IHIP News - Running Against Trump's Cruelty in A Deep Red State

Episode Date: November 9, 2025

We are joined by Congressional candidate Jena Nelson to discuss the reality of running against MAGA in 2025.Order our new book, join our Substack, shop our merch, and more by clicking here: https://linktr.ee/ivehaditpodcast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Your first great love story is free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.ca slash Wondery. That's audible.ca slash Wondery. Today on IHIP News, we have a special treat. The 5th District Congressional candidate in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Gina Nelson from our home state. Welcome, Gina. Hi. Good morning. everybody. Good morning. Now, so tell me, you are running against Stephanie Bice, who is an incumbent, and knowing and living here, I know that she has done zero town halls. Are you going and talking to constituents that feel like there have been slighted in that regard? Absolutely. So Stephanie Bice has not done an in-person town hall in over four years. So she has been cherry picking her constituents that she gets to talk to. And so I have now had four and I think five

now coming up at town halls and we have more to come. We also are doing small meet and greets and basically showing up wherever people want to hear what we have to offer in terms of representing them in the fifth district. And as a representative for Oklahoma, Stephanie Bice has voted with Trump on everything. And so what is it that you feel like that you can bring to this position and a two-part question? And then are you talking to people in Oklahoma City that are like, we're, we don't support these policies that this administration is rolling out? Well, I'll start with that second question. And I will say they absolutely are, they're tired. They are tired of the fact that We are constantly on the fence of, are we going to be able to eat?

Are we going to be able to feed our children? Are we going to be able to send our children to school without them being snatched off of the street? And so, you know, the fifth district contains more, of course, than just Oklahoma City. We have Logan and Lincoln, and we also have Seminole counties. We have a little bit of Canadian County and Pottawatomie County. So it is a very diverse district with a lot of different needs. And no pun intended, but almost pun intended, but we've had it. We have had it with these politicians that are out there in D.C.

That are covering their own assets, but breaking the back of working class and the working poor here in Oklahoma. And are you finding people are getting behind you? Because, you know, you're brave to run as a Democrat in Oklahoma. I feel like I am brave, but yet after the last election that I ran against Ryan Walters, what we found is that we actually won the 5th District with over 28,000 votes. And I had a 16% Republican crossover. So people are behind me because they think, one, is that I'm one of them. They understand, you know, I am not anyone who is a rich millionaire.

I'm working class and full of sass, you know, ready to go up, Congress kicks a mask. they get behind that. They understand that I'm one of them and that I've always had the best interest of the people and children, especially. I was a teacher for 17 years. And they know that I'm here to fight for our community. And they know, you know, we made a joke the other night at the Yukon Town Hall that, you know, it's time to take the woodshed to Washington. And that's what I intend to do. Do you, what is the number one thing that people are talking to you about? Is it immigration? Is it the economy? What is affecting their lives the most? It is economy. The fact that we can't go to the grocery store and can't, you know, get out without paying an arm and a leg.

It's also health care. People are really concerned about Medicare cuts here because the most of our state relies on Medicare. And a lot of those are children and the elderly and disabled. They don't want to lose these services that are so vital to them. And so they know that they have to find someone that will actually show up, that will talk to them and gives a damn about them. And that's why one of the reasons I'm running. Let me ask you this. You are a Democrat. Are you pro-life or pro-choice? I'm pro-choice.

And it goes farther than that. Because, you know, it means more than just the health care of women. It also means making sure that we're feeding hungry children. It means that we are making sure that we have health care for people because it's vital that we also make sure that if we're going to have pro-life, then you've got to take care of the life all the way through. And so I believe that, you know, a woman needs to have her choice and she needs to keep that between her and her doctor and not have to have the federal government in her in her life.

I completely agree. Have you heard from your constituents about health care? I mean, I'm not so. I'm sorry. Child care. Because child care, I used to do divorces. And child care was more expensive in some cases than people's rent or mortgage. And that seems crazy because you have to work. Absolutely. And so we have such a child care issue here, of course, in Oklahoma, across the country. And there are, are so many people that are having to work in order to pay their health care because it's astronomical. And then they're also taking the other part of that check and putting it back into child care because they can't work without child care. And so basically people are working for pennies on the dollar now and not getting the kind of support they need to both have a family and a career. Yeah. And I just wonder, I feel like women in our state because we are becoming a healthcare desert in so many areas and it's so hard

to get hospitals uh you know hospitals are closing down in rural america and then you have this big beautiful bill our constituents do they understand that the big beautiful bill is taking away their subsidies for the ACA are they getting that the cuts are coming because of this big beautiful bill? Or are they buying the bullshit about, oh, it's the Democrats? I think that it's starting to slowly turn around. So one of the things that I do in the town hall is I do a little bit of teaching, you know, and I ask them, I say, okay, if this hospital where you are right now, let's just say we're in, we're in Seminole, okay? If your hospital closes down, where is the nearest hospital that you're going to have to go to? And then they, I say, okay, and then they give me like

Oklahoma City. I said, okay, how far is that for you to travel? And when you think about this, when minutes count on whether you are going to live or die in an ambulance, what is it that we can do right now to stop that? And then they realize that we have to, we have to overturn the big, beautiful bill. We have to preserve those hospitals because it's going to put a huge strain on Oklahoma City and Tulsa, which have the majority of our hospitals now, and no one is going to get adequate care. In addition to that, you know, when we think about, you know, women who want to have children, because of the bills that have been going on in Oklahoma, we are, we are poised to have a gynecological desert where almost 75% of the people who want to be

OBGYNs are going to leave this state. because they are afraid of what is going to happen to then if they practice medicine and get called on the carpet. Isn't that just crazy? I mean, not only are they putting the government. I mean, I don't want Governor Stitt in my OB-G-O-I-N-A appointment. Oh, Lord. Thank you very much.

No, thank you. And it goes to the fundamental issue of what should the government be involved in and what should they not be involved in. And we have Republicans that are, oh, we're small government. Really? Because you're telling me what I can read. You want to be at my gyneological visits. You're trying to tell me how to think.

You're trying to say what I say is anti-American and not patriotic because I believe in the Constitution. Do you believe that people in our state, and you're probably going to be more optimistic than me, that people in our state are real. realizing that these super majorities that we have had in the state of Oklahoma, it has rammed our economy into a whole. Our education system. Worst place for women to live. Is there any, because I feel like people in this state, women and working class people, they vote against their own self-interest in every election. Are you getting some glimmer of hope that they're starting to understand that they've been lied to repeatedly?

I am. And, you know, I am not a Pollyanna. I am a realist. But as someone who has been on the apology tour for the last three years, because people may or may not know, I ran against Ryan Walters. And I told everybody the truth about what he was going to do, how he was going to do it, and he did it. And now everyone comes up to me, Republicans, Democrats,

libertarians, and independents and say, we're sorry, we were wrong. We can't believe this. And I think that they are seeing that, that are, you know, a lot of people continue to back him and support that. And so now they're ready for a change. They don't want to have four more years of this kind of nonsense in our state because, you know, you can say that you are the party of small government, but it's just like everything that you just said. They want to control every single thing, the way I think, the way I raise me. my children, the way my children want to live, they want to, they want to, they're okay with zip tying children on the side of the street.

That is not small government. That is authoritarianism. Absolutely. Are you getting a sense that people are realizing that their faith has been used against them, like the Republicans co-opt where the party of family values and faith, and then every single policy they enact goes against what they. say their faith stands for. And in Oklahoma, which is so megachurchy, do you see any kind of realization in that regard? I do. And, you know, this is one of the things that, so the last

few years, I've been working with the organization that pushes back against Christian nationalism. And so I, I am a Christian, but I am a love your, you love your neighbor Christian, not a judge, your neighbor Christian, and with an open and affirming, loving hearts for everybody. And what's happened is they they have not co-opted this version, this Christian nationalist version, where it is a power structure. And they are. There's a group up in around Tulsa called the city elders that really wants to see a theocracy in Oklahoma where they have, they have every single person that they want to run in every single part of your life so that they can control the government. And then there's people like me that say, no, no, no, no, no.

I like the red letter part where it says, you know, feed the poor and house, the homeless, those kind of things. And so I think that what I am seeing also is that, you know, my, my brand here is that we are pushing back. We are, we are the ones that are saying, no, this is not what we are. You are, this is not Christian. This is Christian nationalists. And we're not, we're not putting up with this anymore. I'm glad to hear that because Governor Andy Bershear of Kentucky, he read, he led a very effective campaign saying, my Christianity tells me I cannot marginalize anybody. I have to protect everybody, whether you are trans, gay, female, non-binary, whatever. And I think that's a powerful message that a lot in this state in particular have lost. And I agree, Christian nationalism is terrifying. It's absolutely terrifying. It's just radical.

religion, and we all know where that goes. Absolutely. You know, look at every country that has a serious religious problem with radicalized religion. It's in the toilet. So, Gina, tell us how people outside of Oklahoma can help you win this race against Stephanie Bice. Okay. Well, first of all, I'm going to say this is one of the most flippable seats in the entire country. We know this because my name is up on the board right now.

at the D-Trip, and they also, they are watching, they know this. And so what they can do is they can go to gina nelson.com. They can sign up to volunteer. Of course, we can, we will take every donation that anyone has. If you want to throw me a fundraiser, that would be fabulous as well. But really and truly, you know, we need people out there knocking doors and meeting their neighbors, showing community. This past weekend, we had over 40 people out at the Coil Creek area.

signed up. Republicans showed up, Democrats and independents, young people. There was a 13-year-old who showed up to knock doors for me. And his big thing was making sure that I would protect the separation of church and state. And I said, you got it, Eddie. And so this is an energy that people, they might be sleeping on a little bit, but I don't think that they're going to be sleeping on this race for very long. And let me tell you, if we flip the seat, if we flip the fifth, This will be a death knell to the MAGA movement in this nation. Because if you can flip this in Ruby Red, Oklahoma, then we are back on track to truly making America

what it is supposed to be, not great, but a land of opportunity again. And so I hope that everybody will join us on this. We can do this. It is not a pipe dream. And I look forward to talking with you again, and seeing everybody get involved in this race. That's excellent, and I am here for it.

Keep up the good fight, and we will have you back on before the election. Thank you so much, Gina. Oh, thank you so much.