🚨 If Your Representative Won’t Face You, They’re Not Representing You 🚨

What do Alabama, Kansas, and the state of American democracy have in common right now?People are being ignored, hospitals are disappearing, and elected officials are hiding behind $1,200 dinners and email “town halls.”In this episode of It Takes a Village, Jess pulls zero punches and welcomes two candidates who didn’t wait for permission to step up:✨ Candace Duviehl, a policy expert, educator, and government accountability powerhouse running for Congress in Alabama🌾 Avery Rowland, a trans rural Kansan running for State House because representation shouldn’t be theoretical — it should be realThis conversation hits hard because it’s not abstract. It’s lived.💥 Candace talks about campaigning on rural healthcare — then losing a friend to a heart attack because there was no hospital close enough.💥 Avery lays out what it means to run in a deeply rural, gerrymandered district where people are exhausted, disengaged, and still desperate for someone who will actually knock on their door.Together, they unpack:* Why town halls shouldn’t cost $1,000 a plate* How rural hospitals are closing first, not last* Why ERs don’t “turn a profit” — and why that logic is killing people* How trans people, farmers, teachers, and working families are all being crushed by the same broken system* Why “give people something to vote for” matters more than fear-based politics* And how accountability doesn’t magically appear — it’s built on purpose🔥 This episode is about state power and local power — the unsexy, essential stuff that actually determines whether people live, die, learn, or go bankrupt.🎯 It’s also about courage:* The courage to run with a tiny team* The courage to say “I don’t know everything, but I’ll listen”* The courage to stay rooted when politics tries to turn people into brands instead of servantsIf you’ve ever thought:* “Why won’t my representative talk to us?”* “Why is healthcare farther away every year?”* “Why does rural America feel written off?”👉 Watch the whole episode.👉 Share it like your neighbor’s life depends on it (because it might).👉 And remember: democracy doesn’t die in one big moment — it erodes when nobody shows up.These candidates showed up.Now it’s our turn. Get full access to It Takes a Village Politics at ittakesavillagepolitics.substack.com/subscribe