{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Maryland Now","title":"Stay Off the Poller Coasters: Tom Perez on the Midterms","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3024,"description":"Maryland Now — brought to you by Blended Public Affairs\n\nThis episode, Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin sit down with Tom Perez — former U.S. Labor Secretary, former DNC Chair, former Maryland Labor Secretary, former Montgomery County Councilmember, and now a partner at Mayer Brown — for a wide-ranging conversation on the 2026 midterms, the state of American democracy, and what comes next for the Democratic Party.\n\nIn this episode:\nWhy Perez believes Democrats are favored to retake the House and are newly competitive in states like Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, and Texas — and the historical data point he says predicts midterm outcomes better than anything else\nHis warning about what he hopes Democrats don't do if they retake Congress, and what he thinks the real priorities should be instead\nA candid conversation about the risk to free and fair elections in November\nPerez's reflections on his time in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division — from working under Reagan-era officials who respected institutional norms, to what he calls the \"obliteration\" of those same norms today\nHis firm's role representing Harvard in its funding dispute with the administration, and why he says the case matters far beyond one university\nA sobering look at what a return to normalcy might cost the U.S. with its allies abroad, and why he thinks trust, once broken twice, is much harder to rebuild\nGot a question or topic you want covered this season? Reach us at marylandnow@blendedpublicaffairs.com, and find us now on Facebook too.\nTechnical support by Nate Carper, Carper Creative.","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/cWPrI2HtFRFi4-cEgG9AilW5PwDl7N2ksf_B2iAK6ck/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMjlm/MWRkNGZkYjQxNzZh/ZjI0NTRjNmVmNTg2/NjBjMC5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}