Today, I’m pleased to renounce we’re welcoming on board Andrew Kalloch, as our new Oregon democratic state chair who’ll be working with Alex Skarlatos our Oregon Republican state chair. Andrew brings a depth of experience to our efforts in Oregon. Since 2016, he’s been the Director of Global Policy Development at Airbnb. Prior to his Airbnb work, Andrew was Deputy Policy Director to the New York City Controller, where he authored reports on a wide variety of public policy issues. He also served as a staff attorney at the ACLU of New York. Andrew’s the President of the City Club of Eugene, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of FOOD for Lane County, and a member of the board of all Oregon votes, which fights for opening Oregon’s primary process to unaffiliated voters, and he was a Democratic candidate for Oregon’s fourth congressional district in 2022. We are glad to have him on board. Hi, I’m Holly Robichaud. This is breaking news on Term Limits. Congressional term limits are a compelling issue with voters, when voters are informed of its benefit in dire necessity, they’re more likely to vote for a candidate who supports congressional term limits, than one who doesn’t.
This trend has become increasingly more evident as a record number of our candidates who have signed the US term limits pledge are winning their primaries this year. Additionally, many of our state chairs have opted to run for office this year to help advance term limits. The latest to win their primary is Utah State chair, Tina Cannon, who won the Republican nomination for Utah State Auditor. Congratulations Tina. US term limits doesn’t endorse candidates. Candidates who’ve signed the pledge endorse term limits, but that didn’t stop Arizona State Senator Justine Wadsack from claiming we did. What makes her claim even more interesting is that in 2022, she signed the US term limits pledge only to vote against it when term limits resolution came up for a vote. That’s right. She voted against it, but she’s seeking the support of voters using the issue that she turned her back on after being locked in a primary she falsely claimed that we endorsed her on iVoterGuide, which has since been taken down. It’s important to reiterate that US term limits doesn’t endorse candidates, candidates endorse our term limits, while Senator Wadsack may not support term limits, other state legislative candidates across the nation do. An additional 82, 2024 candidates have signed our pledge in the past three weeks.
The idea for term limits, not just for Congress, but at all levels of government, keeps growing. In Pasadena, California, the City Council voted 62 on Monday to place an initiative on the November ballot that would set term limits on the City Council in the Mayor’s office. If voters approve the initiative, the Mayor and City Council members would be limited to three consecutive terms, with the possibility of serving two additional terms after a four-year hiatus. In Montgomery County, Maryland, there’s an effort to put a referendum for a two-term limit on the county executive, which would go before voters for next fall, but they need additional 626 signatures to qualify for the ballot.
So today, I am welcomed by the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor in Indiana and our State Chair in Indiana, Micah Beckwith. Good morning. Glad to have you with us.
Hey, Holly. Good morning. Thanks for having me.
All right. So how big an issue is term limits in Indiana?
Well, you hear about it from the people when you’re out campaigning. I mean, it’s a big issue to the people. To the politicians in Indiana, they tend to not be as excited about term limits, maybe that’s a good word to say, as the people are, which is no surprise. We’ve tried to get our term limits resolution in Indiana passed for the last 3-4 years, and it just keeps getting kicked down the road. There’s a few legislators, some Republican legislators that keep standing in the way of it. And one of the guys that’s been standing in the way of it is a big critic of term limits, and he’s been in office since I was 11 years old, so.
Wow.
So he might [chuckle].. So there might be a reason why he’s against it.
That must be way, way back, right? [chuckle]
Yeah, that’s right. But I think overall, there’s a lot of support for it.
Well, you had a huge surprise victory for winning the nomination for lieutenant governor. Do you think term limits and your role in helping to spearhead it in Indiana helped you in your race?
Oh, yeah, without a doubt. I think it was a big boost to my campaign because one, people kind of knew me a little bit through chairing the Indiana term limits team, and so they’d heard me speak on that before. And I think term limits is a really popular issue on both sides of the aisle. It’s over 80 some percent of just voters, Republican or Democrat, like term limits. And so it was a way to connect with voters. And so I think it played a big role.
I also think it kind of shows people if you’re willing to support term limits as much as we did, you’re not really looking to be a career politician. I think that’s what drives most… The average voter and American citizen up the wall is that you have these career politicians that have turned serving in government into something that it was never designed to be. And our founders always thought it was a citizen legislature where you’d give a few years of your service, and then you go back and re-engage into the community and then pass the torch to somebody else so that they could go represent the community in Washington or at the State House. So that’s what it was designed to be, and it’s gotten away from that. And so I think term limits played a big part of our success, in my opinion.
All right, great. Well, now you’re on the ticket with Senator Mike Braun. He’s running for governor. You’re gonna be the next lieutenant governor. Will you make term limits part of your message going forward between now and November?
Yeah, oh, for sure. It’s always been part of my message, and it will continue to be part of my message. And we’re really pushing to get a resolution through the House again. Just as the term limits chair, even though I will step into the lieutenant governor’s office, Lord willing, in January. I’ll still be very engaged in term limits and making sure that we can get that through. We even had Ron DeSantis come to Indiana last year in support of our term limits resolution. I mean, that’s how important term limits is to some people here in the state, where we brought in Ron DeSantis to speak to the legislature, and still the legislature didn’t move on it. So, but it’s close. I think the Speaker of the House and the pro tem of the Senate, they are two guys that do, I think, genuinely wanna see a term limits resolution. It’s just kind of making sure their members are kind of all on board. And last year, Dave Hall from the Bloomington area, he’s a Republican from the Bloomington area, which is a very blue area, he carried the term limits resolution. He’s a state representative, and it was strategic for him because it’s a popular issue. And so his district really liked term limits, and that was a big deal that he carried it. So I think we’re going to try to get him to carry it again. I think he is carrying it again. And hopefully we’ll see it successful this time around.
Great. Well, as next January, hopefully you’re gonna be the next lieutenant governor. As lieutenant governor, what can you get done? Can you help push this forward?
Well, yeah, I mean, I think first and foremost, you just use your influence and use your voice. I mean, so when I’m out traveling the state, even now, I talk to people about term limits. And really, if you wanna get anything done in the statehouse or in Washington, it’s not really about going to the people who are there in the statehouse or on Capitol Hill. It’s about going to the people, right? Like build a coalition of support outside of the bubble. And then that tidal wave will hit them so hard, they won’t be able to stop it. I mean, I think… I mean, I think get the people engaged, get the people behind you. And then the politicians won’t have a choice, they will have to listen to you, because you will be the voice of the people.
And if they reject what you wanna do, they’re not really rejecting you, they’re rejecting the people and that’s gonna end poorly for them at the polls the next time around. So I think that’s really the strategy. And so, what I’ll do is just continue to do that as lieutenant governor, just drum up support for term limits around the state. And the crazy thing, this is what I don’t get in Indiana, when politicians fight against this, it has nothing to do with state or local term limits. It has everything to do with federal term limits. So it’s not even… The guys who are signing the resolution down at the statehouse, it doesn’t even affect them. And so I’m like, “This is not gonna… This isn’t about your grip on power. It’s about Washington and getting Washington under control.” But yet some of them are still even hesitant to sign that, which is, kind of astounding. And I’m sort of, perplexed by that, but I think we’re gonna… We’ll move it and I’ll keep being a voice and an advocate for it. Outside of the statehouse and certainly within the statehouse too.
Well, I mean, your race for lieutenant governor was the people’s movement. So if anybody can get it done, it sure is you. Okay.
That’s right. Yeah.
Yeah. So I mean, you know how to corral the people. So how do people get involved with you? How do they find out more information about Micah Beckwith?
Well, you can go to micahbeckwith.com and you can search for Micah Beckwith on social media and you can join… You’ll follow us on social media. You can join some of the Micah groups out there. Don’t join the, I hate Micah groups. There’s those groups out there too, but those are the groups not to join, but.
Those are the anti.
You can…
The term limits people.
Yeah, that’s right. Yes. Yeah. So you can follow us there.
Well, thank you so much. And we’re glad to have you on board with term limits. And it was probably one of the best calls I made for recruiting a state chair.
[chuckle] Well, thank you. It was… It’s been an honor and I love it.All right. Well, thank you, Micah, for joining with us today.
Thank you.
Thanks. We decided to put together a quick quiz on the perks of serving in Congress, which of the following is not, I mean, not a perk enjoyed by the professional US representatives and senators that represent US in Washington? A, congressional recording studio, B, congressional vacation retreat, C, private dining rooms for representatives and senators, D, private gyms, pools, saunas, and exercise equipment, or E, a congressional subway system that whisks politicians between congressional office buildings. You can check out the answer at termlimits.com/quiz. Over the past three weeks, an additional five congressional candidates signed the US term limits pledge. We currently have over 130 members of Congress who’ve signed the US term limits pledge. After November we know we’ll have even more term limit supporters serving in Congress than ever before. Now it’s time for an update on United States Senator Bob Goldbar Menendez.
According to NPR Goldbar, Bob’s sister testified on his behalf, claiming that the copious quantity of cash found at his house by the FBI was perfectly normal and not related to a bribe. She stated that the members of her family routinely stored large amounts of cash at their homes after their parents fled Cuba in 1951 with only the money they had hidden in a secret compartment of a grandfather clock. It’s a normal, and it’s a Cuban thing, she said. Goldbar Bob declined to testify in his own trial, claiming that prosecutors had failed to prove every aspect of the case. His wife will undergo a separate trial but that has been postponed until a later date. Now it’s time for the corrupt politician of the week. And this week it’s United States Representative Michael McCaul of Texas. Representative McCaul was first elected to Congress in 2005. He’s one of the wealthiest members of Congress with a net worth of approximately $200 million, according to Yahoo Finance.
The New York Times reported that his family bought and sold shares of IBM and sold Accenture, both major Department of Homeland Security contractors, while he sat on the Homeland Security Committee. They also bought and sold shares of UPS in 33 transactions between 2019 and 2021, including after UPS executives testified at a hearing held by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, for which Representative McCaul was the ranking minority member. See why we need term limits? It’s supposed to be about helping the people, not fattening your wallet. Congressional term limits can become a reality. We’ve got the momentum. Americans want it. Okay, look at how many primaries we’re winning with people who signed our pledges. But we still need your help. We need you to go to termlimits.org and get involved today. And be sure to share this program with your family and friends. This is Holly Robichaud for US Term Limits Breaking News. I’ll see you soon.