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The Politics Chicks is a progressive politics podcast and politics news show hosted by Christy Branham and Monica Healy.
Every week, we sit down with candidates, elected officials, journalists, historians, policy experts, advocates, and everyday Americans shaping the future of our democracy. We go beyond the headlines with thoughtful interviews, fact-based analysis, and candid conversations about the issues that affect our lives—from elections and public policy to healthcare, education, civil rights, and the economy.
Whether we’re interviewing members of Congress, first-time candidates, medical experts, or community leaders, our mission is the same: to inform, challenge, and inspire.
If you’re looking for a politics podcast that values evidence over outrage, curiosity over division, and hope over cynicism, welcome home.
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@ThePoliticsChicks
Christy: Welcome to the Politics Chicks podcast. I'm Christy Branham
Monica: And I'm Monica Healy
Christy: Today we're joined by Ronnie Murchinson-Rivera, who is running for Congress in Florida's 6th Congressional District against Randy Fine. Ronnie brings a unique perspective to public service, having worked in EMS, law enforcement, education, and community leadership.
He's built his career around helping people and is now hoping to take that experience to Washington.
Monica: As many of our listeners know, one of our favorite things to do is introduce candidates to our audience and give them an opportunity to talk about who they are, why they're running, and what they hope to accomplish. Ronnie, welcome to the "Politics Chicks" podcast. Glad to have you
here.
Ronnie: Thank you for having me..
Christy: We're so excited to have you here.
Ronnie: I'm gonna get it done
Christy: yay, let's do it. let's start at the beginning. So why don't you tell our audience a little bit about yourself, what brought you to Florida, and what kinda motivated you to do this crazy thing that you're doing with five kids?
Ronnie: you hit on it a little bit in my background, but it's so much more than that. I, I, I dedicated my whole life to, like, public service. Um, like you said, I got five children. I'm married. Me and my wife been together since we was in junior high school. And so that's where it all started at because we started volunteering in our church.
That's where we met each other, probably like s-six, six years old or something. And then as we got older, we grew together. And I wanted to do more. So my godmother actually attended my church as well, and she worked in EMS, and that's when I was like, "Ooh, my ED team will love this." And so I got into working with the Beth El Volunteer Ambulance 'cause I grew up in New York City, and it was a big, great, amazing city.
I still love my city. And, um, but there's so much to do. So I got into EMS, and I did that all the way till I got to the age to get my EMT card. Got my EMT card, continued working the EMS, but we wanted to do more. So me and my wife, we started a non-profit in Rockaway Beach, New York to try to help people get free ambulance services.
But, you know, corporate greed, the people who approved the licenses also sat on the board of the for-profit ambulance. So course, you know, they thought we were gonna take their money away from them, so they denied our application to start an ambulance service. But we had a non-profit, so we did something with it.
So we gave back homeless services, get people signed up for insurance, Christmas giveaways, Thanksgiving giveaways, back to school. We did as much as we can for the community. I mean, even in between it, we started growing our family. Um, and so I got involved in my children's education. And so I sat on, um, the PTA board as the vice president.
I also got elected by the parents to, as a district education council member, which is like a school board down here in Florida, but we didn't get paid up north. And you know what? I did that, but it was time to... At the time, Florida was better, I felt. Um, and so I wanted a change for my kids. You know, I grew up in a low-income, rough neighborhood in Brooklyn in the projects, and I didn't wanna, you know, sustain my children to that.
So we moved out to Florida. Uh, one of the main reasons we moved 'cause we was tired of shoveling snow.
Monica: We f-
Christy: Yeah, you're talking to two Minnesotans. We hear you
Ronnie: We kind of saw the snow, but we came down to Florida before then. We was like, "Oh, this is beautiful," you know? And, you know, that's why we moved ahead. And when I came down here, I'm like, you know, all I knew was giving back to the community, so what else do I wanna do?
I did everything that I, like, wanted to do, so I got into law enforcement, I did that from 2017 till last October. And even in between then, when I had the time, I, I, I was the, the youth coach for my son's football team. I started helping out at local, uh, nonprofits, helped food pantries. So my life was dedicated around the people.
So when I started seeing what's happening in this community, coming from a diverse community, a community where we help each other no matter what your race was, your ethnicity, what, what your political, you know, Republican, Democrat, Independent, we helped you. And in Florida, don't do that. I found out very quickly that they're very political, like, ugh here.
And, and, and they, and then some places are racist. Uh, I worked in law enforcement, and I got called the N-word many a times as a cop. It's like,
Christy: Yikes
Ronnie: how do we get to a point like this? And then you have the people that we put in office that's supposed to be the ones to help change this, throwing fuel in the fire.
Like the most bigoted person of, of Congress is Randy Fine. He's attacking Zohran Mamdani as we talk, and he lives 1,300 miles away. It's just the people who's supposed to be standing up for us, changing this, is the ones that's adding fuel to the fire, not doing anything for my, our community, and I'm just fed up.
So I want a better future for not only my district, but my children, my great-grandchildren. And so that's why once he told children to starve and die in Gaza, that was my, that was my breaking point, and I had to do something about it. And he's still continuing. But that's all right. We're building a coalition that's gonna get him out of office and actually be there for the people, all people, .
Christy: kinda caught my eye when I-- On Threads, I reached out to you for an interview because you're, like, going on Randy Fine's posts and calling him out for being a racist, and I love that. I love that, that fire. So that's really kinda what drew me to you, and then I started following you. I'm like, "Dude, this guy is, he's the real deal."
So
Ronnie: Yeah. I mean, listen, I have no... Just yesterday, two days ago, Dan Valerians and whatever, however you say his name, he got into Randy Fine's race. I guess he's a famous TikTok or Instagram influencer. He was here in Daytona Beach, and we had, like, a little mini debate on the street. It's all, somebody posted the video.
It's all going viral now. Like, I have no problem standing up to this fascist regime who will sit up there and let the people, their own party who voted for them, s- you know, go without things like healthcare and food and all this good stuff. I have no problem approaching them, because I did it my whole life.
Like, I, I will, and I did, and I continue to do that, 'cause that's the type of person I am. I'm really a people's person, and if, if I can contribute to help your life better, that's me
Monica: I think people are hungry for that because there, there really isn't enough of, of calling out the bigotry and the hypocrisy.
And are, are you finding some positive reinforcement in that?
Ronnie: Oh yeah. Like, like you, you hit it. A lot, a lot of people in this area alone is-- And, and this was-- I tell people all the time that Florida's not a red state. It, it's a heavily gerrymandered red state, 'cause we only have 40% registered Republicans, and the rest are Democrats and left-swinging NPAs. We know that.
It's just the problem is a lot of people don't get out to vote. But this election, I believe that's gonna be a difference. But when I'm out canvassing, talking to people, they're fed up. You got the people who were promised certain things that are suffering right now, and this is the, like, the working class American.
Like, no matter if you're from a red district or, or, or left blue district, we all feeling the heat of $5 a gallon. Beef is high. People don't got insurance here. That-- Farmers is the ones who have gone crazy out here in Florida now. Like, it's that bad. And so you always, you always gonna have your far, far right, you know, that's gonna say, "I'm, uh, never voting Democrat."
But what I am hearing is that they're saying, "I'm never voting Democrat, and I'm not voting for Randy Fine." I'm like, "Okay."
Christy: That's
Monica: there, there have been too many districts that have had candidates run unopposed, and good for you for stepping up and filling the gap
Ronnie: Yeah. Yeah
Christy: We just interviewed, Ramon Perez last week, and he's in Florida. He's based in Florida. He runs the Digital Democracy Project, and he's the one who shared with us that many of the districts in Florida, the candidates at all levels, candidates run unopposed in local government.
So
Ronnie: It's true because it's, it's, it, it's, it's sad though. I mean, that, that... When I, when I got into this race, 'cause I wasn't really always into politics. I did help out a few friends on their campaigns in New York City. I never seen myself doing this. I, I'll be very honest with you guys, I just graduated college in December.
I actually walked last week or two weeks ago, a couple weeks ago.
Monica: Yeah, congrats
Ronnie: I, but I graduated, I have my deg- degree since December, so my plan was to start law school in February or March. But then I seen what was happening and it was too sick, and I talked to people, I talked to my friends and family, and they're like, "You got it.
You got it. I know you can do it." And I got into it, and it's going very well. It's because, you know, Florida is a different breed. It's, it's like, it's like you are going up against, you are going up against the machine. And, and not only from, like, I'm a, I'm a realist. I'm gonna let y'all know I'm a realist.
Not only from the Republican Party, but you got our own party that be like, "Ah, that's not worth it. We're not gonna put back anything in that race 'cause we're not gonna win." Like, you have that mindset, of course the people running is gonna think that same thing. And, and that's the problem. We don't, we didn't have enough motivation and enough, enough umph to say, "Let's go."
These local candidates don't get help. It's sad. And, and that's was the problem. But now this election is different because we're seeing how very unpopular Donald Trump is, Randy Fine is, all these local elections. We're flipping. We just flipped Mar-a-Lago. That right
Monica: Yeah
Christy: did
Ronnie: that right there just opened up a lot of people's who was in doubt that says, "You know what?
If we can do that in this, in a, in an area where Donald Trump lives, imagine the whole state of Florida that's fed up just like them." So I think you, you're gonna see a nice big blue wave come past Florida in this, this November, and I'll pray to God it happens because we're fed up. I'm fed up, they're fed up, everybody's fed up
Christy: And I hope the Latino voters in Florida kind of rethink the support that they gave Trump during the 2024 election. I think a lot of them are regretting their votes right now, to be honest with you
Ronnie: they are, they are. And, and a lot of them is backing me because they see a Black Hispanic
Christy: Or, yeah
Ronnie: running in the race. I mean, my, my last name is Rivera because my wife. My name is Rodney Murchison Jr., but we, when we got married, we both wanted to keep each other's last names,
Monica: Yeah.
Ronnie: But my mother, my mother's side of the family is Hispanic, and when, you know, I thank God for my wife, I tell you, she helps me in so much more ways than she think, because that last name alone are attracting the Hispanic who actually voted for Trump and said, "You know, we were promised this, and now my mother got deported," or, "My dad is being held in Alligator Alcatraz.
This is not what we signed up for." So we see the change. We see it
Monica: Well, the, the pendulum certainly seems to be swinging back the other way, and you've alluded to a couple things, but what, what other things are you seeing voters talk about that they're not getting right now from Washington?
Ronnie: Oh, it's a lot. There's not like one thing we can choose right now. a lot of the big thing down here is healthcare. A lot of people in Florida rely on like public welfare and, and which I don't understand is because they vote against themselves every year
Monica: Mm-hmm
Christy: Yeah, we note that all the time that people vote against their best interests
Monica: Yeah
Christy: so many times when they, when they have the opportunity to, to make a change, so
Ronnie: I go, I go canvassing and they tell me, "We're suffering." But I'm like, "Who did..." You know, I don't care about your party, but I'm like, "You know, the reason why you're suffering, you know, you know a party has been in power for almost 30 years in Florida? If you think something's gonna change by you voting for a congressperson or, or local representative the same way every single year, it's not.
And I don't know why it's taken us almost 30 years to realize that, but let's put a different kind of party inside and let's change it." Look what a-- A lot of them go back to Obama. Like, "You know what? You're right. I voted for Obama." Like, "Okay, you gave Obama two chances. Look what he's done. He-- You got the ACA credits because of him, so give us a chance."
And that's how we pulled in a lot of them over and say, " You know what? You're right. It's time for us to just put our party to a side and give, give another party a chance to at least change something."
Christy: Yeah, that tribalism is problematic. I think when people start identifying themselves as a Republican and a Democrat instead of even a Floridian and looking at what's best for your state as a whole, like that, that's very problematic. Um, so let's talk about Randy Fine because he's the elephant in the room, um, literally and fi- I didn't even think about that.
He's an elephant and he's a Republican. Oh, I am, I'm smart and I didn't even know it there. Um, let's talk about Randy because Randy is something. I have never, ever, ever seen as much racist rhetoric coming out of a, an elected official as I see coming out of Randy Fine's mouth and on his social media. So go have at it because you got the floor
Ronnie: Well, just me sitting here talking to you like this, I'm very different from Randy Fine. I just-- He don't talk to us. Unless you have big dollar behind you, you are not getting a conversation with that guy. when my house got destroyed in, in Hurricane Milton, we reached out, nothing. We reached out not too long ago, nothing.
We did the same thing with Michael Waltz, when Michael Waltz was our congressman, and they're like, "Oh, at least he gave me a feedback." He said, "I'm gonna look into it and see what I can do." Nothing from Randy Fine. Um, um, I don't hate people. I tell people this all the time. I have the purest heart. I believe that, carrying hatred with you is gonna be a reflection of what you want in your life.
But I have to ask God to forgive me because this is probably one of the only men in this country that I hate, because of what he's, he's spewing as a, as a person that's supposed to be a representative. He is setting the example for other people to say, "It's okay for me to do this." Um, telling children to starve and die, I told you earlier, that's, that, that right there got me.
It's just that because if he can do that to p- children he don't even know, what about the children he don't like? Because apparently he don't like Democrats, and so if he don't know them, but he know my children, he don't like them, he can do way worse. Um, you, you got him calling to annex our allies' countries.
You got him, to drop atomic bombs on countries where there's innocent people. It's just, it's just, you know, calling out Muslims comparing them to dogs. It's just so much that this guy is doing, and it's being allowed by this president of the United States. And not only that, you know, we know Donald Trump.
We know the kind of rhetoric he's spilling He's allowing that to happen. We get it. But I'm, I'm so disappointed in Congress
Christy: Yes
Ronnie: a stop to this right now. Like, like to not only Donald Trump, to Randy Fine, the Supreme Court, everything. They can just, you know, they can stop it and be like, "Okay, y'all going too far."
Like, that's why MGT is not a congresswoman anymore because she finally realized the bullcrap that is happening in Congress, and when she spoke out against it, they threw her to the fire. and it's sad. And so I don't talk about Randy Fine a lot. I talk about the rhetoric like I just talked to you, but I don't mention his name a lot when I'm going out to do what I'm gonna do because my approach to this is not only bashing him.
I do it sometimes, yeah. Of course, you have to remind people the bigot I'm going up against. But I'm, I'm approaching it from a standpoint of we're human
Monica: Yes
Ronnie: what they're doing to these, these undocumented immigrants is inhumane. and they're not caring because you could be a citizen and they will still grab you up and throw you in a place against your constitutional rights.
They don't care. They really don't care. So I'm approaching this as, you don't have food, you don't have healthcare, you don't have this, you don't have that. You need this. We want this. But guess what? The person we have in office isn't fighting for that. The person we have in office isn't bringing that back to Florida.
What he's doing is arming countries that are committing genocides to innocent people that we agreed, 'cause I've been, I've been, I've been talking to a lot of Republicans who don't want that. We agreed, right?
Christy: Yeah. But that's not,
Ronnie: I'm not anti-Israel, I'm anti-genocide.
There's ways to accomplish our goals without harming innocent people, and that's why I'm different from Randy Fine, because he's like, you know, blaming all Muslims for 9/11
Christy: Yeah
Ronnie: So would your top priorities be if you were elected?
Ooh, ooh. So my top priorities is healthcare, affordability, and education. Those are my top three. The reason why those are my top three is I can help you with your gas prices, I can help you fight for your beef prices to come down, I can fight for, uh, universal healthcare, universal childcare. Those are my, those are my things. But healthcare has to be number one, because if you're not on this earth to enjoy those things, what is the point?
I have seen people literally not go to the hospital and, die in their house because they were afraid of a hospital bill, or if they could pay their mortgage or rent the next month. Like, those are things that hits to you like, how can we as a country, one of the supposedly the, the number one country in the world, allowing our people to literally die because they don't have health insurance when we're
Monica: and look, all those things that, that you're, uh, advocating for are things that actually help people. Go figure.
Ronnie: Yeah. Yeah, and but you know what? I tell them like, "You know all the things that you're mentioning, we fund countries that have all of those things, like universal healthcare, universal childcare, uh, 90% affordable, uh, housing.
We fund their military. We fund, we fund their education Why can't we do that here?" And that's how we ignite, because when I start opening their eyes,
they're like, "Oh, snap
Christy: when you're talking to voters then throughout the district, what concerns come up most often? Uh, uh, and you mentioned healthcare. Um, but what else are they concerned about? Because there's the whole affordability thing, right?
Ronnie: Yeah. Yeah. you got people who's working three, four jobs just to make ends meet and still relying on things like social
welfare. um, you have, you have people lining up. Um, I, I was just talking to a lady at the local food pantry. The lines are longer now than ever, and they even running out of food ' cause they don't even get a lot of donations that much anymore. It's, it's-- We're going to the point of that, and, and not only that, in Florida- Mm
we have like a crumbling infrastructure. Like our roads were flooding. We-- I live in the Mount Dora area where just a small storm knocked down four different roadways and they just rebuilt it 'cause of Hurricane Milton. It's just a lot is going on and that's why when you ask me what is my priority or how do we fix it, we can't just fix it w- in one, one thing at a time anymore because there's so much things happening at the same time that we have to approach it all at the same time and get it done because the people here are, they are really fed up.
They're-- I'm fed up. I know they're fed up
Christy: Yeah
Monica: That, that's a good sign that you're hearing that from, from constituents that they wanna change, and that makes me hopeful that maybe there actually will be a change this time around
Ronnie: Yeah, I mean, a lot of them we connect quickly because they were like, "I didn't know a Democrat could be in law enforcement. You think every law enforcement is Republican ?" No, seriously, a guy literally came to me and said, "I thought Democrats hated guns, hated cops, and loved crime." And I was like, " Where did you hear that at?"
I'll give you guys one guess
Monica: Fox News perhaps?
Ronnie: Well?
Christy: Right.
Monica: Oh.
Christy: surprise, surprise, Democrats own guns. I mean, we live in Minnesota. We know a lot of Democrats who own guns because hunting is part of the culture here,
Monica: husband every year, deer hunting every year
Christy: Monica and I have both expressed I, I am pro-gun ownership. I think if you-- We don't, my family does not own any weapons, but if you feel like you need to own a weapon to protect your home and your family, uh, I think that you should have the right to do that.
Do I think you should be able to own an automatic weapon, um, that can
Monica: weapon?
Christy: yeah, a weapon of war? That's another conversation that we can have, but... And then we could go down the whole rabbit hole of school shootings and all that, but I don't, I don't wanna do that today because that's another
Ronnie: It's a long time
Christy: But that's, but that's also something that you've dealt with in Florida and, and had a very public, you know, intimate experience with in Florida, and the healing is still happening down there.
Ronnie: It is
Monica: Unfortunately, that's true for pretty much every corner of the country
Christy: Yes. Yeah.
Monica: We have that here in Minnesota too
Christy: And w- what do you think people outside Florida misunderstand about your district and the people who live there?
Ronnie: Oh, I had the same misconception about Florida before I moved here. We are not all Disney and Universal and sunshine and beaches. There are real working people living here. Uh, we feel the same thing that you guys feel. A lot of people here, uh, outside of Florida believes that we're, like, a great state, uh, because we got...
They see Disney and Universal and think, you know, every time they come here, they go to these theme parks, they go to these beaches, it's all nice. But what people don't realize is that that's your vacation. It's supposed to be like that when you get here, but there are real struggles happening deeper inside.
We have great things about Florida I love, but then we also have things that's not happening, and we need to protect those things. I'm a big environmentalist, uh, when it comes to protecting our natural lands and resources. Like we're, we're, we're drowning here. And when I mean that, I mean like not drowning, uh, with water.
We're drowning without water. Our aquifers are shot. we're going through a drought soon. Um, our mainland, they building like crazy here, and we just have to stop it. But from the people look- uh, from outside looking in, I love this. This is a great sunshine state. I love all the tourism attractions.
I love that. But we are, we have a real working class family here who's just trying to make ends meet just as much probably in your area. We're not all rich as people think
Monica: A-as a public school teacher, um, and you have a background in education, and I-I have friends that have looked at teaching in Florida and with some of the, the restrictions on public school teachers, is that something that you could tackle from a national level that would specifically help Florida and Florida public school teachers?
Ronnie: Oh, yeah. I, and I'm so sorry that you guys had to deal with what you guys dealt with. I have a, I have a group of teachers working on my campaign now, and they've, they've filled me in a lot. Like, you guys don't get paid during the summertime, uh, holidays, weekends.
You guys have restriction on how much copying you can do. So you guys can know what... It's just a whole bunch they're telling me, and it's mind-boggling
Monica: in school libraries and, and in school classrooms, what's allowed, that one is
Ronnie: I was just about to get to that. Apple... Yes. Yes. I just talked about this a few days ago that what's, what's being, uh, you know, restricted in classrooms and, and not only restricting, 'cause Florida is now twisting history and only showing them small parts to not show them what really happened. And that's
Christy: banned "To Kill a Mockingbird." I mean, that is, is an epic pivotal piece of American literature, and it talks about social justice during a time when s- social justice wasn't even a word.
Ronnie: Yep. Yep.
Christy: You know, just that just irks me
Ronnie: on a federal level, there are things we can do. First, we need to get that CEO of a wrestler out of education that has...
Monica: Amen.
Ronnie: Like,
Monica: Bye-bye, Linda. Bye-bye
Christy: Bye-bye
Ronnie: don't make me get The Rock up in here and kick you out again. Um, but yeah, that's the first thing. And then we need to reactivate our Department of Education because they do just more than just govern. They, they protect children like mines who have IEPs and 504 plans, right? They, they make, they, they...
And that's a, that's a federal thing, so all states have to abide by these rules. We can go back in there and say, "You guys gonna tell history or don't tell it at all." You can't switch up and say, "I'm only gonna tell you this, I'm only gonna tell you that." Tho- there are federal things. Um, there, there is already a bill in, that's being enacted by one of the congressmen.
I'm gonna remember it, I promise you next time I come back. But he's trying to do something like that already, that's trying to equal ground each state to, uh, or what they can teach about history. So Florida can't say, "This what happened." Georgia can't say, "No, this is actually what happened." "Oh no, this is actually what happened."
There should be some, some kind of like-
Christy: That slavery had benefits. That slaves actually derived benefits from, from them being owned by other people and worked to death. I mean, I just,
Ronnie: Yes, not Florida saying they, they, they chose to do this.
Monica: All right, so
Ronnie: That's what they teach at Like they're, they're, they are saying that slave owners was okay, but they chose to do this some days.
Monica: Mm-mm.
Christy: Monica and I were pretty mortified individually. I did not know what Juneteenth was until about four years ago. I kid you not. I never learned it in school. I didn't know anything about Black Wall Street massacre. Knew nothing about, never heard of it. Even as a-- I have a degree in history, like American history, and, um, never learned it when I was studying history in college either.
Ronnie: Yeah, because they didn't want to be known
Monica: here was kind of an, an awakening for, for Minnesotans and I think for Christy and I in particular. And I'm with Christy. I didn't know what Juneteenth was. I didn't know about the Tulsa race massacres. I grew up in South Dakota, and I had to take a class on, Native American history in order to teach in South Dakota, but I have learned far more about Native American history seeking it out myself as an adult.
Ronnie: Yeah.
Christy: Yes
Monica: We are erasing history. We are whitewashing it for sure
Ronnie: they do, and that's what they, they trying to do. We-- They just started a new, um, education thing here but it's through the Heritage Foundation.
Monica: Oh,
Christy: Oh, everything is-- everything's to the Heritage Foundation and Prager University. Like, the two of them just need to disappear
Ronnie: they renamed it something different so people don't know it's somebody. When you do your background, it's them
Christy: Yeah, they've got their fingers in everything, so
Monica: Well, we're, we're pretty polarized right now, and some of these things are, are just, you know, dividing our country even more. And how do you envision rebuilding trust in institutions and in each other?
Ronnie: So the first thing you have to do is do what I've been doing. You gotta build that trust back with the community. Um, a lot of people have lost faith in our government, and rightfully so. Um, I can't blame them. I'm seeing what the, the establishment is doing just by running for Congress.
I'm not getting the backing of the National Democratic. And so these are things they, they, they im- implant people they think should be in Congress, and that's the problem. Um, so I think I'm doing the first little bitty step to gain that trust back from people. It's, it's just being out there telling them there's somebody there for them outside of just election season. Because a lot of people have been coming to me when I talk to them, like, " You're the first person who came in my door since I moved to Florida 30 years ago."
Christy: That's insane
Ronnie: Reached out to me. You're the first person who actually, like, sat down and, and, and replied to my comment. Like, just commenting back, g- g- getting a phone call back. Being connected with people is that bridge that we need to connect again and then start gaining their trust and being there for them, not only on election years but throughout.
I can tell you that this current representative hasn't held not one town hall since he's been elected a year ago
Christy: Shocking
Monica: Right. They're, they're afraid to do town halls
Ronnie: Yeah, he h- he's held virtual ones, but he has vetted
Monica: who gets in
Ronnie: Yeah, the vetted ones who answer the questions. "Oh, that's a good question. I did this, I did that."
Yeah. But he held those breakfasts and lunches that cost $3,000 a ticket, but he won't hold something for the people who actually voted him in, who actually can't afford that ticket. His own party. It's just that serious. So we need to bridge that gap again and, and, and make politics about people again.
And that's why my whole campaign and my whole thing is about bringing people back into politics, getting money out of politics, and, and ending Citizens United, because I believe that's when that o- o- th- that last line of defense that was holding this whole thing that's happening back is when the Supreme Court allowed that to happen, to say a big corporation are people. Yeah, no, they're not. Um, but once we get that out of there, we start bringing politics back to the people and start, um, uniting again and doing what's right, I think you'll see that polarization go away
Monica: I, I love that H- both Hawaii and Montana, Montana, red Montana are-- they're doing away with Citizens United on a state level, so that gives me hope.
Ronnie: And you thought of the movies
Monica: what's giving you hope amongst all this division?
Ronnie: So seeing people are ready for change give me my hope. My family, my wife, my kids is my biggest supporter. Even working in my days in EMS and law enforcement, I saw things that people probably never will see in their whole life working in the South Bronx in New York City. But I kept going every day because my wife was my strongest backbone.
My children is my, also my strongest backbone. But going out in the streets and seeing people who are ready for change, it's just given me so much more energized, like that Energizer Bunny, you know? It's just me. I'm just there because, you know, a lot of people really think that Florida will stay red, and I really hope, I really have it in my heart that we are not, that people are fed the hell up with this administration, with everything that's going on.
So that's my hope. My hope is seeing other people have hope and just keep feeding that hope to me to go out every single day and get it done, to bring that hope to other people. Because I tell people, if we get rid of hope, we have nothing. And to see that it, it's still there, it's amazing. And you will-- A lot of, like, a lot of people don't see what I see.
I go to these red districts that, you know, I have people on my team who are Republicans who can't be out in pictures, who can't... Teenage too, who say, "I can't bring this home with me because my parents are diehard MAGAs. But this is not me. This is not me, Ronnie, I promise you." I-- So they go out and door knock on a different area than where they live so people can't know who they are.
Like, you know, I, I, I am glad that the young people are really just fed up what's happening. And like, we got children walking out of school protesting what's happening with their friends and family with ICE. Like, that's, that, that right there amazes me. Because we got the young people that's fed up. We, as the older people, to see, oh, wow, something must be happening that the young people are seeing something is wrong.
We need to stand behind, and that's what we've seen is happening. So that's my hope. And a lot of people in this district call me Obama and I'll take it as long as hope
Monica: That's high praise
Ronnie: I'll vote. Go ahead.
Christy: And a lot of people are gonna listen to this podcast and not see it, and I just wanna comment on the fact that, you have had a smile on your face about 90% of this interview, which to me says a lot about your character and your authenticity coming from a place of hope. So I just wanna point that out to our listeners because they can't see your facial expressions, and just seeing you talking about this You have a-- Even though this is heavy, you're c- you're coming from a place of joy and hope, and I think that we all need more of that right now desperately.
Monica: Mm-hmm
Ronnie: We do, Listen, I went to a family house the other day, we cried together. Like, it, it's okay to cry. I do sometimes all the time. I mean, I tell... You know, it took me a while to, you know, stop being a man and, and o- open up my expressions and realize that it's okay, we're human. I, I tell people that all the time, "It's okay to cry what's happening in this world."
I do it every damn day. It's just, it's just sad what is happening. But yeah, I can't... If, if I give up that joy and that hope, people who are looking to me to take back our district, our country, and try to change it for the better is gonna lose that hope. So, I always go everywhere I do with a smile on my face because I don't need to pass my problems on to people when we're dealing with a lot
Monica: we need more of that
Christy: We do. And if voters are to remember one thing about you, Ronnie Murchinson-Rivera, after listening to this conversation, what do you want that to be, and what do you want them to take away from this?
Ronnie: Well, I want you guys to understand that I am a people's person through and through. I have, I have no hate in my body. I don't hate people for the party affiliations they choose. Although we don't agree, I think that our main vision is that we all looking to do what's best for people. My biggest thing is bringing unity back together and, and having that, one solid path that we can walk down together holding hands.
We can be different colors, different races, different parties, but at the end of the day, do what's right for the people. And I want you guys to always remember me of being a people's person that's doing always what's right for the people. Um, I don't care the bill when I get to Congress is made up by Republicans.
If it's a great bill and it helps people, I'm gonna sign my name there. And so I want you guys to always remember me as an happy person, 'cause I am always happy. And I'm, I always, always have a... I always, I always...
Christy: has been, and he has a great smile. You need to go look at him on, on social media,
Ronnie: I always... You know, because I look at the good in people. I'm the Glinda of West, of Oz, right?
Christy: Oh, I love that
Ronnie: I always see the good in people even though they doing bad. I mean, it's just a few people, like I mentioned earlier, that I can't see that because they haven't given me an inch of good to see through all the bad that they have done.
But I do really see, see good in, especially the people who don't have control of what's happening in the government, just regular people walking in the, the streets every day. My mindset is different. I look at it as they have their own problems happening, they have their own issues happening, and they just looking for somebody that, that has fed them these lies to change it, and they just haven't met Ronnie yet
Monica: Love that
Ronnie: That's how we look at things, so
Monica: And we need more of that, people that are going to lead for the people, not for a party.
Ronnie: Of
Monica: So for our listeners that wanna learn more about your campaign, they wanna volunteer, donate, follow your work, where can we find you?
Ronnie: Absolutely. So you guys, if you guys wanna contribute to my campaign, please help donate. My campaign does not take any AI PAC money. We don't take any corporate PAC money. We are literally grassroots people person political movement. That's exactly where we, we're going because I believe that if you don't take money from these corporations and, and, and lobbyists now, when I get to Washington, they won't be hovering over my shoulder to hack me to pass a bill that I know is wrong.
Um, if you guys wanna get involved, ron4congress.com, Ron, the number four, congress.com, or Ron For Congress, F-O-R, on all social medias. Or even better, I'm all over Google. Just type my name, Ronnie Murchison-Rivera, running against Randy Fine. However you wanna get there, get there. Join this movement. We have a strong, great volunteer base.
We-- I think we're at, like, 56 now. and, and we have no paid staff. Everybody's here because they w- they're ready for change. So get involved. I treat my people great. I promise you won't be yelled at. You do what you like, you do what you love, and we're gonna tackle this together. So please get involved, help us out, and we will highly appreciate it.
Ron
Christy: put your website, and links to your social media in the show notes for this podcast. And if you don't follow him on social media, give him a follow because he's got some really insightful posts. So
Monica: fiery
Christy: he's very fiery,
Ronnie: Yep, we
Christy: so-- and we love fire
Ronnie: We do. We, we hit back. Listen, we, we pulling the Jasmine Crockett this way. It's time to stop doing things the normal way and attack them the same way they attacking us. Like, we're the party of love, and I love that, I always tell people that if we don't love ourselves, how the hell we gonna love somebody else?
Monica: Mm-hmm.
Christy: Hmm
Ronnie: and we have to stop fire, fire with fire, and I love that Gavin Newsom started that, ignited that flame because we're gonna keep going and pushing. And that's the type of person I am. I get five to seven million views a month, and I have no shame or idea to call out any. So, yeah.
Christy: That's amazing. Well, Ronnie, thank you so much for spending time with us today and for sharing your story. This was such a fun, enlightening interview, and I really enjoyed it. We were looking forward to it, and you delivered, so thank you for that
Ronnie: Thank you. Thank you guys for having me. I appreciate it
Monica: thanks for your fire and, and sharing everything about your campaign, and keep smiling 'cause we love that
Ronnie: We will.
Christy: And best of luck
Ronnie: Thank you. We got it
Monica: To our listeners, if you're finding meaning in the stories we're sharing, if something moves you, challenges you, or makes you see the world a little differently, please like, comment, and share.
It helps more than you know.
Christy: And follow us everywhere at the Politics Checks on Substack, Threads, Blue Sky, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook
Monica: Thanks for being a part of our community, y'all. Keep shining your light so we can find each other in the dark
Christy: Thank you, Ronnie. This was great
Monica: Thanks, Ronnie
Ronnie: Thanks