout voters, which is,you know, high likelihood of showing
up. And yeah, I just, I knewlike, I felt peaceful at about 7:30
on election night. Polls closeat 8 here, which is another, you
know, Kim Reynolds rollback.
(13:39):
Yeah, it used to be nine.
Yep. They also shortened theearly voting window from, I think
45 days to 20. I can'tremember if it's 40 days, 45 days
or now it's 20 days. And I,you know, we were out literally knocking
doors until like 7:40 onelection day, just as many people
(14:00):
as we could. And, and I hadthis piece where like the last woman
I talked to, I said, hey, doyou have a plan to vote? You've got
about 20 minutes to get to theschool to make that happen. And she's
like, oh, my gosh, I forgot.Thank you so much for coming. I'm
going to, you know, changeclothes. Like, you can go in your
pajamas. Nobody cares. Andshe's like, I'm going to change clothes
(14:20):
and, and we'll get over there.And I knew that we had done everything
that we could in terms ofground game and outreach and earned
media. And I, I knew, like, I,it did. It was never like a, like
a, a confidence thing, Ithink, you know, again, I just hope
(14:40):
both teams have fun. It wasn'tlike a sports thing where, like,
we're going to crush them. Itwas just like. No. I knew that this
was right and the timing wasright for me personally and my family.
But more than that, it's thismoment of, of deep sadness and, and
fear and frustration in theelectorate. And. Yeah, I, I did not
(15:03):
doubt it.
Oh, good. I'm glad. I'm gladit turned out the way you knew it
was going to turn out, butthat's true. I mean, I've done enough
campaigns as well that youkind of know going in where it's
headed. Sometimes you're notcertain whether it's going to be
win or loss, but you kind ofhave a sense of what's going on.
So what do you, what would youcontribute to the win? Was it ground?
(15:27):
Did you.
Yeah.
Outside mail? What was it?
It's ground. All ground allthe time. Right. And we know that
that's the, the best way toreach voters. So we had one paid
organizer who I think walkedout of his shoes. He, he would do
(15:49):
like, I can't even say. Imean, he was doing like 300 doors
a week.
Can we. From the jump, weshould give him a shout out. Should
we?
Oh, yes. Orion Dana.
He.
His dad was an assemblyman inthe Wisconsin legislature, and so
he grew up campaigning andhe's whip smart and incredibly dedicated.
(16:11):
300 houses a day.
A week. A week.
I'd have to go, yeah.
Oh, my God, no. His contactrate would have been abysmal.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's incredible.
And, but, and he, I mean,similarly, he was like, no, we're
gonna get this done. Like, hehad the same kind of, like, knowing
(16:32):
and just like a, a funnylittle brother, but he was, he's
so smart. And any, anycampaign would be exceptionally lucky
to have Orion in their corner.As a, as I know he's Also on the
hunt for a job right now, so.
Right. All right. Well, that'sgood to know, folks, if you're looking
(16:54):
for a good organizer. Yeah,this, this young man sounds like
he's ready and willing to workhis tail off, so.
Yeah, and he, and he did. And,and, and that was it. Like, we, you
know, we had, like I said, wehad one paid, paid organizer and
he coordinated the volunteereffort every weekend. We had, you
know, at least six or sevenother people out knocking for us.
(17:18):
I mean, we, we knocked on over7,000 doors. And this is in again,
47 days, so over 7,000 doors.And we made almost 30,000 phone calls.
And just because of thevolunteer effort, we were able to
expand that universe on ourlast kind of get out the Vote weekend
and found 800 more people thanwe had previously ident identify
(17:42):
just in that last weekendbecause we had such incredible volunteers
showing up. And the PolkCounty Democrats bused in almost.
I think it was over 50 peopleby the time we accounted for the
people on the bus. And thenthose that drove themselves separately
because they didn't. Theyweren't into the bus vibe. But we
had, you know, we had like 50volunteers from across the state
(18:04):
of Iowa that showed up on getout the Vote weekend. And, and that
weekend alone, it was like. Ican't. I don't even remember. I'm
not a stats g. But just somany contacts and so many attempts.
And that really, I think, wasthe. Was the secret. Which isn't
a secret. Right. Campaigns know.
Yeah.
That. That's the best. That'sthe best way to reach people.
(18:27):
Yeah, that's how we, that'show we won when I was a kid in, in
Warren county was doors. Imean, we just went to as many doors
as we can, and we made afamily affair out of it. So you knocked,
you knocked a lot of doors.You personally did as well.
Yes, I'm, I will say I, I am aslow canvasser to begin with because
(18:47):
I just really enjoy chattingwith people. But it turns out when
you are the candidate, you areexceptionally slow. Yeah, yeah, just
like everybody.
Yeah, but. That's right. Butthose people remember you and they'll
talk to their friends and, andthe warmth that you gave them is
worth, you know, probably twoor three more votes. So did you do
(19:11):
mail or radio or tv?
Yes, we did all of that kindof traditional, traditional outreach.
But the other layer for us,and this is something that I was
really about from the get go,was one, being online and being,
you know, a good present onThe Internet on social media. And
(19:35):
then we did a lot of outreachin Spanish and you know, the full,
full website was available inSpanish. That was really important
to me. Those, those were kindof the non traditional means of,
of communication. But yeah,that we kind of pivoted away from,
from broadcast just becauseagain, that our district is, is geography.
(20:01):
And so, you know, traditionalTV and radio, terrestrial radio just
is not as effective when wecan be much more targeted with digital.
And so that was kind of thebig, the big shift.
And why was, why was thewebsite translated Spanish? Why is
that important to you?
Well, I am a Spanish speakerfrom that time in Honduras. Less
(20:24):
good than I was in, in yearspast, but I picked up a lot more
of it last cycle in thiscycle. But we have, you know, for
the, the place that we live,we are surprisingly diverse. We have
over 70 home languages spoken,school district, and that's important.
(20:44):
Elections work differently inother countries and it's important
for me that everyone who iseligible can cast a ballot. And so
Spanish is I think our highestinstance of native language other
than English. I'd have toprobably do a little, do a little
research on that, but that,that was important.
(21:05):
Yeah. And, and any idea whatturnout was for you, Spanish speaker
wise?
Oh, they just got thecertified results today, so I think
we'll start to see some ofthat information now. But I have
not yet seen any.
Of that, but it could havebeen. Well, they certainly contributed
to your margin, I assume.
(21:25):
Yeah, well, and, and I willsay too, like, I anecdotally the.
I got. Because I was handingout my cell phone number on the doors,
I got some like, photos frompeople. One of them, they, they sent
me a photo of their, of theirearly vote with their stickers and
(21:45):
they said we believe in you in Spanish.
Right.
And it's this couple that, youknow, I, I was so honored to have
that little like, personaltouch point and like that's politics
is personal whether peoplewant to do it or not. And so reaching
people where they are in thelanguage that they're most comfortable
speaking just does not seemlike it should be a heavy lift.
(22:06):
Right. And, and there's alarge immigrant population there
that works in ag. Right. Andlike meat packing.
Yeah, I was gonna say moremore food processing than, than ag
in terms of harvesting. Butyes, we do have a pretty. And that,
that, that blue collar workis, is Sioux City's history and going
(22:28):
back to the originalmuckrakers. Right. When we're talking
about, when we're talkingabout packing houses and the labor
that happens there and youknow, union busting and, and all
of that has led to, to animmigrant population that we rely
on. And, and thankfully, youknow, for me, who loves to eat and
(22:50):
drink my way through culturalexperiences, we have a really robust
ethnic food offering for atown our size. And like I said, that's,
it's important to me to reachmy neighbors in, in the way that
they prefer.
Okay. And I was looking atsome of the issues that the legislature
(23:10):
tackled in the last session. Isaw where they removed gender identity
from the list ofconstitutionally protected classes.
I guess property taxes isanother issue that will be on the
agenda when you get there.What are the top issues for you that
you really want to focus on?
Yeah, the first thing for meis making sure that our public schools
(23:33):
are funded at a rate thatkeeps pace with or exceeds inflation.
And that has not beenhappening over the course of the
many last sessions. And sothat's priority number one, and then
priority two, three and four,I think is probably a safe kind of
categorization. And they canbe in any order, but kind of right
(23:55):
underneath public schools ishow do we make health care, housing
and child care more affordableand accessible. And that was just
the, the drumbeat that, youknow, when we talk about reaching
voters with a message thatresonates, that was, that was the
main thing that we kepthearing over and over again. I'm
concerned about my health careafter the federal cuts to Medicaid
(24:19):
and what does it look like,even though I'm not using Medicaid,
when my provider can no longerpractice here because they're not
meeting the, the income needsor the, you know, the, the profit
margin needs that, that arenecessary to keep a clinic open.
And we're already seeing theeffects of that policy as well as,
(24:40):
you know, our archaic abortionpolicy on the books. We're 52nd now,
I think in terms of maternalhealthcare provide capita. And so
how do we encourage providersto stay in practice in a state where
they're not able to practiceevidence based medicine all of the
time? That's going to bereally important. And then, yeah,
(25:04):
like I said, you, youmentioned property taxes. And we
have to figure out anequitable way to fund our state.
And rolling back the incometax is not it. We have already seen,
you know, a $917 milliondeficit rejection for this year.
That's because of, you know,what sounds really sexy is we want
(25:27):
to cut your taxes. But what itactually means is the rich aren't
paying their fair share and wehave to move Away from start legislating
for, for actual impact insteadof intent.
It's been interesting. Youknow, the big beautiful bill, I guess
they're trying to rebrand thatnow is trying to pitch it as what
(25:47):
is called tax breaks for theworking class where all, all the
studies show. I mean, youknow, here in North Carolina we have
Senator Thom Tillis who.
Oh boy.
Who fell on his sword over theMedicaid cuts because it's gonna,
as he said, it's gonna impactin our district here. Tens of thousands
of people lose their, theirhealth care coverage. There's already
(26:10):
a shortage. Like you'retalking about health care providers.
We've. There are fivehospitals are projected to close
in North Carolina.
Holy smokes.
Two of those are here inwestern North Carolina.
So sorry.
So, you know, trying torebrand this thing is being good
for working class families isa bit of a joke. But what are you
(26:30):
seeing? I saw where yourstate, I guess your governor was
pushing for a more stringentwork requirement for Medicaid.
I believe that was successful.If I am remembering correctly, I
think.
She went about 100 hours amonth where the federal law was going
to be 80 hours a month. Month.And what are you seeing as far as
potential impacts of. I knowlike here the snap cuts, the Medicaid
(26:51):
cuts, the head start cuts, allthe things are just hard to see how
that's beneficial to workingclass family.
Yeah, I think we're stillwaiting for some of the dust to settle
in terms of the effects. Iknow I've seen some fact sheets,
but I don't, I don't havethose stats handy off the top of
my head. But what the realtakeaway has been is just, just creating
(27:11):
chaos. You know, we had asystem that was, for better or worse,
relatively stable. Right.People knew what to expect when they
showed up at an office toapply for benefits. They knew what
to expect in terms of their,you know, monthly payments. They
knew what to expect in termsof what was covered and not covered
at a doctor's office. And allof that has just been thrown into
(27:35):
the wind. And people arescrambling to understand whether
or not they will still have ajob if they're working for Head Start.
They are scrambling to figureout how they're going to afford their,
you know, childcare or theirhealthcare based on rollbacks and
cuts and, and all of thattakes time and effort and energy
(27:58):
away from the life thatthey're trying to live. Right. It's.
It's incredibly time consumingto exist in that system because there
are appointments and paperworkand, and requirements. And I just,
we have a ruling class rightnow that is so far removed from the
people that they have lost anysense of empathy for folks who might
(28:23):
need a hand up. And that'sreally to the detriment of all of
us.
I was reading your governor'scomments on the work requirement
and she was pitching it asit's really good for the individual
because there's dignity inwork and getting people out there
and working is going to buildup their self esteem. And you know,
I would think having healthcare would probably be more important
(28:46):
than that. But I'm curious,when you're out canvassing and talking
with folks, I mean yourdistrict made a, a pretty big swing
going from about a 20 pointswing in a matter of months. What
were you hearing from peoplethat, that, that you know, obviously
there are some folks that tooka different route in August and they
(29:07):
did in November. What were youhearing from people?
I think just that overwhelmingsense of frustration that they, they
don't feel well represented atany level and this was an opportunity
for them to take back some ofthat control over the decisions that
are being made about theireveryday lives. Like that I think
(29:28):
was the overwhelming kind oftheme in general when you know, before
you start to drill down intothose issues. But just a lot of frustration
I think from folks about notfeeling represented or heard.
Right. Well, it's been onekind of encouraging thing here. We
had no Kings rallies a whileback and we've got some pretty, pretty
(29:50):
deep red areas here in westernNorth Carolina and some of those
little towns had rallies andit's some of them folks were telling
me that, that they had Trumpvoters that came out and joined them
and said hey this, this isn'twhat we voted for and we're having
some buyers remorse. So yeah,I'm curious when you, you get sworn
in, I think what next week and.
(30:10):
Yep.
Are there areas like, youknow, some of the things you talk
about, affordable housing,child care, health care, public,
public education, are thereareas where you think there's possibility
to work across the aisle and get.
Absolutely.
So yeah.
What in particular you thinkyou can, you can work with the other
side?
Well, I mean, I think we allwant good education, we all want
(30:34):
good health care. It's just amatter of like how, how we get there.
And I think when we see peopleshow up at the polls but then continue
to show up by saying hey, thisisn't what I asked for, this isn't
what I wanted, that kind ofactive participation in between election
days will, will start tobecome really crucial. And I think
(30:55):
that's one of the maindifferences that you see from Democrats
at the local level andRepublicans is that Democrats are
quite willing to listen to ourconstituents and say, oh, you know,
I hadn't thought of it thatway. Thank you for, for helping me
understand the issue moredeeply. And, you know, how can we
come to a consensus on this?And I'm hopeful that we'll see more
(31:18):
of that as we sprint towardsthe midterm.
You know, talking with folkshere in West North Carolina, you
know, Democrats andunaffiliated voters that tend to
be more progressive, thatthere seems to be like this malaise.
You know, people, they'retired, they're worn down, they're,
they're disappointed in theDemocratic Party.
(31:39):
Yes.
So what gives you optimism ona path forward? I mean, obviously
you must see better daysahead. So what's causing you to be
optimistic about tomorrow?
Well, I think people aren'tgiving up. Right. When you talk about
the malaise and thefrustration, that's something that
I noticed early on in a veryshort campaign, is that the folks
(32:02):
in my district are frustrated,but they're not giving up. There's
not another option other thanto think that we can do better tomorrow
because otherwise, what's thepoint? And, you know, I, I don't
want to be Pollyanna ish aboutour prospects right now. There is
some really scary stuffhappening across the country, and
I think the, that we'reseeing, like you said, Trump voters
(32:26):
show up at protests. Thattells us that people are paying attention
and that maybe we'll have someopportunity to push back and, and
hopefully kind of right theship. But we do need Democrats, especially
at the federal level, to startplaying by the new rules. I think
(32:46):
what we're seeing from, youknow, a Gavin Newsom or a Zoran Mamdani
or a JB Pritzker, I thinkthose types of, of communications
and, and messages are going tobecome more necessary as the days
wear on.
And Mrs. We're all going todie someday is not running in Iowa.
(33:07):
That's a, that's a positivesign, isn't it? Because she would
have been tough to beat. I, I,I know she's vulnerable, but, you
know, incumbency, as we allknow know, is, is difficult sometimes.
So who, who do you see? And,and maybe you've been embroiled in
your own camp or, you know,spending so much time in your own
campaign you haven't thoughtabout it much. But who do you see
(33:28):
on the Democratic side in thatSenate race? In Iowa that, that might
have a chance to take thatseat back for Democrats.
Gosh, honestly, they're allexceptional candidates. Again, I,
I don't have a horse in thatrace, but I was, was really honored
to have three out of the fourof them come knock for us, which
is incredible. You know, JoshTurret came out. Representative Josh
(33:52):
Turret came out, I think onthe last. I think that was the day
before election day. And, youknow, he did a turf. And you know
that, that means a lot whenyou talk about kind of all of us
working together. And, youknow, same senator, state senator
Zach Walls came out. NathanSage, who's just like a. A shot in
(34:13):
the arm, came and he, he waslike, I'm not here to talk about
me. I'm here to win this raceand start the snowball. And that
type of enthusiasm from acrossthe state was, Was really quite meaningful.
And somebody else told methere are no coincidences in politics.
So the fact that, that SenatorErnst dropped out a couple days after
(34:35):
my election was not acoincidence, which I, I don't know
how true that is, but if, if Ihad even a small part in getting
her to stick to her campaignpromise of only serving two terms,
then I'm happy to. Happy tohave helped.
Yes, it was worth everydollar, every door. Yes, just exactly.
Yeah, you can, you canactually now resign and they'll have
(34:56):
another specialist.
I don't know that. I don'tknow that I can.
Yeah, yeah.
No, no, no campaign promisesto deliver, but exactly.
Well, do me a favor.
I.
Listen, I'm a former Iowan andI obviously still have family there
and love the place and keep aneye on politics. And obviously we're
extremely proud of you asDemocrats out here in North Carolina.
But, you know, use some of thepolitical capital that you have.
(35:19):
Obviously, you can't charge.Oh, yeah, charge into the place.
Take it with you.
Right? And you can't, youcan't, you can't charge in on your
first day and, you know, be abull in a china shop. But, you know,
one of the things thatirritates the hell out of me, Democrats
that do get power and have,you know, some following and then
they don't use it. They just,they step back and they look at re
(35:42):
election or they look atfundraising as the primary purpose
of their election when, youknow, if you're going to lose, lose
on something, a reason forlosing because you took a stand.
And. Yeah, I don't want tomansplain you because you don't need
that. But, but, but I hopeyou'll use that. And then secondly,
(36:03):
my only other advice, havingbeen around Democratic politics and
Iowa politics and listen, I'mno expert in that space whatsoever,
but one of the things I havelearned is don't tie yourself too
closely to the party becausethere's a lot of bullshit that goes
on within the party. And themore that you can kind of stay above
(36:24):
the fray and not be beholdento that party, the better. But that.
That's something you'll.You'll learn on your own. I'm sure
It's.
It's truly stunning thatnobody eats Democrats. Like. Like
Democrats.
Yeah, it is.
We are really so good ateating our own.
Yeah.
And I, And I. I'll admit Icatch myself doing it, but we have
(36:45):
to quit with the. The puritytest and the what about ism and the.
It's just maddening.
Yeah.
And we're all pulling the ropein the same direction. Or we'd like
to. Who think that we are. And so.
Yeah. And. And what you saidabout adapting to the rules. I. And
I know Mo, feel free to weighin on this, but I know Mo and I would
(37:05):
agree with you a thousandpercent. One of our biggest beefs
about Democrats is not usingthe rules to win.
Yeah.
And doing things creative. Andsometimes it may seem counterintuitive,
but God damn it, do it. Youknow, And I'm sure you felt that
way too. You know, you livingin a Trump community or a Trump ish
(37:26):
community. I assume you gotsome. Some of those Trumpers to vote
for you.
I don't. I don't know how truethat is necessarily. I think what
we'll see is. And we saw thisin 2018. Right. When he's not at
the top of the ticket, there'sless enthusiasm. And so I think that's.
That's part of it is that. Didthey even turn out? I don't know.
(37:47):
Like I said, we don't. Wedon't have the, The. Is it the cross
tabs? Is that we. What we callthem in the biz.
Yeah.
Because. Still learning all ofthis language.
Yeah. Well, you don't need tolearn all of it. Trust me.
But I just. I'm aninsufferable. Know it all. And so
I want to know is the. Is thedownfall for me? Because I really
(38:09):
like to be right.
Yeah, I hear you.
Yeah. Yeah. So I. Yeah. Idon't know. I don't know that we
know that. But it will beinteresting to see. See what happens
and. Or see what happens.
And most. Right. Reachingacross the aisle, actually, that's
probably the best way for youto show your constituents now that
you mean business and you'regoing to represent the whole district
(38:31):
and do some, do some billswith some moderate Republicans that
make sense so well.
And yeah, I think at the endof the day, we're much closer to
the middle and then, then andhave more in common than I think
our, our current, you know,left and right narratives would suggest.
Exactly. All right, back toyou, Mo, for one more.
(38:52):
Well, thanks. Well, listen,it's, it's, it's been a real pleasure
having you on here and a realbreath of fresh air and I hope a
lot of other Democrats arelistening and adopting your playbook
because like I said, I cantell you there seems to be a lot
of gloom and doom in the partyand having people with a positive
outlook and a good messagelike you is, is really important.
(39:15):
I hope, I imagine you'regetting calls from other people looking
for advice, and I hopethey're, I hope they're taking it.
But so what. What's, I knowit's only been two weeks, but what's,
what's the future hold for you?
Well, I mean, I think youalluded to this earlier. You know,
with re election started thenight of the election, really it's
(39:36):
a, you know, a single sessionterm for me and then we've got a
general election for a fullterm next year. And so that is, you
know, that's ultimately what'snext. But really it's just, you know,
continuing to drink from thefire hose of understanding how to
be a good representative of myconstituents. And that starts with
(39:59):
listening. So, so I'm going tokeep knocking on doors and we'll
have a couple, you know,listening posts, town hall kind of
things coming up here beforethe, the start of the session. And
as always, unfortunately,fundraising, because money is speech,
apparently. And so we've gotto keep being able to, keep being
(40:20):
able to, to talk toconstituents, however we can reach
them. So.
And what's the best way forfolks to contribute it?
Oh, that's so kind. You canfind a donation page at dre for Iowa.com
d r e y for Iowa. Like allspelled out dot com. Otherwise, you
know, search, search me up onAct Blue. I'm, I'm there and support
(40:42):
at this point is, isincredibly appreciated and unfortunately
necessary in that way. So.
Yeah, well, and the otherthing is, you know, there's a lot
of races across the countrythat people and we have a pretty
good audience across the USAnd I'm sure Some of those folks
contribute to competitorsagainst MTG and Lindsey Jones or
(41:06):
Lindsey Graham in SouthCarolina. Those races are unwinnable.
This is a race, Caitlin Dre.Senator elect's race in 26 is a race
you can re win. And by God, wegot to win that because you broke
the super majority. And thegovernor now is accountable in Iowa
in a way that she hasn't beenfor the last last 12 years. So folks,
(41:29):
please go to Dre d r ey4iowa.com and drop her 5, 10, 15,
20, 100 bucks. Because all ofthat matters.
Yeah.
And that will help reelect herand. And hold Kim Reynolds and Iowa
accountable.
Further this I'm. We'recertain this will already be a targeted
(41:49):
race.
Absolutely.
And it will be unfortunatelyvery expensive. So.
Yep. Well, we've got the rightwoman in there to win it again. And
you. And you, you're fired upand ready to go. Maybe you shouldn't
let that chap from Wisconsingo yet.
So.
(42:10):
And what was his name again?
Orion Dano.
All right, We've talked moreabout him than we did on the guy
that posted. You posted onelection night. Barack Obama. So.
Is it he. Okay, so I did. Ipulled up the stats. He knocked on
3400 doors.
(42:31):
Holy.
Yeah.
Make sure he gets a win bonusof some kind.
And he didn't start until.Look back, I think he. So I was nominated
on July 9th and I think he. Hestarted on the 21st.
Wow.
So in. In four weeks,essentially. Four weeks and four
(42:52):
days.
I'm serious. I don't think youshould let him go.
You get your money. You getyour money's worth out of him.
Absolutely. We did. And. Andso much more. He's also just a really
funny. He's so funny.
Yeah.
If he's from Wisconsin, he's afunny, I'm sure.
Yeah, he. And you know, I meanlike, he. Yeah, just a. Just a good,
sturdy midwife Western boy.
Yeah, exactly.
(43:13):
Yeah.
Well, when I die and go toheaven, I hope it's in Wisconsin
or Minnesota. So anyway. Allright, that's a wrap on this episode
of Muck you where we dug deepinto the trenches of Iowa politics
and beyond. A huge thank youto our incredible guest and the winner,
Senator elect Catelin Drey,for sharing her insights on flipping
that Republican held Senateseat in Iowa. And she's proving that
(43:36):
that grassroots organizing caneven turn a Trump +10 district blue.
I'm David Wheeler alongsidethe inimitable. I never say it right.
Inevitable. One day, Monday,one day. I'll get it right, Colonel
Mo Davis, co founder ofAmerican Muckraker. If you enjoyed
this show, smash thatsubscribe button, leave us a review,
(43:57):
make adonation@AmericanMutTrakers.com and
join us next time as wehighlight how Democrats can win and
call out Trump. Corruption.
Until then, stay vigilant.Remember, the truth always rises
to the top. And if anyTrumpers bother you, just tell them.
Muck you.
This has been MuckYOU!, cohosted by Colonel Mo Davis in Asheville
(44:18):
and David Wheeler in SprucePine, North Carolina. Thanks to our
guest today, the HonorableCaitlyn Dre, Senator elect for the
Iowa State Senate. Muck youwas pretty. Produced by American
Muckrakers. Copyright 2025.You can learn more and donate@americanmokrakers.com
Please subscribe and supportour work on Substack. Thanks for
(44:40):
listening and y' all come backfor the next episode of Muck you.
Welcome to Muck U, the podcastwhere we wade through the swamp of
politics and corruption tobring you the unfiltered truth. I'm
your host, David Wheeler, cofounder of American Muckrakers, and
thrilled to be joined by mypod partner, the one and only Colonel
Mo Davis. Mo's a retired AirForce colonel, former Guantanamo
prosecutor, and a fearlesstruth teller who's never afraid to
(00:29):
call it like it is. He's alsomarried way up to Lisa. Today we're
diving deep into how aDemocrat won by 10 points in a state
Senate district. Trump won by10. So grab your boots and let's
get mucking over to you, Mo.
Hey. Well, thanks, David, andit's a pleasure being back with you.
It's a beautiful day here inthe mountains of western North Carolina.
(00:52):
Looks like fall is on its wayand hopefully we make it through
this September without anotherhurricane. So thanks for joining
us. And yeah, we've got agreat guest today, one I think folks
will really be interested inhearing from because I know a lot
of folks out in this area areinterested in hearing about what
it takes to win in a reddistrict. So Catelin Drey made the
(01:15):
news here recently. I think itwas August 26th. She won a special
election out in Iowa Senatedistrict number one, which is, David
said, was a district thatTrump won back in November by nearly
11 points. And Caitlindefeated her opponent, Christopher
Pro, who was a Trump magoRepublican by almost 11 points a
(01:37):
couple of weeks back. So,Catelin, hey, thank. Thanks for taking
time to join us today.
My pleasure. Thank you forhaving me. And congratulations on
your successful nuptials. Itsounds like you, you're doing well.
Well, we're at about the 37year points. We're still in the.
Okay.
We're still in the.
Still in the honeymoon phase.
Well, still in theprobationary period. So if she can
(01:58):
make it 13 more years, thenwe'll call it permanent. But now,
David, David's right. I think,you know, after she married me, she
quit drinking. So it. I thinkshe's learned from her mistakes.
So. All right, let me startwith the big question. Hawkeyes or
Cyclone?
I do not have a horse in thatrace. The ultimate politician. Wow.
(02:24):
You've heard. You've beenelected for two weeks and you're
already there. That's awesome.Good for you.
Yeah, I'm gonna stick to thetalking points.
I normally, I normally don'twatch Iowa football, but that was
one of the better games on. On Saturday.
So, yeah, I think it was anexciting game. I am very much of
the mind that I just hope bothteams have fun.
(02:45):
Yeah, well, they. They bothplayed well, and it was a great game,
so I enjoyed watching.
Yeah.
Okay. So how did a nice girlfrom South Dakota end up in politics
in Iowa?
Well, I have lived here inIowa for half of my life. I. My husb.
I both went to. It wasMorningside College, then Morningside
University now, and got a goodliberal. Liberal arts education.
(03:09):
And I. I moved out of thecountry right after we graduated
from college, and he got a jobin Sioux City. That turned into a
really pretty spectacularcareer. You know, we didn't know
that at the time, but I cameback from Honduras after living there
for a year, and he had kindof, like I said, gotten a decent
job, and the rest is history,as they say. Um, I've kind of. I've
(03:34):
made mention of this before,but the people that I went to high
school with in South Dakotaare not surprised that I grew up
to want to lecture peopleabout the rules. So I think that's.
That's the short end. But, youknow, my parents are lifelong public
servants as well. My mom was apublic school teacher for 35 years.
(03:55):
My dad worked for theDepartment of the Interior at the
Fish and Wildlife Service. Andthey just. They both really instilled
in me the value of doing theright thing for our neighbors, even
if it's hard or unpopular, andthat we take care of each other.
That lesson kind of morphedinto. Into this. And I think my dad
(04:18):
said after the electionresults came in, he's like, it's
pretty unbelievable, which isa lot of words for him. He's a very
stoic, sturdy, Nordic fellow.Right. But I was like, you know,
I. I don't know if it'sunbelievable for me. I kind of. I'm
not surprised. It is shockingor surprised. I can't remember. You
know, like, shocked, but notsurprised. Something like that. Because
(04:42):
this. It is the truly, like,the highest form of service to your
community to serve in kind ofcapacity, and that is truly something
that is intrinsic for me.
Yeah. Well, it sounds like youhad a pretty busy life before August
26th. You're. You're a mom, amarketing professional. You're the
founder of Moms for Iowa,which I discovered is totally separate
(05:04):
for Moms for Freedom in Iowa.
Moms for Liberty.
Liberty.
A bit of a. Bit of a play, ifyou will. Yes.
Yeah. You're two different organizations.
Very different.
But I notice it looked likeyour platform was pretty closely
aligned with the things thatMoms for Iowa has been advocating
For. So why don't you tell ourlisteners a little bit about. Well,
(05:25):
first off, what made you thinkin a district that Trump won by about
11 points, that you had asnowball's chance in hell of winning?
Well, I mean, we saw whathappened in January with Senator
Mike Zimmer. We've had threespecial elections prior to this one
in the state of Iowa thisyear. And they've all seen, you know,
(05:46):
plus 20 or more performanceshift. And so that was a pretty solid
indicator to me. But reallyit's about the fact that I have lived
here for almost 20 years. Ihave been involved at various nonprofits.
I, you know, my husband and Iare deeply rooted in this community.
(06:09):
We have a kiddo who startedschool the day before election Day.
We've built our lives here.And whether people know us personally
or professionally, they knowus to be good, kind hearted, common
sense people. And I think thatcontributed. But also, you know,
my opponent tried to run thenational playbook on a very local
(06:33):
level and it didn't stick. Youknow, they were kind of lobbing insults
about my beliefs about theborder and, you know, digging. They
dug up a photo of me fromalmost 10 years ago where my hair
was pink, which was not a, youknow, it's not a controversial thing
(06:53):
to have hair that's adifferent color. I thought I wore
it well. And most peopleagreed with me, I think. But they
tried to kind of make thesewild, you know, accusations stick
in a place where people knowwho I am and know what I stand for.
And I think that ultimatelywas, was kind of one of many deciding
(07:16):
factors.
Your Senate district includesSioux City and Woodbury County. And
I was looking at thedemographics of your area in the,
where David and I live here inthe mountains of western North Carolina.
And I know they're a lotdifferent, but there's some similarities,
too. If you look at thedemographics of our area are pretty
similar. The median householdincome is about the same, the poverty
(07:40):
rates about the same. And thiswas a district that voted for Trump
by about nine and a halfpoints last fall.
Yep, yep, yep.
So looking at your campaign,like you said, your, your, your opponent
tried to play the traditionalMAGA playbook and bring up all.
Yeah.
The irrelevant issues. And itlooks like you stuck to the economic
(08:02):
issues. And so what's the gameplan? How do Democrats win in a district
like where we are and where,where you are.
Yeah, I think the end of theday, the border and, you know, democracy,
they do affect people's lives,but not their daily lives necessarily.
And Obviously, for our, youknow, immigrant communities, right
(08:25):
now is a very scary time. Andthey are also still trying to think
about how to put food on thetable, how to care for their children,
how to get the health carethat they need. And so those economic
pocketbook issues appealacross demographic and are ultimately
what has the most significanteffect on people's day to day lives
(08:49):
in for the most part. Right. Inever, ever want to discount the
immigrant experience because Iknow right now is an exceptionally
scary time. But an Iowa statesenator does not have any control
over border policy. And so totry and extrapolate that into what
this race was decided on isquite foolish. And I think the Republicans
(09:12):
saw that play out. And yeah,I, I hope that we can take that pocketbook
message and run that kind ofplaybook. And the other thing I would
say is just stop talking atpeople and talk to them. You know,
what is it that you're seeing?What is, what is hard for you right
(09:32):
now? What could we dodifferently or better? And how do
I, how do I do that for you?And you know, I was giving out my
personal cell phone number onthe doors saying like call, you know,
call me before, during, afterthe election. I'm happy to help however
I can. And I think that reallymade a difference. I also know that's
(09:52):
really difficult to scale for,for larger races. But thankfully
district is smaller and I willjust correct you a little bit on
the Geogr trophy, so I, so Idon't get in trouble. But it's, it's
a, a slim section of Woodburycounty. So there's, there's more
(10:13):
rural Woodbury county kind ofaround. But this district is basically
Highway 20 north to the countyline and then from the river over
to, to Lawton. So the twomajor areas are Sioux City, which
is most of the district, andthen Lawton, which is kind of an
exurban smaller town rightoutside. So it's not all of Woodbury
(10:37):
county, which is good becausethat'd be a lot more mileage.
But your, your, your electionbreaks the super majority. So what
does that do for the Democratsin Iowa?
Ultimately, what I think itdoes is for the constituents of Iowa,
it gives them a little bitmore power to push back against our
deeply unpopular governor. Andthat's going to be really, really
(11:00):
major. As we kind of siftthrough her last term as governor,
she's already announced she'snot running for reelection. I think
she can see the writing on thewall that she's been unpopular. Her
policy has benefited only asmall number of People. And so that's
the, that's the main point,right. Is we can push back on some
(11:21):
of the more controversial,unpopular policies, but also have
a say in cabinet nominations,which really important.
That's good news to hearbecause as we all know, a lot of
these decisions andimplementation takes place at the,
at the cabinet level. And Kim,Kim, your governor there, has gone
(11:44):
off the rails. So it's glad,I'm glad to hear that you guys will
have at least a little bit ofoversight with her last couple years.
Because actually in the lastcouple years, you know, when a, when
a governor's on their way out,that's when they do the most damage.
So maybe you guys can put akibosh on some of that. But so I,
I love campaigns. I, I, asmost of our listeners know, I grew
(12:06):
up in Iowa around Tom Harkin.Later in life, got to know Tom Vilsack
very well and consider him afriend. And I think that one of the
secrets of their success waskind of what you're talking about,
which is no bullshit. Let'sjust campaign on who we are and how
we're going to win or whatwe'll do for folks. So you had a
(12:27):
very brief campaign, obviously.
47 days.
47 days.
Technical about it.
Yeah. And now let's, I wantyou to be honest here. When did you
know that you were going towin? I mean, one of the things that's
tough about campaigns isnobody wants to lose. But in same
token, you kind of know what'sgoing to happen, especially when
(12:50):
you're active, like you wereon doorsteps. So when did you know
that you were gonna.
There was not ever a doubt for me.
Yeah.
Really. I told, and I toldpeople that on the doors. Right.
Like, confidence is,confidence is one thing, but how
did you know you had the votes?
I mean, the math made sensejust from, you know, like I said,
what we saw from other specialelections. We focused really significantly
(13:17):
on turnout voters, which is,you know, high likelihood of showing
up. And yeah, I just, I knewlike, I felt peaceful at about 7:30
on election night. Polls closeat 8 here, which is another, you
know, Kim Reynolds rollback.
(13:39):
Yeah, it used to be nine.
Yep. They also shortened theearly voting window from, I think
45 days to 20. I can'tremember if it's 40 days, 45 days
or now it's 20 days. And I,you know, we were out literally knocking
doors until like 7:40 onelection day, just as many people
(14:00):
as we could. And, and I hadthis piece where like the last woman
I talked to, I said, hey, doyou have a plan to vote? You've got
about 20 minutes to get to theschool to make that happen. And she's
like, oh, my gosh, I forgot.Thank you so much for coming. I'm
going to, you know, changeclothes. Like, you can go in your
pajamas. Nobody cares. Andshe's like, I'm going to change clothes
(14:20):
and, and we'll get over there.And I knew that we had done everything
that we could in terms ofground game and outreach and earned
media. And I, I knew, like, I,it did. It was never like a, like
a, a confidence thing, Ithink, you know, again, I just hope
(14:40):
both teams have fun. It wasn'tlike a sports thing where, like,
we're going to crush them. Itwas just like. No. I knew that this
was right and the timing wasright for me personally and my family.
But more than that, it's thismoment of, of deep sadness and, and
fear and frustration in theelectorate. And. Yeah, I, I did not
(15:03):
doubt it.
Oh, good. I'm glad. I'm gladit turned out the way you knew it
was going to turn out, butthat's true. I mean, I've done enough
campaigns as well that youkind of know going in where it's
headed. Sometimes you're notcertain whether it's going to be
win or loss, but you kind ofhave a sense of what's going on.
So what do you, what would youcontribute to the win? Was it ground?
(15:27):
Did you.
Yeah.
Outside mail? What was it?
It's ground. All ground allthe time. Right. And we know that
that's the, the best way toreach voters. So we had one paid
organizer who I think walkedout of his shoes. He, he would do
(15:49):
like, I can't even say. Imean, he was doing like 300 doors
a week.
Can we. From the jump, weshould give him a shout out. Should
we?
Oh, yes. Orion Dana.
He.
His dad was an assemblyman inthe Wisconsin legislature, and so
he grew up campaigning andhe's whip smart and incredibly dedicated.
(16:11):
300 houses a day.
A week. A week.
I'd have to go, yeah.
Oh, my God, no. His contactrate would have been abysmal.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's incredible.
And, but, and he, I mean,similarly, he was like, no, we're
gonna get this done. Like, hehad the same kind of, like, knowing
(16:32):
and just like a, a funnylittle brother, but he was, he's
so smart. And any, anycampaign would be exceptionally lucky
to have Orion in their corner.As a, as I know he's Also on the
hunt for a job right now, so.
Right. All right. Well, that'sgood to know, folks, if you're looking
(16:54):
for a good organizer. Yeah,this, this young man sounds like
he's ready and willing to workhis tail off, so.
Yeah, and he, and he did. And,and, and that was it. Like, we, you
know, we had, like I said, wehad one paid, paid organizer and
he coordinated the volunteereffort every weekend. We had, you
know, at least six or sevenother people out knocking for us.
(17:18):
I mean, we, we knocked on over7,000 doors. And this is in again,
47 days, so over 7,000 doors.And we made almost 30,000 phone calls.
And just because of thevolunteer effort, we were able to
expand that universe on ourlast kind of get out the Vote weekend
and found 800 more people thanwe had previously ident identify
(17:42):
just in that last weekendbecause we had such incredible volunteers
showing up. And the PolkCounty Democrats bused in almost.
I think it was over 50 peopleby the time we accounted for the
people on the bus. And thenthose that drove themselves separately
because they didn't. Theyweren't into the bus vibe. But we
had, you know, we had like 50volunteers from across the state
(18:04):
of Iowa that showed up on getout the Vote weekend. And, and that
weekend alone, it was like. Ican't. I don't even remember. I'm
not a stats g. But just somany contacts and so many attempts.
And that really, I think, wasthe. Was the secret. Which isn't
a secret. Right. Campaigns know.
Yeah.
That. That's the best. That'sthe best way to reach people.
(18:27):
Yeah, that's how we, that'show we won when I was a kid in, in
Warren county was doors. Imean, we just went to as many doors
as we can, and we made afamily affair out of it. So you knocked,
you knocked a lot of doors.You personally did as well.
Yes, I'm, I will say I, I am aslow canvasser to begin with because
(18:47):
I just really enjoy chattingwith people. But it turns out when
you are the candidate, you areexceptionally slow. Yeah, yeah, just
like everybody.
Yeah, but. That's right. Butthose people remember you and they'll
talk to their friends and, andthe warmth that you gave them is
worth, you know, probably twoor three more votes. So did you do
(19:11):
mail or radio or tv?
Yes, we did all of that kindof traditional, traditional outreach.
But the other layer for us,and this is something that I was
really about from the get go,was one, being online and being,
you know, a good present onThe Internet on social media. And
(19:35):
then we did a lot of outreachin Spanish and you know, the full,
full website was available inSpanish. That was really important
to me. Those, those were kindof the non traditional means of,
of communication. But yeah,that we kind of pivoted away from,
from broadcast just becauseagain, that our district is, is geography.
(20:01):
And so, you know, traditionalTV and radio, terrestrial radio just
is not as effective when wecan be much more targeted with digital.
And so that was kind of thebig, the big shift.
And why was, why was thewebsite translated Spanish? Why is
that important to you?
Well, I am a Spanish speakerfrom that time in Honduras. Less
(20:24):
good than I was in, in yearspast, but I picked up a lot more
of it last cycle in thiscycle. But we have, you know, for
the, the place that we live,we are surprisingly diverse. We have
over 70 home languages spoken,school district, and that's important.
(20:44):
Elections work differently inother countries and it's important
for me that everyone who iseligible can cast a ballot. And so
Spanish is I think our highestinstance of native language other
than English. I'd have toprobably do a little, do a little
research on that, but that,that was important.
(21:05):
Yeah. And, and any idea whatturnout was for you, Spanish speaker
wise?
Oh, they just got thecertified results today, so I think
we'll start to see some ofthat information now. But I have
not yet seen any.
Of that, but it could havebeen. Well, they certainly contributed
to your margin, I assume.
(21:25):
Yeah, well, and, and I willsay too, like, I anecdotally the.
I got. Because I was handingout my cell phone number on the doors,
I got some like, photos frompeople. One of them, they, they sent
me a photo of their, of theirearly vote with their stickers and
(21:45):
they said we believe in you in Spanish.
Right.
And it's this couple that, youknow, I, I was so honored to have
that little like, personaltouch point and like that's politics
is personal whether peoplewant to do it or not. And so reaching
people where they are in thelanguage that they're most comfortable
speaking just does not seemlike it should be a heavy lift.
(22:06):
Right. And, and there's alarge immigrant population there
that works in ag. Right. Andlike meat packing.
Yeah, I was gonna say moremore food processing than, than ag
in terms of harvesting. Butyes, we do have a pretty. And that,
that, that blue collar workis, is Sioux City's history and going
(22:28):
back to the originalmuckrakers. Right. When we're talking
about, when we're talkingabout packing houses and the labor
that happens there and youknow, union busting and, and all
of that has led to, to animmigrant population that we rely
on. And, and thankfully, youknow, for me, who loves to eat and
(22:50):
drink my way through culturalexperiences, we have a really robust
ethnic food offering for atown our size. And like I said, that's,
it's important to me to reachmy neighbors in, in the way that
they prefer.
Okay. And I was looking atsome of the issues that the legislature
(23:10):
tackled in the last session. Isaw where they removed gender identity
from the list ofconstitutionally protected classes.
I guess property taxes isanother issue that will be on the
agenda when you get there.What are the top issues for you that
you really want to focus on?
Yeah, the first thing for meis making sure that our public schools
(23:33):
are funded at a rate thatkeeps pace with or exceeds inflation.
And that has not beenhappening over the course of the
many last sessions. And sothat's priority number one, and then
priority two, three and four,I think is probably a safe kind of
categorization. And they canbe in any order, but kind of right
(23:55):
underneath public schools ishow do we make health care, housing
and child care more affordableand accessible. And that was just
the, the drumbeat that, youknow, when we talk about reaching
voters with a message thatresonates, that was, that was the
main thing that we kepthearing over and over again. I'm
concerned about my health careafter the federal cuts to Medicaid
(24:19):
and what does it look like,even though I'm not using Medicaid,
when my provider can no longerpractice here because they're not
meeting the, the income needsor the, you know, the, the profit
margin needs that, that arenecessary to keep a clinic open.
And we're already seeing theeffects of that policy as well as,
(24:40):
you know, our archaic abortionpolicy on the books. We're 52nd now,
I think in terms of maternalhealthcare provide capita. And so
how do we encourage providersto stay in practice in a state where
they're not able to practiceevidence based medicine all of the
time? That's going to bereally important. And then, yeah,
(25:04):
like I said, you, youmentioned property taxes. And we
have to figure out anequitable way to fund our state.
And rolling back the incometax is not it. We have already seen,
you know, a $917 milliondeficit rejection for this year.
That's because of, you know,what sounds really sexy is we want
(25:27):
to cut your taxes. But what itactually means is the rich aren't
paying their fair share and wehave to move Away from start legislating
for, for actual impact insteadof intent.
It's been interesting. Youknow, the big beautiful bill, I guess
they're trying to rebrand thatnow is trying to pitch it as what
(25:47):
is called tax breaks for theworking class where all, all the
studies show. I mean, youknow, here in North Carolina we have
Senator Thom Tillis who.
Oh boy.
Who fell on his sword over theMedicaid cuts because it's gonna,
as he said, it's gonna impactin our district here. Tens of thousands
of people lose their, theirhealth care coverage. There's already
(26:10):
a shortage. Like you'retalking about health care providers.
We've. There are fivehospitals are projected to close
in North Carolina.
Holy smokes.
Two of those are here inwestern North Carolina.
So sorry.
So, you know, trying torebrand this thing is being good
for working class families isa bit of a joke. But what are you
(26:30):
seeing? I saw where yourstate, I guess your governor was
pushing for a more stringentwork requirement for Medicaid.
I believe that was successful.If I am remembering correctly, I
think.
She went about 100 hours amonth where the federal law was going
to be 80 hours a month. Month.And what are you seeing as far as
potential impacts of. I knowlike here the snap cuts, the Medicaid
(26:51):
cuts, the head start cuts, allthe things are just hard to see how
that's beneficial to workingclass family.
Yeah, I think we're stillwaiting for some of the dust to settle
in terms of the effects. Iknow I've seen some fact sheets,
but I don't, I don't havethose stats handy off the top of
my head. But what the realtakeaway has been is just, just creating
(27:11):
chaos. You know, we had asystem that was, for better or worse,
relatively stable. Right.People knew what to expect when they
showed up at an office toapply for benefits. They knew what
to expect in terms of their,you know, monthly payments. They
knew what to expect in termsof what was covered and not covered
at a doctor's office. And allof that has just been thrown into
(27:35):
the wind. And people arescrambling to understand whether
or not they will still have ajob if they're working for Head Start.
They are scrambling to figureout how they're going to afford their,
you know, childcare or theirhealthcare based on rollbacks and
cuts and, and all of thattakes time and effort and energy
(27:58):
away from the life thatthey're trying to live. Right. It's.
It's incredibly time consumingto exist in that system because there
are appointments and paperworkand, and requirements. And I just,
we have a ruling class rightnow that is so far removed from the
people that they have lost anysense of empathy for folks who might
(28:23):
need a hand up. And that'sreally to the detriment of all of
us.
I was reading your governor'scomments on the work requirement
and she was pitching it asit's really good for the individual
because there's dignity inwork and getting people out there
and working is going to buildup their self esteem. And you know,
I would think having healthcare would probably be more important
(28:46):
than that. But I'm curious,when you're out canvassing and talking
with folks, I mean yourdistrict made a, a pretty big swing
going from about a 20 pointswing in a matter of months. What
were you hearing from peoplethat, that, that you know, obviously
there are some folks that tooka different route in August and they
(29:07):
did in November. What were youhearing from people?
I think just that overwhelmingsense of frustration that they, they
don't feel well represented atany level and this was an opportunity
for them to take back some ofthat control over the decisions that
are being made about theireveryday lives. Like that I think
(29:28):
was the overwhelming kind oftheme in general when you know, before
you start to drill down intothose issues. But just a lot of frustration
I think from folks about notfeeling represented or heard.
Right. Well, it's been onekind of encouraging thing here. We
had no Kings rallies a whileback and we've got some pretty, pretty
(29:50):
deep red areas here in westernNorth Carolina and some of those
little towns had rallies andit's some of them folks were telling
me that, that they had Trumpvoters that came out and joined them
and said hey this, this isn'twhat we voted for and we're having
some buyers remorse. So yeah,I'm curious when you, you get sworn
in, I think what next week and.
(30:10):
Yep.
Are there areas like, youknow, some of the things you talk
about, affordable housing,child care, health care, public,
public education, are thereareas where you think there's possibility
to work across the aisle and get.
Absolutely.
So yeah.
What in particular you thinkyou can, you can work with the other
side?
Well, I mean, I think we allwant good education, we all want
(30:34):
good health care. It's just amatter of like how, how we get there.
And I think when we see peopleshow up at the polls but then continue
to show up by saying hey, thisisn't what I asked for, this isn't
what I wanted, that kind ofactive participation in between election
days will, will start tobecome really crucial. And I think
(30:55):
that's one of the maindifferences that you see from Democrats
at the local level andRepublicans is that Democrats are
quite willing to listen to ourconstituents and say, oh, you know,
I hadn't thought of it thatway. Thank you for, for helping me
understand the issue moredeeply. And, you know, how can we
come to a consensus on this?And I'm hopeful that we'll see more
(31:18):
of that as we sprint towardsthe midterm.
You know, talking with folkshere in West North Carolina, you
know, Democrats andunaffiliated voters that tend to
be more progressive, thatthere seems to be like this malaise.
You know, people, they'retired, they're worn down, they're,
they're disappointed in theDemocratic Party.
(31:39):
Yes.
So what gives you optimism ona path forward? I mean, obviously
you must see better daysahead. So what's causing you to be
optimistic about tomorrow?
Well, I think people aren'tgiving up. Right. When you talk about
the malaise and thefrustration, that's something that
I noticed early on in a veryshort campaign, is that the folks
(32:02):
in my district are frustrated,but they're not giving up. There's
not another option other thanto think that we can do better tomorrow
because otherwise, what's thepoint? And, you know, I, I don't
want to be Pollyanna ish aboutour prospects right now. There is
some really scary stuffhappening across the country, and
I think the, that we'reseeing, like you said, Trump voters
(32:26):
show up at protests. Thattells us that people are paying attention
and that maybe we'll have someopportunity to push back and, and
hopefully kind of right theship. But we do need Democrats, especially
at the federal level, to startplaying by the new rules. I think
(32:46):
what we're seeing from, youknow, a Gavin Newsom or a Zoran Mamdani
or a JB Pritzker, I thinkthose types of, of communications
and, and messages are going tobecome more necessary as the days
wear on.
And Mrs. We're all going todie someday is not running in Iowa.
(33:07):
That's a, that's a positivesign, isn't it? Because she would
have been tough to beat. I, I,I know she's vulnerable, but, you
know, incumbency, as we allknow know, is, is difficult sometimes.
So who, who do you see? And,and maybe you've been embroiled in
your own camp or, you know,spending so much time in your own
campaign you haven't thoughtabout it much. But who do you see
(33:28):
on the Democratic side in thatSenate race? In Iowa that, that might
have a chance to take thatseat back for Democrats.
Gosh, honestly, they're allexceptional candidates. Again, I,
I don't have a horse in thatrace, but I was, was really honored
to have three out of the fourof them come knock for us, which
is incredible. You know, JoshTurret came out. Representative Josh
(33:52):
Turret came out, I think onthe last. I think that was the day
before election day. And, youknow, he did a turf. And you know
that, that means a lot whenyou talk about kind of all of us
working together. And, youknow, same senator, state senator
Zach Walls came out. NathanSage, who's just like a. A shot in
(34:13):
the arm, came and he, he waslike, I'm not here to talk about
me. I'm here to win this raceand start the snowball. And that
type of enthusiasm from acrossthe state was, Was really quite meaningful.
And somebody else told methere are no coincidences in politics.
So the fact that, that SenatorErnst dropped out a couple days after
(34:35):
my election was not acoincidence, which I, I don't know
how true that is, but if, if Ihad even a small part in getting
her to stick to her campaignpromise of only serving two terms,
then I'm happy to. Happy tohave helped.
Yes, it was worth everydollar, every door. Yes, just exactly.
Yeah, you can, you canactually now resign and they'll have
(34:56):
another specialist.
I don't know that. I don'tknow that I can.
Yeah, yeah.
No, no, no campaign promisesto deliver, but exactly.
Well, do me a favor.
I.
Listen, I'm a former Iowan andI obviously still have family there
and love the place and keep aneye on politics. And obviously we're
extremely proud of you asDemocrats out here in North Carolina.
But, you know, use some of thepolitical capital that you have.
(35:19):
Obviously, you can't charge.Oh, yeah, charge into the place.
Take it with you.
Right? And you can't, youcan't, you can't charge in on your
first day and, you know, be abull in a china shop. But, you know,
one of the things thatirritates the hell out of me, Democrats
that do get power and have,you know, some following and then
they don't use it. They just,they step back and they look at re
(35:42):
election or they look atfundraising as the primary purpose
of their election when, youknow, if you're going to lose, lose
on something, a reason forlosing because you took a stand.
And. Yeah, I don't want tomansplain you because you don't need
that. But, but, but I hopeyou'll use that. And then secondly,
(36:03):
my only other advice, havingbeen around Democratic politics and
Iowa politics and listen, I'mno expert in that space whatsoever,
but one of the things I havelearned is don't tie yourself too
closely to the party becausethere's a lot of bullshit that goes
on within the party. And themore that you can kind of stay above
(36:24):
the fray and not be beholdento that party, the better. But that.
That's something you'll.You'll learn on your own. I'm sure
It's.
It's truly stunning thatnobody eats Democrats. Like. Like
Democrats.
Yeah, it is.
We are really so good ateating our own.
Yeah.
And I, And I. I'll admit Icatch myself doing it, but we have
(36:45):
to quit with the. The puritytest and the what about ism and the.
It's just maddening.
Yeah.
And we're all pulling the ropein the same direction. Or we'd like
to. Who think that we are. And so.
Yeah. And. And what you saidabout adapting to the rules. I. And
I know Mo, feel free to weighin on this, but I know Mo and I would
(37:05):
agree with you a thousandpercent. One of our biggest beefs
about Democrats is not usingthe rules to win.
Yeah.
And doing things creative. Andsometimes it may seem counterintuitive,
but God damn it, do it. Youknow, And I'm sure you felt that
way too. You know, you livingin a Trump community or a Trump ish
(37:26):
community. I assume you gotsome. Some of those Trumpers to vote
for you.
I don't. I don't know how truethat is necessarily. I think what
we'll see is. And we saw thisin 2018. Right. When he's not at
the top of the ticket, there'sless enthusiasm. And so I think that's.
That's part of it is that. Didthey even turn out? I don't know.
(37:47):
Like I said, we don't. Wedon't have the, The. Is it the cross
tabs? Is that we. What we callthem in the biz.
Yeah.
Because. Still learning all ofthis language.
Yeah. Well, you don't need tolearn all of it. Trust me.
But I just. I'm aninsufferable. Know it all. And so
I want to know is the. Is thedownfall for me? Because I really
(38:09):
like to be right.
Yeah, I hear you.
Yeah. Yeah. So I. Yeah. Idon't know. I don't know that we
know that. But it will beinteresting to see. See what happens
and. Or see what happens.
And most. Right. Reachingacross the aisle, actually, that's
probably the best way for youto show your constituents now that
you mean business and you'regoing to represent the whole district
(38:31):
and do some, do some billswith some moderate Republicans that
make sense so well.
And yeah, I think at the endof the day, we're much closer to
the middle and then, then andhave more in common than I think
our, our current, you know,left and right narratives would suggest.
Exactly. All right, back toyou, Mo, for one more.
(38:52):
Well, thanks. Well, listen,it's, it's, it's been a real pleasure
having you on here and a realbreath of fresh air and I hope a
lot of other Democrats arelistening and adopting your playbook
because like I said, I cantell you there seems to be a lot
of gloom and doom in the partyand having people with a positive
outlook and a good messagelike you is, is really important.
(39:15):
I hope, I imagine you'regetting calls from other people looking
for advice, and I hopethey're, I hope they're taking it.
But so what. What's, I knowit's only been two weeks, but what's,
what's the future hold for you?
Well, I mean, I think youalluded to this earlier. You know,
with re election started thenight of the election, really it's
(39:36):
a, you know, a single sessionterm for me and then we've got a
general election for a fullterm next year. And so that is, you
know, that's ultimately what'snext. But really it's just, you know,
continuing to drink from thefire hose of understanding how to
be a good representative of myconstituents. And that starts with
(39:59):
listening. So, so I'm going tokeep knocking on doors and we'll
have a couple, you know,listening posts, town hall kind of
things coming up here beforethe, the start of the session. And
as always, unfortunately,fundraising, because money is speech,
apparently. And so we've gotto keep being able to, keep being
(40:20):
able to, to talk toconstituents, however we can reach
them. So.
And what's the best way forfolks to contribute it?
Oh, that's so kind. You canfind a donation page at dre for Iowa.com
d r e y for Iowa. Like allspelled out dot com. Otherwise, you
know, search, search me up onAct Blue. I'm, I'm there and support
(40:42):
at this point is, isincredibly appreciated and unfortunately
necessary in that way. So.
Yeah, well, and the otherthing is, you know, there's a lot
of races across the countrythat people and we have a pretty
good audience across the USAnd I'm sure Some of those folks
contribute to competitorsagainst MTG and Lindsey Jones or
(41:06):
Lindsey Graham in SouthCarolina. Those races are unwinnable.
This is a race, Caitlin Dre.Senator elect's race in 26 is a race
you can re win. And by God, wegot to win that because you broke
the super majority. And thegovernor now is accountable in Iowa
in a way that she hasn't beenfor the last last 12 years. So folks,
(41:29):
please go to Dre d r ey4iowa.com and drop her 5, 10, 15,
20, 100 bucks. Because all ofthat matters.
Yeah.
And that will help reelect herand. And hold Kim Reynolds and Iowa
accountable.
Further this I'm. We'recertain this will already be a targeted
(41:49):
race.
Absolutely.
And it will be unfortunatelyvery expensive. So.
Yep. Well, we've got the rightwoman in there to win it again. And
you. And you, you're fired upand ready to go. Maybe you shouldn't
let that chap from Wisconsingo yet.
So.
(42:10):
And what was his name again?
Orion Dano.
All right, We've talked moreabout him than we did on the guy
that posted. You posted onelection night. Barack Obama. So.
Is it he. Okay, so I did. Ipulled up the stats. He knocked on
3400 doors.
(42:31):
Holy.
Yeah.
Make sure he gets a win bonusof some kind.
And he didn't start until.Look back, I think he. So I was nominated
on July 9th and I think he. Hestarted on the 21st.
Wow.
So in. In four weeks,essentially. Four weeks and four
(42:52):
days.
I'm serious. I don't think youshould let him go.
You get your money. You getyour money's worth out of him.
Absolutely. We did. And. Andso much more. He's also just a really
funny. He's so funny.
Yeah.
If he's from Wisconsin, he's afunny, I'm sure.
Yeah, he. And you know, I meanlike, he. Yeah, just a. Just a good,
sturdy midwife Western boy.
Yeah, exactly.
(43:13):
Yeah.
Well, when I die and go toheaven, I hope it's in Wisconsin
or Minnesota. So anyway. Allright, that's a wrap on this episode
of Muck you where we dug deepinto the trenches of Iowa politics
and beyond. A huge thank youto our incredible guest and the winner,
Senator elect Catelin Drey,for sharing her insights on flipping
that Republican held Senateseat in Iowa. And she's proving that
(43:36):
that grassroots organizing caneven turn a Trump +10 district blue.
I'm David Wheeler alongsidethe inimitable. I never say it right.
Inevitable. One day, Monday,one day. I'll get it right, Colonel
Mo Davis, co founder ofAmerican Muckraker. If you enjoyed
this show, smash thatsubscribe button, leave us a review,
(43:57):
make adonation@AmericanMutTrakers.com and
join us next time as wehighlight how Democrats can win and
call out Trump. Corruption.
Until then, stay vigilant.Remember, the truth always rises
to the top. And if anyTrumpers bother you, just tell them.
Muck you.
This has been MuckYOU!, cohosted by Colonel Mo Davis in Asheville
(44:18):
and David Wheeler in SprucePine, North Carolina. Thanks to our
guest today, the HonorableCaitlyn Dre, Senator elect for the
Iowa State Senate. Muck youwas pretty. Produced by American
Muckrakers. Copyright 2025.You can learn more and donate@americanmokrakers.com
Please subscribe and supportour work on Substack. Thanks for
(44:40):
listening and y' all come backfor the next episode of Muck you.
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The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.