Meet Jennifer-Ruth Green, Indiana Congressional Candidate

CLAY: Jennifer-Ruth Green, she was in the Air Force. Did you see the new Top Gun: Maverick movie? I know that it’s not the Air Force, but did you see that movie?

GREEN: Hey, gents. No, I haven’t seen it! I haven’t seen it because we’re so busy. We’re on the ground. We’re talking to people.

CLAY: Okay, so when you win — when you win — here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to watch the movie as part of your celebration. You’re going to come back on and you’re going to tell us about what you thought of the movie as a way to celebrate.

GREEN: (laughing)

CLAY: But let me introduce you to the audience out there, Jennifer-Ruth Green. She is in the 1st Congressional District in Indiana, 20-plus years of Air Force service, also still active in the Indiana Air National Guard. Buck and I are trying to have on as many people in battleground races as we can. You are a fantastic candidate. We want to help you get across the finish line. What are you seeing on the ground in Indiana? What can our listeners do to help ensure that you are a member of Congress starting in January?

GREEN: Oh, thank you so much for having me. We’re six days away from victory, and I firmly believe that. What do we see on the ground? We see that people are concerned about gas, groceries, and grandkids. They’re concerned about the fact that they have to choose between gas and groceries when they go out, and the fact that the current administration is spending their grandkids’ money. And that’s the simplicity of it all: Gas, groceries, and grandkids. And as we go out and talk to people, that’s what they tell us.

But these six days leading up, what we’re seeing is that Republicans are coming out in droves. And so we are getting new registered, newly registered voters. We’re having people who have, you know, not necessarily voted in a while who are coming up and voting. We have Dems who are switching and voting for us, and so early returns, those kinds of things are very promising. And so this district has been held by Dems for 92 years. But people are focused, and I believe one week from today, less than one week from today, we will be victorious in flipping the seat. And we’re very, very excited about it.

BUCK: Jennifer, we’re really very honored to have you on for the first time. And thank you for joining us here. The opponent you face, what are the primary differences that should be noted for anybody who is in your district and is still thinking, “Well, you know, I’m on the fence or I’m considering”? What does it mean if Indiana’s 1st sends you to D.C. versus the opposition?

GREEN: So, Congressman Frank Mrvan is a freshman. He ran as a moderate and he has positioned himself as a socialist. He’s voted with the Democrat agenda 100% of the time, and he has left the steel industry behind; 27% of the nation’s steel comes from northwest Indiana. As go steel, so goes our economy. He’s left that behind, and he also hasn’t been in touch. He hasn’t been around. He hasn’t… He refuses to debate me, to defend any of his records, and I think it’s just disrespectful to the to the amazing people that live here in northwest Indiana. The region is comprised of people who —

CLAY: You —

GREEN: Go ahead.

CLAY: No, no, you’re still you’re rolling. I was just going to offer you some praise. Let me… Sorry to cut in there, but you’re I saw this and I was like, “This is amazing,” because Buck’s about to marry into a family like this. You are third-generation Air Force?

GREEN: I am.

CLAY: Your grandfather and your dad were also in the Air Force; then you went to Air Force Academy. I mean, your family has to be so proud of you. What did it feel like to be a third-generation Air Force?

GREEN: No, it’s so exciting, because not only does it make me my parents’ favorite because none of my siblings joined, but ultimately…

CLAY: (laughing) That’s important.

GREEN: (laughing) No, I think they just appreciate and respect the fact that the legacy continues, because I think we value the military very greatly. And I think it provides a great discipline. It helps us growing up to make sure that we knew that we had to work hard, and we had to make sure that we presented ourselves in a way that allowed us to have access and influence. So, we had to earn good grades. We had to strive to do well.

We had to not count on other people to do things for us. And so I think all of those principles line up well with what I’m continuing to strive to share with young people through the nonprofit, and so I think people are focused on the good that military service brings. And so, it’s been a huge asset when talking to people in the district about some of the things I want to do as far as helping people to succeed, because it’s a great way to do that.

BUCK: We’re speaking right now, my friends, to Jennifer-Ruth Green, she’s running in Indiana’s 1st Congressional District. To our Indiana listeners, please get out there. Get out there and vote and help Jennifer in any way you can. How are we doing, Jennifer? You know, one thing we don’t hear nearly as much about these days as we have in previous elections, and I understand it’s because we’re not active in combat zones the way we had been until recently. How are we doing with our veteran community? We’ve got so many people listening to the show who are veterans and a lot of active-duty military as well. What has it been like for the last two years under Biden and what could be done differently?

GREEN: So, as I’m sure you’ve heard around the country, Indiana’s 1st Congressional district echoes the sentiments in regards to veterans. We see and continue to see the wokeness of our military as a priority for this current administration, and it really debilitates us, because it takes away from our primary focus, which is mission readiness. And so, people are very, very frustrated by that. We don’t necessarily need to have the days of old where, you know, we talk about discrimination or we talk about sexism or misogyny or those kinds of things.

But the military has gotten a strong grasp on those elements. But the difficulty is that we’re overdoing it and that’s defeating our readiness, and so veterans also are very excited about the fact that when you shake someone’s hands, that should mean something. Your word and your name is all that you have to offer. That’s what you bring to a unit. You bring name, rank, serial number, and date of birth and your particular specialty, and so you have to be on the same team.

They have to know when you shake their hand or that you give your word that it matters. And so they can trust that my word matters. Recently, we had a situation where Congressman Frank Mrvan attempted to deny that he tried to illegally grab my military records and use them to smear me, and then he lied about it. But the facts clearly show that the group Due Diligence, on April 1st of this year, illegally received my information as an opposition research firm and my opponent has collaborated and done every ad he’s done with the Dems and the DCCC.

And their oppo-research group is the firm that specifically attempted to send my information to the media with an attempt to smear me. And ultimately, at the end of the day, military members said, “That’s absurd. We cannot trust him. He lied to us, and ultimately, at the end of the day, he attempted to smear you,” and so they’re frustrated with his lack of fidelity, lack of courage, lack of moral courage in the face of just trying to get political gain. And so they’re very, very upset with him.

CLAY: Jennifer, what can our audience do for you to ensure that you are elected in six days?

GREEN: I appreciate it. Would you, number one, pray for us? Would you pray that we would have strength of character so that we would do what’s right? We need to make sure we take care of our country and prayer is a big part of that. Number two, would you go to our website? JRG.gop? Would you take a look and see if your values match our values? If you want America to be in a place where, on an international stage, we are ready to go and we are not presented weakly like this current administration wants to present us as — or, nationally, you want to make sure that we have economic surety and security for your grandkids and generations to come?

JRG.gop. Would you give to us? Would you help us with that? The media market here is Chicagoland. Very expensive. We’re putting all of our additional money during this critical time to make sure we can get our message out. I did a commercial in Spanish, and I’m focused on making sure that we can talk to as many people as possible to help them understand the gravity of this election, and so I think the last thing I would ask is for people to get out and vote as a result of seeing all of those different pieces and agreeing with them.

CLAY: Jennifer, we are rooting for you. We’ll have you back on. We’re going to talk about Top Gun: Maverick and we’re going to celebrate you headed to Congress.

GREEN: (laughing) Honored and humbled. We’re going to win. Six days. Thanks, guys!

BUCK: Thanks so much.

CLAY: Buck, how good are some of these candidates, man?

BUCK: She’s gonna be a star.