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Left Out Loud is a progressive political podcast breaking down the biggest stories shaping our democracy. From up-to-the-minute political news and midterm election coverage to in-depth interviews with grassroots Democratic candidates, the show spotlights the voices and movements fighting for real change. Smart, informed, and unapologetically loud, Left Out Loud pairs sharp analysis with humor and plain-spoken commentary, cutting through the noise to focus on what actually matters. If you care about elections, organizing, and the future of the Democratic Party—and you like your politics with a little personality—this is the podcast for you.
Ally: All right.
We have another great congressional
candidate today, John Z. You will
see I am solo, sadly so alone today.
Um, my partner in crime, my co-host
Seth, is he had a work a work conflict.
In earlier episodes, he mentioned
how he's part of the gig economy
and when the gigs happen and
they come up, you gotta take him.
On my own today, but I'm really
looking forward to this conversation.
John is running for Congress
in New Jersey's sixth district
that's in central New Jersey.
True progressive.
He was a Bernie delegate.
He's really on the ground even in
his role as a private citizen helping
out the community, helping out.
Nurse workers who went on strike.
We'll talk about that in this episode.
Just can't wait to get to know him better.
And, uh.
I will not see you on the other side
because I'm not gonna do the at 'cause
I don't have my buddy this week.
But please enjoy this
conversation with John Chu.
John Chu, so excited to have
you here on Left Out Loud.
Thank you for joining the podcast today.
John Hsu: Oh, it is my pleasure.
Ally: And I feel like
it's especially exciting.
It's almost like we have breaking
news here, because I saw on your
socials a couple of hours ago that
you were officially on the ballot.
Mm-hmm.
For New Jersey's sixth district.
John Hsu: Yes, yes.
So we collected 1,598 signatures.
We needed 500 to get on the ballot.
Uh, Friday was the
deadline to challenge that.
So we are officially on.
I'm very excited about that.
Ally: Congratulations.
That's great.
And this, um, so why don't we start
with, if you don't mind, tell me a little
bit about your background and sort of
what motivated you to run for congress?
John Hsu: Oh, sure.
So I was a Bernie Sanders delegate.
I was the, uh, the coordinator for
the campaign in 2020 in Middlesex
County and Monmouth County, which
encompasses my congressional district.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: Um, so I traveled to Iowa,
traveled to New Hampshire, uh, for those
campaigns in my local Democratic party.
I was the chair of the, uh, progressive
caucus, uh, in my, in my town.
And I was also the chair of our
revolution, New Jersey, and that was
a group that came outta the Bernie
Sanders campaign, and we've helped a
lot of we helped the nurses and their
labor strike, local labor strike.
We helped, uh, yeah, that was a big one.
We helped some steel workers
and their local, uh, strike.
We help stop a power plant, uh, in a,
uh, environmental justice, uh, community.
And, uh, yeah, some rental work.
Just a lot of, you've
Ally: been, you've been extremely
active in politics it sounds
like, for quite a while now.
John Hsu: Quite a while, yeah.
Ally: Yeah,
John Hsu: definitely.
Ally: And you ran.
Uh, in 2024, correct?
Yes.
Yes.
For congress in the same district.
John Hsu: Yes.
Ally: So, tell me, like, has your
thinking changed at all in terms of your
approach to running this time around?
We just we just had our last guest,
Victoria Broderick, is running in
Tennessee yet, and she is also, she
ran in 2024 against the incumbent.
She's doing it again in 2026.
So just curious.
Has anything changed from your
perspective in the way that
you're running this time around?
Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: Yeah, so I ran in
2024 because of Palestine.
What's happening in Palestine?
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: Uh, there are a lot
of mosques in my district.
Uh, I think either eight or nine.
And I was visiting one of the
mosques for community outreach.
One of the leaders, uh, started
talking with me and, uh, he was.
Express concern about a Congress
person who's actually probably the
second worst person in the House
of Representatives, uh, when it
comes to Israel and funding Israel.
Mm-hmm.
And, um.
Yeah.
So he asked me to run,
it was a short campaign.
Unlike this time I had, uh, only two
weeks to collect the petition signatures.
Ally: Wow.
John Hsu: Uh, but it was easier,
it was easier two years to go.
'cause the, uh, the
requirement was only 200.
But that was not too hard for me because
of my connections with our revolution and
all the political work that I've done.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: But it was, I had
to hustle, but it wasn't too
Ally: much.
Yeah, yeah,
John Hsu: yeah, yeah.
But, um, yeah, so.
Fast forward two years later.
I decided to run, this
time I started last April.
Uh, a big difference.
So start more than a, uh, more than
a year ago or almost a year ago.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: And, uh, you know,
it's running on similar issues.
However, things are have gotten
worse I think, in the last two years.
Yeah.
And you know.
Having a computer science degree,
you know, I'm allowed, I can
talk about AI a little bit more.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: My congressman's
completely quiet on ai and we can
talk about, yeah, it's really bad.
And he's on the AI committee.
Ally: How is that possible?
John Hsu: Uh, you know, I don't
know if he misspoke, misspoke, or.
I don't know if he was lying or we spoke.
Mm-hmm.
I'm not sure.
So we just put that out
there on our social media.
But yeah, so this time we
have more to talk about.
And besides ai, you know, Iran, he's
not talking too much about it, you know?
Right.
All the, all the Democrats are
delaying the war Powers resolution
vote, and he's part of that
leadership class that doesn't.
He might not be the one on
the committee blocking it,
but he's not talking about it.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: Um, talking
about like what we can do.
Right.
Right.
So he's definitely not doing everything
in his power to keep us outta war out
of a, a ground invasion with Iran.
Ally: Yeah.
John Hsu: And it's very, very concerning.
Ally: It is concerning to everyone.
I think.
Uh, there's such there's, there's very
little support for this war in Iran.
Mm-hmm.
To begin with.
And putting troops on the ground.
I mean, I don't think there's really
any appetite for that in America.
So your incumbent has been in
Congress, I believe, since 1988.
Is that right?
John Hsu: Yeah.
So 38 years, if he wins,
it's gonna be 40 years.
Ally: That is incredible.
How do you feel about term limits?
John Hsu: I support them.
Ally: Yeah.
John Hsu: You know, I'm a little divided
because, you know, I like Bernie.
Uh,
Ally: sure.
John Hsu: At times I like
Elizabeth, Elizabeth Warren.
Uh, sometimes I don't.
Right.
Yeah.
But, you know, there's some good congress
people, but I think, uh, at this point,
I think, I think we should like, even
maybe 20 years for the house, like
Ally: mm-hmm.
John Hsu: That's a
pretty long time already.
Ally: Yeah.
That's a very long time.
John Hsu: Yeah.
Like compared to 40.
Ally: Right.
John Hsu: You know, that's,
that's half the time.
Right.
Ally: So I, I feel, if I feel if you
are doing this for 40 years just.
By default, you kind of have to lose
touch with your constituents and, and
as you said, things that are, you know,
new issues that wouldn't have been
issues when he first entered his seat
or took his seat in Congress, such as
ai and, and things like apac, right?
There's more awareness around
John Hsu: mm-hmm.
Ally: All of that now than there.
Probably was when he first took his seat.
So it just feels impossible to believe
that people can continue to be effective
in Congress over a 40 year period.
John Hsu: That's a great point.
And I think that's definitely true.
I think, you know, he's not talking
with people who are opposing all the
military aid and the wars with Iran.
You know, he's, there might be
some donors that donate to him.
Mm-hmm.
That support, support this thing.
I'm not sure.
But, um, you know, I, on the
ground, do you know it is.
It does feel a bit nerve wracking to bring
this up, but, you know, I talk about Iran.
So far I've only met about four or five
Democrats that support the war with Iran.
Ally: Right?
John Hsu: Um, and I talk about
the military aid to Israel and
you know, that's a very divisive
issue, but actually on the ground.
I, I found like so many people have
opposed it and a lot of people don't know
that he was, uh, voted for all the, all
the weapons last two and a half years.
Ally: I feel like it's divisive
at the government level.
I feel like from a constituency
perspective, it's not that divisive.
I think most of us are opposed to,
um, that military aid especially.
Now that it's gotten us into this
situation in Iran, and like I
said, there's just the awareness of
that grows I think more and more.
John Hsu: Yeah.
Ally: How do you think.
Now that you are on the ballot.
Mm-hmm.
Do you feel as though, and you have a
Democrat incumbent, you're running as
a democratic socialist, a progressive?
John Hsu: Mm-hmm.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Do you feel like democratic primaries
are kind of structurally tilted towards
the incumbent that makes it more
challenging for a new person to run?
John Hsu: I think so.
Yeah.
So.
Actually, I've heard that the Democratic
parties in many states, they don't endorse
candidates until after the primary.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: Uh, in New Jersey we do.
So we have a convention and they have the
other, they have the endorsement vote.
So, you know, they, they do a good
job of putting people that they
know, like, uh, you know, friends.
Some government employees, local
government employees, that type of thing.
You know, and they, they build
the relationship with the,
uh, incumbent over the years.
So a lot of the mayors and council
people, you know, they'll like him.
And so that, that's one
structural, uh, uh, interns,
Ally: right?
John Hsu: Um, yeah.
But you know, there's, uh,
well, I mean, there's the.
The fact that, you know, he
has, he gets a lot of donations.
Mm-hmm.
60%. Yeah.
60% of his donations
are from Corporate pacs.
Right.
Uh, 39% are large donations.
Uh, so that's a,
Ally: so he doesn't really have to canvas.
He can yeah.
Do ads and kind of coast and.
John Hsu: Do that.
Yeah.
Ally: Wait for the election.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: Yeah.
Ally: And you're out there canvassing all
day every day, from what I understand.
You just got back from canvassing.
Yes.
Yes.
It is a Sunday.
We are recording on a Sunday.
And John was not available until
later in the evening because he
didn't wanna interrupt his canvassing
time, which is really respectful.
It's, it is a full-time job.
But your previous full-time
job was as a software engineer.
John Hsu: Mm-hmm.
Ally: So, and you had kind of a firsthand.
Seat to,
John Hsu: yeah,
Ally: the dismantling of the Department
of Education when Doge came to town.
That's right.
Tell us a little bit about
that and how it impacted you.
John Hsu: That's right.
So I worked for the Department
of Education on a contract for
the Department of Education.
So not directly for them but.
Obviously I, you know, I lost my
position, uh, last, uh, uh, last April.
And, uh, you know, I worked on the
nation's report card and international
testing, so they completely cut
international testing, so, we'll, we're
not gonna have that for next couple years.
So whenever you've seen in the
past in the news, uh, US scores
compared to other countries,
Ally: uhhuh.
John Hsu: That was cut.
Ally: Gone.
John Hsu: Yeah.
Gone.
Ally: Just gone.
John Hsu: Yeah.
And, um, under the, under the, uh,
department of Education, there's a
National Center of Educational Statistics.
Right.
And they had a staff
about, I, I think 13, 14.
It was cut to two.
So what they do is they make
sure that our work is accurate.
Right.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: It's, you
know, it's data science.
It's, uh, you know,
accuracy is very important.
One of the most important things
that the US government does is
collect data, help us, help policy
makers make informed decisions.
Ally: Sure.
John Hsu: So that was, that was a big cut.
I mean, I feel like our department.
Isn't as crucial as like, say,
you know, made the pump of energy.
Like if they're looking, you know,
handling like the, um, handling like the
nuclear waste, that, that type of thing.
Ally: But 13, 14 people, John
is not exactly excessive.
It still sounds a little bare bones.
John Hsu: Yeah, it, it, it was, I mean.
It was enough for what
they, what they had to do.
Like,
Ally: yeah,
John Hsu: yeah.
'cause, 'cause they contract
out the, um, some of the work to
my company and other companies.
Ally: But then cutting that down to two,
John Hsu: cutting it down
to two is, is ridiculous.
Ally: Impossible.
John Hsu: Yeah.
It
Ally: sounds like it would be.
John Hsu: That's impossible.
Yeah,
Ally: yeah.
John Hsu: Well, you know, obviously
cutting the, uh, international
testing, that means less work
for them to have to handle.
Ally: Oh, true, true.
John Hsu: Right.
So, but still it was, it was too much.
Like the, the Nation's report
card is congressionally mandated.
Uh, it's a big, big undertaking.
So two people to, I don't know how many
staffers they have right now, but having
those staffers, such few staffers handling
that is, uh, is a big undertaking.
Ally: And I think we've all seen
a sort of degradation of data.
You know, as they have made all
of these Doge cuts, it becomes
more difficult to not only.
Get that data in a timely
manner, but trust the data.
John Hsu: Mm.
Ally: Um, because the experts that
were there previously are no more.
It's really
John Hsu: exactly
Ally: a shame.
So as a progressive, you are
really involved in environmental
John Hsu: Yes.
Ally: Activism, right?
Yes.
Can you talk to me a little bit
about your policies or platform
when it comes to the environment?
John Hsu: So, you know, I,
I bought electric car early.
I've come to the conclusion
that that's not our solution,
Ally: right?
John Hsu: Uh, public transportation
is, is a, uh, is a big part of it.
We are suffering here actually
with our, with NJ Transit.
It's, uh, completely underfunded.
Uh, it's also, it's a
combination of a local issue too.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: Or a state, state issue.
Uh, you know, one of our county
commissioners is on the NJ transit
board and, you know, they voted for
rate rate hikes, but they also, the
service has gone down while they're.
Building a, a new multimillion
dollar office building.
Ally: Ugh.
Which,
John Hsu: which I don't think they need.
Ally: Right.
John Hsu: Um, so, you know,
a lot of the, a lot of those
positions, they're integrated
with our local democratic party.
In our state, the local county
parties are more powerful, are the
central of the center of power.
Other states is the state parties.
Okay.
So our local party has a lot of
con connections to anti-trans.
So, so that's, that's an issue.
And I, I, I believe in, actually, I
believe in free public transportation.
Mm-hmm.
Like if we could achieve that,
I think that would help a lot.
You know, young people take public
transportation to go to internships.
Yeah.
Uh, you know, let's cut down on
the wear and tear on the roads,
the obviously the emissions.
Let's encourage that.
Yeah.
'cause it's not just paying.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's not just paying for it.
'cause there's, you know,
residual, uh, benefits mm-hmm.
To really support public transportation.
And that's just one aspect.
I have more.
Ally: Yeah, I mean, and I,
I, and I agree with you.
I mean, I, you know, I look at,
at like Zora Momani who wants to
create sort of free public transit.
John Hsu: Love
Ally: it.
Not, not many people in
New York City own a car.
John Hsu: Yeah.
Ally: Um, you know, I think there is
definitely a great template there that
could be replicated across other states.
If we choose to prioritize it, right?
Mm-hmm.
And that's the, I think that's the,
the hiccup is how do we get that at
the top of the list of priorities as
it relates to environmental action.
John Hsu: Yeah, that's one.
Ally: Yeah.
I
John Hsu: don't know.
I can share like so many more.
Ally: Please,
John Hsu: please do.
Okay.
Uh, well we helped stop a
local power plant that was an
environmental justice area.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: We did a great job with that.
And one of, I'll just say,
mention one other thing because
it relates to my Congress person.
We, uh, we had a park that
we were trying to save.
Uh, it was sold to the county for
half price by the federal government.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: So we had to go
through the Federal Park service.
Well, they had to go through Federal Park
Service to get this approval to change
the park into like a. Like a hybrid, uh,
you know, for-profit, uh, sports center.
So they added 14 artificial
turf, turf fields is the plan.
It's gonna cost $60 million and
Ally: 60 million.
John Hsu: Yeah.
'cause they have to flatten the land, cut
down the trees and put, put in all the
artificial turf and like, have drainage.
It's a huge piece of property.
Ally: Is this for professional sports?
Local
sports?
John Hsu: No, for, it's gonna be for, uh.
You know, soccer teams and soccer
tournaments, that type of thing.
Ally: Wild.
John Hsu: Yeah.
So that is
Ally: an incredible,
John Hsu: and the local government
said, oh, we can't handle the booking.
We're gonna out outsource
the booking as well.
So, uh, I tried to pose that and in
that pro, like I went to Canvas, I,
you know, got to copy people to write
letters to National Park Service.
Ally: Yeah.
Um,
John Hsu: and we, you know, we, we,
I think we were able to generate 500
letters 'cause it was a short time.
Ally: Sure.
Um.
John Hsu: But you know, my Congo
turns out, I found out my congressman
called the National Park Service to
get this approved and that, you know,
we're not happy with that obviously.
Ally: I'm sure there was some
incentive there to get that done
because why would you wanna.
Would you even wanted
to, to destroy that land?
John Hsu: Yeah.
Ally: And, and again, that's another
thing that we've seen with this
administration and the impacts on, on
public land and wanting to privatize
public land and make it for profit.
And it's all really sad.
John Hsu: Yeah.
Yeah, I agree.
Ally: Um.
So getting back to kind of your
background as a software engineer.
John Hsu: Mm-hmm.
Ally: I, I work, I have
worked in tech for many years.
John Hsu: Oh
Ally: good.
So I'm curious tech adjacent.
So I do like agile
transformation work, but,
John Hsu: okay.
Ally: I'm curious, being a software
engineer, how does that sort of shape the
way you view government and bureaucracy?
I imagine.
I don't wanna put words in your
mouth, but I imagine you must see
opportunities for improvement.
John Hsu: Oh, sure.
Okay.
That's all right.
That's a, that's a tough question.
Like in, in my role, uh, at,
in the government mm-hmm.
Uh, you know, I was as tour I was.
At the end of it, I was reporting on data.
I was helping create the
software to report the data.
Um, so I, I was not too involved
with that aspect of it, uh, in terms
of the administrative part of it.
But.
I think, you know,
computer programmers, yeah.
They usually think logically
and like, oh, if this, you know,
with their, then this and then
Ally: Exactly.
John Hsu: Um, you know, I,
Ally: and trying to
streamline and automate and
John Hsu: yeah.
Ally: Make things more
efficient and predictable.
And all of that kind of runs
counterintuitively to the way our
government is sort of designed.
John Hsu: It.
It can be, well, here's what I found,
like, just allow way the things.
The things that are the
things, the way things are run.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: It's uh,
there's a reason for it.
Sometimes it's a good reason, but
then there's re residual effects
that are negative and then like it
becomes a whole, whole big thing.
Uh, it's complicated.
I think it would take, you know,
people who are willing to like
review the whole system and.
Maybe make a diagram outta it.
I
Ally: know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
John Hsu: And then like, oh, okay.
Yeah.
I see why we try to do this, but it's,
you know, it's not working well this way.
Mm-hmm.
So let's, let's, uh, reroute that.
Right.
Ally: Exactly.
Exactly.
John Hsu: But it's, do you know
what I'm, I'm not gonna, I don't
wanna put down the government.
Uh, it's a hard job.
It's a huge undertaking.
It, would it be good to take a step
back and, uh, re reevaluate processes?
Mm-hmm.
I think so.
Ally: Yeah.
John Hsu: Definitely.
Ally: Yeah.
Yeah.
I'd love to see that.
And I'd like to see, you know, more minds
like yours approaching the government
with just a completely different,
you know, we tend, we tend to see
a lot of former business executives
and attorneys get into politics.
Yeah.
I, I think it's nice to
have sort of a diverse.
Background of people in politics that
can bring all of their particular
expertise into making things
better, making things run better
and smoother and more efficiently.
John Hsu: I agree.
Definitely.
Ally: So you were, I wanna make sure I
get this right, you were like a delegate
for Bernie Sanders in 2020, is that right?
John Hsu: That's right, yeah.
Ally: Okay.
And.
Talk to me about, obviously, I'm sure
you're still a big Bernie fan, um mm-hmm.
And he has been sort of a
beacon in terms of progressivism
Mm. In the Democrat party.
Is there anything that you think Bernie
has gotten wrong, or is there any,
is there something, is there like a
mantle to be picked up from the, this
sort of new wave of progressivism?
John Hsu: Yeah.
Well, you know, one thing I, we were
confused about, a lot of people were
confused about was, uh, he didn't really
fight too hard for the $15 minimum wage.
Ally: Yeah.
John Hsu: Uh, and he pro like, uh, he
made Joe, he made Joe Biden promise
in his concession, uh, conversation
with Joe Biden, he made him promise
that they would pass $15 minimum wage.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: So why not, you
know, hold him to that.
Ally: Yeah.
John Hsu: Uh, you know, his, his, um.
His stance on Palestine was not, uh, the
greatest, uh, but it was, you know, it
was better than most of the senators,
so I wish he was better on that.
True.
Ally: Yeah.
John Hsu: I really liked Man Holland.
And uh, I'll just say like.
One thing about Bernie pe Bernie
supporters that I really like, they
are free thinkers and you know mm-hmm.
We don't, we don't worship the man because
Ally: Right.
John Hsu: Of we like, you know,
something special about him.
We, we love his policies and we love
just, just, uh, today I saw him,
uh, having a video, have a video.
Of making fun of, uh, the tax cuts for the
tax, the taxes to billionaires, Uhhuh, and
how much, uh, how much they would have.
Like, oh, Jeff Bezos would
only have $200 billion.
What is he, how is he gonna,
you know, feed his family with
that, with that much of money?
Ally: Money only 200 billion.
Oh no.
Poor man.
John Hsu: It was, uh, he, he
delivered that pretty well actually.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
Yeah, so.
I did like that about him.
Uh, is there anything else I, you know,
I guess, you know, there was, uh, not
enough talk about Medicare for all.
Mm-hmm.
The a CA subsidies were getting cut.
Yeah.
I think there's strategic things.
I don't know what's going on there.
I would certainly wanna push for them.
Uh, that seems to, that seems
like a good strategy move.
You know, I think,
Ally: mm-hmm.
John Hsu: I think that's, uh, yeah,
those are our leverage points.
There's, yeah, leverage points
that we need to use, I think, and
I'm not sure if Bernie, I agree.
Ally: Screen
John Hsu: all those so.
Ally: Yep.
John Hsu: Yeah,
Ally: I agree.
But I mean, he did, I
think he's been effective.
Does some, he's been effective at
pushing the party further left.
Um, oh, yes.
And, and he, and he connects with
people, I mean, his ideas are
John Hsu: Yeah.
Ally: Great ideas and
they benefit everyone.
And you know, I think maybe
there's a stigma around the
word progressive or the mm-hmm.
You know, or for some reason mm-hmm.
It doesn't, people don't.
Relate progressivism to
things that actually benefit
them in real life already.
Yeah.
And can benefit them more if
we just embrace those types
of policies going forward.
Um, okay.
So back to you were involved
in a nursing strike.
Mm-hmm.
Tell me what happened there.
Mm-hmm.
What, what was that all about?
John Hsu: Yeah, so the nurses at
Robert Wood Johnson, new Brunswick,
they decided to go on strike
because of over of Understaffing.
Okay.
Uh, there's a, a nurse to patient
ratio or patient to nurse ratio.
Mm-hmm.
That, um, there's too many patients
per nurses and that's very stressful.
Ally: Yeah.
John Hsu: Nurses are nervous about
making mistakes and getting blamed
for it and losing their license.
Ally: Sure.
Uh,
John Hsu: or, you know, obviously,
uh, you know, losing lives, uh,
as a result of, uh, understaffing.
Uh, so they decided to go
on strike for a better.
Uh, better contract and for, uh,
mandates for, for, uh, ratios.
And, um, during that time I just,
I started to spend a lot of time
with them maybe oh, 10, 20 hours
a week, uh, depending on the week.
Wow.
Yeah.
So I got to know them really well.
Ally: Yeah, yeah,
John Hsu: yeah.
Some of them are canvassing with,
have been canvassing with me.
Ally: Oh, that's great.
And all that.
Yeah.
And what was the outcome of all of that?
John Hsu: So we were able to, uh,
pass resolutions, local resolutions,
30 of them supporting the nurses.
We went down to Trenton,
that's the capital.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and I, I spearheaded, actually,
it was my idea to do the resolutions
and then I helped train them for
lobbying and, um, 'cause this, this,
uh, nurse, this particular, uh, nursing
union, they are not as political
as some of the other bigger ones.
Ally: Sure.
So
John Hsu: I went down there to help them.
We, we make meet up with the,
uh, the bigger nurse unions and
Ally: mm-hmm.
John Hsu: You, I got to know those leader,
uh, those leaders as well, and they were
really happy that I was helping them.
Yeah, so we, we got a lot of senators
and, uh, uh, state senators and
assembly people to, uh, get on the bill.
Unfortunately, it, well,
they told me that it was the
furthest the bill has ever gone.
Ally: Okay.
He
John Hsu: had the, uh, the chair of the,
uh, the chair of the health committee.
You know, he had a good hearing.
He had a, you know, really
good speech about it.
And, you know, the hospitals
had their people, uh, talk
about why it's not needed.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Um.
John Hsu: But, you know,
we, we pushed it forward.
I think you know, we, we could,
Ally: and sometimes that's
how you make progress.
It's these little iterative steps,
you know, might not have worked
out this time, but you just push
it forward, push it forward, and
eventually the momentum makes it happen.
John Hsu: That's what we hope, so, yeah.
Yeah.
So, well, and then they got,
they got the contract and then,
Ally: oh, okay.
John Hsu: Yeah, so.
Uh, well, their contract
is expiring soon again, so
Ally: back to the fight.
John Hsu: It might be, it might
be back to the fight actually.
Ally: Yeah.
John Hsu: So we'll see.
Ally: And you know, it's interesting and I
think that's great that you did all that.
I mean, spending so much time with
those nurses must have felt great
for them to have that support.
And I think Democrats, by and
large, we, we do that, right?
We, we definitely see,
injustice in the workplace.
Mm-hmm.
Particularly with unions.
We always try and, and you
know, I think Dems historically,
we, we care about unions.
We care about you know, championing
people that are, being taken
advantage of not having the support
that they need in the workplace.
John Hsu: Hmm.
Ally: And despite all that, John,
it feels like we've lost Democrats,
I should say, have lost some
ground with working class voters.
I, I have a hard time understanding the
correlation between the two, but do you
have any thoughts on why that may be?
John Hsu: Sure, sure.
So, well, I coached
basketball, uh, rec basketball.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: Uh, for fun.
It was because I was at a polling
station and one of the, the other
person there was a ref he invited
me to, to coach basketball.
So I done it for two seasons.
And one of the pairs was a union
worker, uh, and Republican.
So I do think, um, I do think
there's a perception of the
Democratic party, uh, you know.
Focused on cultural issues and
Ally: mm-hmm.
John Hsu: Things like that.
When I was talking to this union worker
who's a Republican, uh, one of the
parents, he, you know, I was trying to
convince him about Medicare for all.
I think he was buying that and, you
know, he was all for the four day
work, work, work week, and Sure.
So, um, yeah, I think you, you know,
and I think we've seen that in.
Other states.
I, I'm not the expert on that, but like,
I know like West Virginia was a very
blue state and very union heavy state.
Mm-hmm.
And, uh, they lost that 'cause.
Yep.
Apparently the Democrats didn't help
them, uh, didn't help the working,
working class and the unions and
Ally: Right.
John Hsu: Uh, there's been
a shift away from that.
Like, you know, Chuck Schumer, he
talked about like, oh, for every work,
every uh, working class person we
lose here, we're gonna gain one or two
in the suburbs, something like that.
So I think there has been a, a. Emphasis
at least, uh, from the, the leadership
and the establishment away from that.
And, you know, there are good democrats
that, uh, want to help others.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: Uh, help the working class.
Uh, but you know, it's a big tent, right?
So it's, it's not, not all of us are.
Pulling in that direction.
Ally: Right?
Yeah.
It is a big tent, but
I do think as a party,
John Hsu: yeah.
Ally: I'd love to see us get back to Oh
John Hsu: yeah.
Ally: Kind of our, our gra our roots,
our foundation, what we were initially
designed to do, helping, helping
middle class, working class Americans.
So, I love that you're doing that
in, you know, locally in your area.
I think that's really commendable.
John Hsu: Oh, thank you.
Yeah.
It's really nice of you say that.
Ally: Absolutely.
Alright, so you know this podcast,
we are all about platforming,
progressive grassroots candidates.
I ask this question to every
guest, I already know the answer,
but for the audience, do you
take any corporate PAC money?
John Hsu: No.
No, we don't.
Ally: Do you take any a APAC money
or any foreign influence money?
John Hsu: No APAC money, no influence
from the foreign governments.
Ally: Perfect.
And you know, I think that is.
I think that might be the way forward
for progressives is to talk more
about the money of it all, right?
Mm-hmm.
Because progressives, you know, we have
this we have sort of this threshold
and it's like when it comes to big
money, we, we reject that by and large,
and I feel like most American voters.
Would appreciate and respect that.
Yeah.
Knowing that that their vote for you
or for other progressive candidates
isn't a vote for corporations,
isn't a vote for foreign interests
when it comes to voting on issues
that could negatively impact them.
So maybe from a messaging perspective.
Mm-hmm.
Hopefully we can get.
Around that as a, as a movement of,
you know, I, I can't imagine any voter
that would say, Nope, I want the person
that's taken money from corporations.
John Hsu: Yeah.
No, definitely.
I think, I think there's a
wide range agreement on that.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: Uh, I could share
two stories from today.
Ally: Yeah.
I'd love to hear them.
Um,
John Hsu: so, uh, we were canvassing
up at that end road and on the way back
for someone we canvased, uh mm-hmm.
Uh, opened the door and hey, John,
and she like, and she asked me.
You don't take APAC money, do you?
I'm like, no, I don't.
Ally: Wow.
John Hsu: I do not.
I do not.
I
Ally: love to hear that.
John Hsu: And she said,
Ally: people are thinking about that now.
And that's, she said,
John Hsu: yeah.
Ally: And that's a progressive thing.
Republicans don't talk about it.
Establishment Dems don't talk about it.
Yeah.
That's, that's purely
a progressive mindset.
John Hsu: And she, she said, oh, I looked
up your website and I saw it and I just
wanted to hear you say it like, yeah.
Ally: Okay.
That's so cool.
I love that.
John Hsu: Yeah,
Ally: I love that.
John Hsu: Another, the other story,
one of our teams, uh, you know,
we go, we have a couple teams.
So one of our teams was going
one direction, and my, uh, my, me
and my partner were a little bit
behind, uh, as we went forward.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
John Hsu: The person came
out and called us again.
Actually he said the same thing.
Yeah.
It was just,
Ally: he said the same thing.
You don't take APAC money.
John Hsu: Yeah.
You take a APAC money.
Ally: Yeah.
And
John Hsu: I said, I said no.
And he was so excited.
Ally: I think that's great.
I think that, think that's great that
people, I think it's great that voters
are thinking about that and, and
they're paying attention to candidates
based on the fact that they are
rejecting APAC money, corporate money.
And again, like I said, that's.
That's unique to progressives.
No one else is going to talk about
that because it just happens.
And we, and we don't talk about it, right?
We just take the corporate PAC money.
They take the APAC money, but
they don't really, they shy away
from being public about that.
So I love that people are thinking about
it in your area and asking you about it.
Even if they've read it, they just need to
make sure that was funny, that it's real.
John Hsu: Yeah.
Ally: I think that's,
I think that's great.
John Hsu: Yeah.
Ally: Okay.
Well, you know, before we wrap up, tell us
how, what support do you need right now?
John?
Do you need donations?
Do you need volunteers?
Do you need all of the above?
Also, by the way, before we
get to that, I love your social
media, like the look of it.
I think it is that a volunteer
that's doing all that for you?
It looks fantastic.
John Hsu: Well, this is, this is someone
who worked with me in our revolution Okay.
And is helping me now and
started as a volunteer, but.
We're, we're paying her because
Ally: Yeah, it's a lot of work.
John Hsu: She's doing too
Ally: much work.
She's doing too much work.
It's a lot of work.
John Hsu: Yeah.
Ally: But the, but it looks great.
It's
John Hsu: amazing.
Ally: I think it looks fantastic.
Yeah.
John Hsu: Well, I'll let her know that.
Ally: Really impressed with your socials.
John Hsu: Yeah, that's Hannah.
Ally: Um, what's her, what's her name?
Hannah.
John Hsu: Hannah?
Yeah.
Shout out to Hannah.
Ally: Shout out to Hannah.
You're doing a great job.
And you know, they're the kind of the.
The faces behind all of this,
it's important to shout them out.
'cause she's definitely, she's
definitely done a good job with that.
Oh, thank you.
Um, so, okay.
Back to your campaign.
Tell us where you need help.
Mm-hmm.
How people can help you, how to find you.
John Hsu: Yeah.
So John Tree for congress.com,
you could fill out the form.
On the website there, even if,
um, you're not ready to donate,
obviously we love donations.
Uh, small donations are great.
$5, $10, anything.
Uh, you can just sign up for our
updates to see what we're up to.
You'll see how grassroots we are and
how much, um, we've done, how much
work we've done in the community.
And, uh, I think it's a
really nice thing to see.
And, uh, or you could follow our,
follow our Instagram as well.
Uh, that's, that's good.
That's a way to see, uh, where, uh,
see what we're doing and get all
the updates and see the work, the
wonderful work that Hannah's doing.
Ally: It, it, it is wonderful work
and, you know, you guys are making
really frequent updates and they
just are aesthetically pleasing,
visual, so just like the way it looks.
But yeah.
That's great.
So John's.
John Chu for Congress, I think
you can see his name behind him.
Check him out.
Give what you can small, do.
Dollar donations are gonna make all
the difference in these primaries
and in these midterm elections.
And uh, it's just been such a
pleasure to talk to you today.
I really appreciate you taking the
John Hsu: time.
Me too, Allison.
Yeah, this was my pleasure.
Uh, I really enjoyed this
conversation and it's, it's nice
to come back and like, reflect on
Ally: Yeah.
John Hsu: Reflect on things.
So I appreciate the questions.
Ally: Yeah.
I'm sure you don't have much time
to do that because you're working
so darn hard on this campaign and
I see it, I see it on your socials.
I'll continue to follow you.
Stay connected.
If you ever need anything, thank you.
Please reach out and, uh, be happy
to make you a friend of the show.
John Hsu: Oh, thank you Allison.
Really appreciate it.
Ally: Thank you.
Have a great night.
John Hsu: You too.
Have a great night.