There are many roads that lead to becoming an elected official. As the son of a preacher/auto mechanic and a nurse, Jason Smith’s self-described blue-collar background found him working a series of jobs, graduating early and pursuing a career a

Rep. Ann Wagner: From Broadway dreams to a career in politics

Aug 24th, 2022 30m 8s

As a child, Congresswoman Ann Wagner aspired to Broadway stardom. But her hardworking parents made sure she had something to fall back on — even if they didn’t necessarily expect it to be elected office. But after working at two well-known Miss

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft: Politics at the Dinner Table

Aug 17th, 2022 35m 47s

Jay Ashcroft grew up in politics. It’s been a part of his life forever, and the family dinner conversations often centered around it. His childhood also included meeting presidents and Arnold Schwarzenegger, sitting first row for the St. Louis

Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe: Insights from the life of a restless entrepreneur

Aug 10th, 2022 36m 31s

Perhaps there’s no direct path from childhood to Lieutenant Governor, but Mike Kehoe’s story has a few more surprises than one would expect. Raised in northern St. Louis by a hardworking single mother, Kehoe was the youngest of six. He went fro

State Senator Dru Mamo Kanuha: Deeply rooted in Kona life

Feb 1st, 2022 24m 50s

Dru Mamo Kanuha was just 28 when he was first elected to represent the people of his Kona community. Though his family can trace its local lineage back 12 generations, Kanuha has forged a path in politics all on his own. In this episode of the

Hawaii Mayor Mitch Roth: A high school dropout credits his rise to faith

Jan 26th, 2022 25m 4s

With several life stories that read like a movie script, Hawaii Island Mayor Mitch Roth had a circuitous path to elected office. In this episode of the podcast, he discusses the impact of several key moments in his life, from a teenage plan to

State Senate President Ron Kouchi: Decades of service to Kauai

Jan 19th, 2022 41m 39s

Hawaii State Senate President Ron Kouchi hoped to be a high school history teacher and enjoyed reading novels in his spare time. But to get out of a job he was too embarrassed to quit, he began campaigning at age 24 for the Kauai County Council

U.S. Rep Ed Case: How a restless soul from Hilo found his way to D.C.

Jan 11th, 2022 33m 49s

Congressman Ed Case has had a life full of adventures, from a childhood “close to nature” in Hilo to working as a jackaroo on a sheep farm in Australia to weathering the culture shock of a small liberal arts college in New England. He first end

Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami: Once rebellious kid, now island leader

Jan 4th, 2022 32m 1s

Derek Kawakami has gleaned lessons from all sorts of life experiences, from hustling to grow his paper route as a young boy to feeling like an outsider as a teenager to parenting while trying to build a career in public service. The mayor of

State Senator Lynn DeCoite: A Farmer, a Hunter, a Grandmother, a Senator

Dec 21st, 2021 29m 55s

State Senator Lynn DeCoite is a third generation homestead farmer who grows purple sweet potatoes when she is not traveling from island to island representing her constituents in the so-called “canoe district”. She is also a proud grandmother o

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi: From tenement to football to TV to City Hall

Dec 14th, 2021 33m 44s

Rick Blangiardi is new to elected office but not leadership. After a long career as a television executive, he became mayor of Honolulu in January 2021. Yet Blangiardi’s road to City Hall began on the other side of the country, in a tenement in

Lt. Governor Josh Green: A doctor in the State Capitol during a pandemic

Dec 7th, 2021 33m 46s

Josh Green first ran for office hoping to work on some of the issues he had seen first-hand as an emergency room physician. But his experience and expertise took on an unanticipated relevance during the Covid-19 pandemic, and in addition to his

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Introducing "The People's People: Hawaii"

Dec 1st, 2021 1m 5s

Listen to new episodes starting on December 7th. What do you know about your elected officials? Do you know what makes them, and the districts they represent, unique? Or why they ran for office in the first place? When we talk about politics, t

Mayor of Augusta David Rollins: Making government more civil and bringing back local pride

Oct 19th, 2021 27m 18s

David Rollins says that back in the 1960s, very few people in Augusta, Maine would have expected a certain high school athlete to one day be mayor. But looking back at his 16 years of civic service, Rollins says this may have been the best peri

Mayor of Portland Kate Snyder: Leading her city through the pandemic

Oct 12th, 2021 24m 57s

Kate Snyder always keeps a tab open on her computer with the mayor of Portland’s powers and duties, as written in the city charter, to remind herself what her role is—and isn’t. She is only the third full-time, popularly elected mayor in modern

Mayor of Auburn Jason Levesque: From local boy to drill sergeant to mayor

Oct 5th, 2021 23m 1s

With family roots that extend back in Auburn many generations, Mayor Jason Levesque is an advocate for his city and state. He tells journalist Lindsey Christ why he returned to his hometown after years away at college and in the U.S. Army. Mayo

U.S. Senator Susan Collins: A work-ethic that stems from picking potatoes

Sep 28th, 2021 32m 34s

While Senator Susan Collins is often in the national news for her decisions in Washington, her conversation with journalist Lindsey Christ focuses on who she is and how she became such a significant national figure. Senator Collins describes gr

Governor Janet Mills: From hitchhiking through Europe to leading the state of Maine

Sep 21st, 2021 26m 40s

Being the chief executive of a state during a pandemic is a job nobody could prepare for, but Maine Governor Janet Mills learned to work through challenges and thrive through adversity at an early age. In the debut episode of The People’s Peopl

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