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CJP #48: Victoria Broderick ( TN-4 ) · Coconut Justice

• Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hey, Tennessee. Hey, Tennessee. I told you I was going to fix you guys. I told you I was going to fix you guys. I'm going to introduce you guys to your next. Well, actually, ⁓ District 4. I'm going to I'm going to introduce you to the person that's going to fix you guys. This is Victoria Broderick. Hi. Hey, what's good? Victoria Broderick is a logistics and technology professional. She's a working mom experienced in keeping systems moving, people connected, and teams focused on what works. Now she wants to bring her skills and talents to Washington to represent the good people of Tennessee's 4th District. This is my conversation with Victoria Broderick. Before we get into it, Victoria Broderick: Hi. ⁓ Thanks for having me on. so excited to be here, Carlos. Thank you. I so appreciate you having me. I'm so ready to flip Tennessee. We're moving and shaking over here. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Remember to go to coconutjustice.com to get you some clothes that I think would look good on you. Let's go. Do you guys usually lean more conservative out there? I'm from Illinois. I'm from Chicago mostly, or not mostly, but originally. So you guys are my neighbors. You're my neighbors. Victoria Broderick: Yeah. Yeah. Well, Chicago's nice. Yeah, we're, we are a little bit north of us. I don't think we would consider you southern though. ⁓ we're, we are more conservative. We are, ⁓ so Tennessee is a super majority. We have a super majority in our state legislature. So that means, ⁓ we are also, that means that, ⁓ we are majority Republican and a good part to explain here is we're unique. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): No. Mmm. Victoria Broderick: Tennessee not only has a super majority in its state legislature, we also have a Republican governor and all but one of our nine, no, 11 federal seats are held by Republicans. So we have one district, District Nine in Memphis, Tennessee that is held by Steve Cohen. He is our only Democratic representative in the state at a federal level. We also host... all the alt-right and right-wing media currently. So Tennessee is a testing ground for Republican policy, but in 2026 we're going to change that. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hahaha What is that even like? I'm trying to go through my head and remember if I've ever lived in a right leaning area and I don't think so. I don't think so. Victoria Broderick: ⁓ It's a vibe. Well, we weren't always this way. Up until 2008, we were purple-ish. ⁓ My district was actually, when it was in its original, one of its original states, ⁓ because we've been gerrymandered heavily over the years, ⁓ it was held by a Democrat up until 2008. So a lot of people think of Tennessee as a red state, but realistically, we are a gerrymandered and non-voting state. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. House, what? Gerrymandering and non-voting, which is what Republicans really want you to do, but. Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So we are gerrymandered red. Yeah. So ⁓ we are, so we're gerrymandered. So recently, my district actually changed in 2020, after the 2020 election, it changed to exclude certain counties and move me over and I took on new counties. And that was so that the Tennessee State Legislator could gerrymander Nashville into three congressional districts. So if that sounds familiar, you all remember the special election from back in November timeframe. That was District 7, Mark Greenseat that was challenged by, when he stepped down, Afton Bain stepped up as the Democratic nominee. She challenged Mark Van Epps and took a 22 plus district and whittled it down to eight points in two months. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: ⁓ You also have District 5, which is Andy Ogleseed. He's making the news because he says that Muslims should not be allowed in the country. I think that's the rough quote. And then we also have District 6, which is just north of Nashville, which hosts John Rose, who is most famously known for having a bride that he met when she was 14 and they got married when she was 18. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Sweet baby Jesus. Victoria Broderick: So he met her at a church event. have children together. But that is the gerrymander district. And then you have my district, which is slightly to the east. ⁓ I don't touch Knoxville. I don't touch Nashville. I don't touch Chattanooga. I don't touch Memphis. I am all rural. I am 15 counties. My biggest district is ⁓ Rutherford County, which is Murphysboro. And if that sounds familiar, it is where the Tennessee drag band started. that started in my district and it has looked like this since 2022. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You have so much going on. Victoria Broderick: Yes, Tennessee is doing the absolute most. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): It's like ground zero for, ⁓ I don't know, what would you call it, bigotry? Victoria Broderick: ⁓ well, wait, there's more because you, your initial question was, what is it like living in a, in a Republican supermajority? And I'll tell you exactly what it's like. It is like having legislation put on the books to make abortion punishable by the death penalty, which just felt failed. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah! but it's okay to court a 14 year old. Victoria Broderick: Yes, ⁓ and that is a, ⁓ we'll get to tie that all back to my opponent at some point because he's got some fun skeletons in his closet that are well known. But this is what it's like living in a red state. ⁓ have the minority of Democrats. We have some of the most fantastic Democrats where a lot of people think of the Tennessee Three. So that's Gloria Johnson. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: Justin Jones and Justin Pearson who were pushing back after the shooting at the ⁓ school in Nashville. They were removed from the Tennessee State Legislature only Gloria ⁓ got away from the vote and she was very clear from the get go. The only reason I'm still here is because I'm a white woman. The reason the other two were removed is they're black men and they've continued fighting ⁓ in the legislature and I adore them. ⁓ I've met all but Justin Pearson. And he is running in District 9 currently in Tennessee. So I mean, we're moving and shaking. We were the first state in when Kamala took over the ⁓ nomination. We were the first state to endorse her as a Democratic Party. I was a delegate for the district, but my treasurer who works on my campaign was actually a delegate that went to the DNC. And we were the first state to endorse her. ⁓ which was amazing for Kamala Harris. And a lot of people, got to educate a lot of people on how delegations work at a county, ⁓ district and state level. And it was very ⁓ fun to educate people and get to see the process literally from ground up and also be a candidate on the ballot. ⁓ Because that it felt it felt momentous at the time. Obviously, the election didn't turn out the way we wanted, but it was really interesting to watch. how the parties all interacted with the DNC and how learning the intricacies of that. And it was just really interesting to watch, especially as a candidate because I had the two for being a candidate and understanding running as a candidate and then working with the county parties and whatnot. So it was very fun time. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Jesus I don't I don't I don't get it. I I really don't I don't understand how the power hungry, the folks that you just got done telling us about. They feel comfortable telling you. Victoria Broderick: Okay. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): their constituents, how to live and that, you know, Jesus is coming and all this stuff. But then they're running around doing all this shady stuff and not just their own personal gross stuff, but like everything from gerrymandering to to everything that you just got done saying all these bones that are running out or falling out of closets and they feel comfortable judging you and telling you what to do. Victoria Broderick: Yeah, telling me that I shouldn't be on the ballot. mean, this is like back to your question earlier where we talked a little bit about it's a non-voting and gerrymandered state. The Republican Party is in a really great job of disenfranchising voters. were at 1.51 in voter turnout. Yes, we fell below Puerto Rico. ⁓ We've now moved up to 48. So we are moving in the right direction. But it was very interesting to me. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: just being in, and we'll talk about my experience and how I got here, but listening to voters talk about how, you know, the election was stolen and whatnot, where if you go into any election office in the state of Tennessee, you're going to see a sign because they're all given them by the state of Tennessee that says number one in voter integrity. But you had Tennesseans walking around saying that the election was stolen in 2020. And all I can think is we're number one. in voter integrity that is literally in your polling place and you're talking about voter fraud and then you're wondering how like why Tennessee is red it's because we gerrymander the districts and then we purge voter rolls and we make voters feel like they shouldn't show up and it's a you know we've got that going on with the Republican Party and the Democratic Party who's abandoned Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: states like Tennessee, because if it's not winnable, why put me time or effort into it? Why not sure up a blue state and sure up that vote and whatnot? And what we learned with my previous run for office ⁓ and with Afton Baines just a couple of months ago is progressivism works and working class people are responding to this type of messaging, to this Bernie Sanders level Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: ⁓ of messaging and I always tell people in my district, you know, I get the joke is I get told I'm a moderate all the time and I have to explain progressivism. I have to say, you know, it's progress with purpose. It's do you like your weekends? Do you like your eight hour work days? That's progressivism. have to whittle it down, which works out in my favor because luckily for them, I started my platform. All started my soft lunch into politics was. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: educating voters. It was a little spicy, but it started by education because I recognized that so many people did not understand our political system, did not understand why it was important to get involved in local and state election. And I just, I felt that need. So I guess I can start here if you want, I'll talk a little bit about that because we just kind of like hop straight into the conversation. You want to do it? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, first, first, let's set the table just a little bit, because when I talk to people not on the show, you know, people I've I've interviewed people that called me a progressive and I don't even I'm not even sure if I am a proper progressive. And then there's some that are like, oh, you're a lefty and all this stuff. What's the difference between progressive and left? Victoria Broderick: You progressive is just more palatable. It's just more palatable. ⁓ So like when I think about it when I come to this, because like leftist really encompasses everything from a communist to a democratic socialist. like, and I always explain politics is a spectrum. You know, when you go right, you're going, you know, conservative, Republican, you know, maybe a little bit further right, MAGA. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and like hardcore left. Yeah. Okay. Victoria Broderick: fascist, I mean, they're moving that way. And then you have the left, it's liberal, it's Democrat, it's democratic socialist, and then you go all the way out to communist and like the Green Party somewhere in the middle of that progressives tend to fall in that democratic socialist vibe. And what I found with voters is they respond well to progressive because it's not a big scary word in the same way that saying democratic socialist because the right has weaponized socialism. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: as this big bad wolf in the room. And they've commandeered what communism means and what fascism means and tried to wrap it into the big ball of isms that voters should be afraid of. And that was a big part of my platform, was educating voters that no, it's a spectrum. You're not going to see the same consistency, just like when you see with the right wing where MAGA has now become the standard for the Republican Party. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Right. Victoria Broderick: like it used to be Republicans where we think of John McCain's, we think of George Jr., George Jr., Bush Jr. and those types of Republicans. Whereas on the other side, know, ⁓ a good progressive is AOC or Bernie Sanders. Those are kind of the staples of progressivism. Progressivism just works as a palatable voter. Like it's not a turnoff because it doesn't associate with those isms that scare voters away. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Okay. I read somewhere and you let me know if this makes sense. A ⁓ progressive knows that the constitution is good. It just needs to be adjusted and a leftist wants to do away with the whole damn thing and start from scratch. Victoria Broderick: Bye like that's a pretty accurate like there is like there is that again it's like a spectrum so you'll meet progressives who will like who will literally out of left field grab that and be like no we got to get rid of it ⁓ you know and that's where that's where it really does the the nuance of it really ⁓ plays into that like because you know there are political spectrum tests that you can take i actually have a playlist that i when i initially started my voter education where i shared my actual voting record Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: Um, and showed people like what it would look like to see what it would look like to see me in an elected office of where I would stand on the political sphere. Um, cause like, you know, I'm a, I'm a progressive, but I'm a gun owner. Um, so like people get a little, they're like, wait, what? And I'm like, oh no, like I enjoy my weapons. Um, cause that's plural. Um, but like. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yeah, same. Hahaha 100%. Yeah. ⁓ Victoria Broderick: If you asked me 15 years ago when I was, you know, like just coming into my understanding politics as a teenager in high school, I would have told you I would never own a gun. And that was a product of the life, like the people in my life and ⁓ having an immigrant for a father, ⁓ you know, he's from England, know, that they don't guns are like going hunting. They're not what we are allowed to have here. literally tell my cousin. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Not pets. Victoria Broderick: I literally tell my cousin stories and they're like, wait, what? You did what? You can do what? Because it's a truly American experience, specifically a US citizen experience. ⁓ So all that to say, we're learning more as people are becoming more politically aware. They're becoming more in tune with these words like progressive and leftist. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: which we know that the right utilizes those as like a weapon. It's like, woke, it's like this. It's, leftists is, know, radical leftists is the new communist. They're just trying to up it so that what the moderates are less likely to vote for that. And all you have to do is look at policy. Look at someone's policy as a candidate running for office, go look at my policy. You can see where I stand on issues. You know, you're not going, there's very, at this point, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, the boogeyman. Victoria Broderick: because of social media, because of the way I've run my campaign and just the change in a political sphere, you can almost at least find a topic that I've covered at some point and say, ⁓ I know where she stands on this because she talked about it in this podcast at this time, blah, blah, because we have this digital recording of everything. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. So what was it like growing up in Tennessee, but with progressive views? Victoria Broderick: rough. So, uh, I, So we moved here and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Were you always progressive? Yeah? Victoria Broderick: Yes, I was. ⁓ So my family moved to Tennessee just before I started ninth grade, so 2007. ⁓ And I did not, we moved from outside of Atlanta. Like it was one of the suburbs of Atlanta. And I've moved around a bit because my dad was in sales rep and my dad is an immigrant. So that born of two worlds really starts to play out with children of immigrants, even if you've been born, I've lived in the United States my entire life, but I have that other otherness because of that experience. And my mother also was, you know, she was unique as an American, you know, born and bred, old Southern family, all the things, but decided to study in Spain as a student when she was a teenager, do an exchange program. And then she went back to Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Atta girl. Victoria Broderick: university and then decided she wasn't coming home because she just she was she was of Spain at that point. She was not ⁓ to me like it was she was always more Spanish than she was American at that point because she just loved it. She loved the culture. She could speak fluently. You know, it was always funny watching a white lady walk into a room and as soon as like she caught that someone speaking Spanish and then she just whip it out and like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And she's like, I know exactly where La Biblioteca is. Victoria Broderick: Yeah, she would do that thing. So when we moved here, I wasn't prepared. was, you know, I lived in a suburb. I wasn't prepared for small town life. Going from a school, a graduating class, if I had graduated at my original school, I would have had a thousand other students graduating on graduation night with me. I was 4,000 students. I went to a high school of 1,300. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah. Victoria Broderick: When we moved to Tennessee, my graduating class was like just under just over 300 people. And I was an outspoken 15 year old because you're coming into your own. You know, I didn't understand that while the Civil War ended for me as of eighth grade, because we just finished learning about it, that someone was going to scream on the bus first day at school, the South will rise again and, you know, has a big old CSA belt buckle. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: And like just, I wasn't prepared for that. And it played out in very interesting ways. I was regularly removed from class, specifically US government class. There was a petition put forward. My teacher had to pull me out of class to explain that the students had petitioned to have me removed from the class because they didn't like that I would debate in class. you know, it It was getting removed from history class because I wouldn't answer a question on a test. And I was just like, no, I'll take a lesser grade. I don't like this. I don't like this question. I know it came from the book, but I don't like it. And then being like, no, no, no, you're going to go to the principal's office over this. And then I'm like explaining to the principal, like why I'm not answering this question. And I was like, look, I'll take the lesser grade. I don't care. Blah, blah, blah. He was like, just answer the question. I was like, it's a biased question. I don't like it. It's not right. I'll take a lesser grade. I'm not answering it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Sure. Victoria Broderick: And he's like, I'm going call your parents. Do it. Call Kevin. Call my dad. And then he was just literally, they would be like, go back to class. We don't want to deal with it. Like they don't, they were just like, we don't want to deal with it. Like the teacher just like let it go. And I mean, this is the experience of, know, I think of indoctrination, like when they talk about our like my high school experience was the epitome of indoctrination. They were every Republican teacher. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Here's the number. Hahaha ⁓ Yeah. Victoria Broderick: that came in my presence even to this day, still talks about how outspoken I was and how I was just out there fighting the good fight. I don't ask, sometimes I don't remember stories. And then I'll like a high school classmate who literally called me a communist for all four years is now a supporter and is voting for me will tell this story that they remember me like. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You Victoria Broderick: just out there doing the thing. legitimately just not expecting that. it's very interesting to me because in my perspective I was being traumatized and I was like, I'm never coming back here, blah, blah, blah. And here I am now running for office. And these stories are coming out about me where I'm at a, went to this last year, last March, I was at an event. I was speaking, I was one of the speakers and there was a woman there and she looked so familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. And then she spoke and I was like, that was my teacher. And she recognized me too. And we had this whole moment where I stopped speaking and I went and hugged her. Like I just stopped. was like, guys, I'm so sorry. haven't seen her in years. She was one of my favorite, blah, blah. And then she told a story. it was, none of this was scripted, but she told a story because she was black. And I, she said a student came at her. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Ha Victoria Broderick: And I stepped in between and said, no, you're not going to do anything. You have to go through me. I have no memory of this. I remember an incident with a student being like bullying her and stepping up and standing. But like, that was like a Tuesday for me. I just, and so she tells the story. And I just sat there for a moment and I was like, ⁓ I've been doing this for years. I've been standing up for people for years. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Right. Victoria Broderick: Why not run for office? Because if this woman who I admired in school, this teacher that I thought would probably only think of me as this crazy little liberal kid is here at an event while I'm speaking, we have not seen each other in 10 plus years and she is telling his story. Like clearly I've been fighting since I had, you know, I couldn't vote. So like, why not take it to the next level? And, know, I've been political for years. just didn't, I didn't recognize it as being political because I just thought I was standing up for what was right and speaking out. And now it just taking it to the next level. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's wonderful to hear. really is. kids for for kids that are hearing my voice right now. Take note. You want to be respectful, but if you're going to have a smart mouth at least have the education behind it. So then that way when you do get sent to the principal's office, at least you'll be able to state your case and defend yourself. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. Exactly. And I didn't know what I was doing. I ⁓ just had something to say. I didn't understand why this southern small town that has every reason to vote Democrat, bring the economy, make it work for them, and make it speak for them would Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Victoria Broderick: tell me that I was indoctrinated, tell me that I would just get more conservative, tell me that my opinions were just because I was young and now here I am, 33 years old and I'm running for US Congress for my second time. I used to like, didn't realize that like now it's all coming together that watching West Wing as a five-year-old is not normal. But I did that because Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): hahahaha Victoria Broderick: I think my parents were watching it on the TV and I genuinely enjoyed it. So Bradley Whitford, if you ever hear this, hello. ⁓ I loved it. I remember watching it and being like, this is what politics should be like. And had that initial plan. I think there's a big generation of us who've grown up watching the West Wing, thinking of the American president. And we're over here like, what is this? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah, that's that's amazing. I mean, yeah, the West Wing, I wonder, well, no, because West Wing is too, too, too chock full of ⁓ information and big words for current administration. But he Yeah, I always say that the current administration has turned this country into TV show. Victoria Broderick: It's a story, it's like that. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And then when you said West Wing, I was like, it's not even a good TV show. Like West Wing, West Wing motivated you to run for Congress. like this TV show makes me want to run away from the country. Victoria Broderick: You Go away. Yeah, right? It's like a Tiimu, it's like a Tiimu West Wing. I mean, it was supposed to be something, but really it just turned up in a cardboard box that had moldy fruits and vegetables, specifically a lot of oranges and some potatoes in there, no seasoning, nothing that tastes good. And you're just like, this is not what I ordered. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah ⁓ Yeah. Yeah. hahahaha Victoria Broderick: I never expected idiocracy to be part of my life, but here we are. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah. It's like, do you remember Kara Nortiz? Kara Nortiz is the judge out of New York that got fired for standing up for LGBTQ rights, right? And I was explaining, she was giving me her point of view on the administration. And I said, I asked her, what's your favorite movie? And she told me, and I said, now imagine having the script of, what was it? ⁓ Victoria Broderick: Yes, I remember. Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Lolita maybe something like that. Anyway, anyway, I said take your take the script from your favorite movie and hand it to the three stooges. That's what's happening right now. Victoria Broderick: ⁓ no. It really is. It really is like there's no production quality. Somebody just hired some D-level actor. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): None. Hair and makeup is terrible. Victoria Broderick: I, and here's the sad part is I watch so much TV and movies and I really love acting theory. It's how like I get through life because like everything's unprecedented right now. So I just need some continuity for the TV people out there. And I just, know how much goes into it. So to say that it's like a D rated movie, like Tmoo version really is a disservice to those words. Cause like, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: So much goes in. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They say some of the corniest things and I look at people and I'm like, you really do like this. Victoria Broderick: They do. They do. And they- Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): It's wild. Victoria Broderick: they buy it hook line and sinker. it's not because, there's a lot of things that go into it, but a big foundation of it is the lack of like understanding community at the center of it. Like it really, like we can blame everything else, but it's a lack of community. It's the American dream, but they've strangle held the American dream so that you don't feel like you're part of anything. So you don't fight for anything. but yourself. And that's a sad world to be in because when you travel to other countries, you can see that the community and the ecosystem's working and everything's just kind of moving instead of this Lion King 2, where the hyenas and the lions have run amok and everything's dry and barren and there's no food, there's no water, there's no hope. And that's because They can only stay in power if you stay complacent. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Let's talk about this is something that I've been I've been hoping to be able to talk to anyone about and you might be the perfect person. Explain to me this whole Southern life thing, this whole, you know, the flag and what is it about Southern culture that doesn't let people be American? Victoria Broderick: Okay. ⁓ ⁓ It's kind of like the mindset of nobody loves Texas like Texas loves Texas like Texans love Texas and I learned that living in Texas for the second for the second time. Yes I lived there for a while and I just realized there's just pride. There's just love and I mean Great. The food is fantastic. You have all these cultures. You have different types of cities You've got San Antonio, which is just gorgeous. You've got Austin, which is hip Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: and moving up in the world. And you've got Dallas, which is kind of like a combination like old school with Fort Worth right there. You know, it really gives you that old Southern like Oregon trail feel, you know, and what happens in the South is we, it's a combination of their Southern culture, which came from aristocracy and rich people who created these. ways to carry yourself and behave. And then you have the other side of it, like the working class people that it just kind of pulled in that vibe. And they, as the kind of like party system kind of like broke down, the class system kind of broke down, you see like those kind of started intertwine and see them really just intermingle. But a lot of the heritage aspect is not born of the Civil War per se. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: But because of the results of the Civil War, it was, they changed the narrative. And now you have this Southern pride of you, can't be, you don't want to be a Northerner, they're rude. You know, you want to be a Southerner, you want to smile, you want to say bless your heart, which is not kind. It is an insult. If anyone tells you bless your heart, go in the other direction, because it is not meant, no. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. It is. My sister-in-law is from Alabama and she says it all the time. Bless your heart. Victoria Broderick: your heart and I'm like and you're just like you got that I can't do a good southern draw even though my cousins accused me of sounding southern sometimes ⁓ which we fixed very quickly but southerners don't find me southern ⁓ they they're like no you're a Yankee I'm like well I've born lived in the south came from like one of the most southern states because if the poor if the you know weather doesn't get you the people or the animals will so and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: It's its own vibe. That's Florida for everyone else. ⁓ But I mean, that's part of the culture of, you know, the South. And there is some beauty in that because of like how people settled and whatnot. But there's a lot of abuse and oppression and ⁓ turmoil that is wrapped up in it. So I think that it's both things at the same time. up until we had someone who was a sitting member of Congress who represented us up until 2002, who was a Dixie-Crat and tried to start the Dixie-Crat party and also would have had family that fought in the Civil War. And he was a sitting member of Congress until 2002. that's Senator Strom Thurmond. He Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): that when he like 250 years old. Victoria Broderick: he was old, ⁓ and unfortunately for me, he is a good friend of the family. he was my grim. I never met him, but he was my grandmother's godfather. Yeah, so I was at his funeral at like 10 years old. ⁓ I don't like him because, you know, ⁓ I've started asking the uncomfortable questions when it comes to our family history. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, is he a nice guy at least? Victoria Broderick: ⁓ you know, he wasn't a good person, you know, he's a Dixie-Crat, but he's part of that old guard that really moved through time that really kind of rounds this out of like, when we talk about Southern culture, these were people that were alive throughout, during that timeframe and that would have had grandparents to influence them. So a lot of Southern culture comes from this, you know, we want to go back to the good old days, which is not good for everyone. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And this is where I find some of my frustration to build up is all of my parents are from, well, my mom was born in New York, but her parents were from the islands. My dad is from Cuba, right? When they came here, they laid down their flag and they picked up red, white, and blue. Victoria Broderick: you Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And then I, you know, I served in the army and did all the things, right? And then when I look at these Dixie crats and the Southern folks and stuff, and they're flying their flag. That was literally against the flag that we like to choose to represent or that represents us. Victoria Broderick: Yeah. Thank you. Thank Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And then they look at me and say, you're not American enough. Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And you're like, ⁓ no, that's not how that works because you all are literally flying a flag that is of secession, leaving. And even if, you know, you'll get the argument, because I get this all the time, they're like, well, this flag wasn't the battle flag. It's like, I don't care. I don't care. It doesn't matter. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And I'm like, ain't that a bitch? Right. Yeah. I'd fly red, white and blue or get the hell out. ⁓ Victoria Broderick: Exactly. Or don't wave a flag because you don't you can't. Yeah, like like there's a or there's a graffiti artist is like people who wave flags don't deserve to have them. And it's like this false sense of like national pride that comes from waving a flag and those same people who will wave a Confederate flag will wave an American flag and say I love this country, but have a whole flag that represents separation and leaving. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): or don't wave a flag. Victoria Broderick: and secession and all the things because they didn't get their way and they started to stomp their feet. that cognitive dissonance really plays in because then they tell you that you're not an American enough. I get it told all the time because I have an immigrant for a father. Well, if it's so bad here, why don't you just leave? And it's like... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Why don't you go to your country? Victoria Broderick: Why don't you go to your country? I can't tell you how many times that I've been told that go back to my country. And I'm like, ⁓ I was born in Florida. mean, like I had family on the Mayflower back up. Like we've been here for a minute on that side. And if I have to claim it, I will, but like, ⁓ down, Mr. I came over, Mr. I came over, you know, like Trump who's like parents were both immigrants. Like, okay. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. We've been here for a minute. Yeah, pipe down toots. Yeah, yeah, and broke rules the entire time. Victoria Broderick: of like. Yeah, I mean, you know, this, think it's a lack of understanding. There's so much that goes into this. And it's like why I say that politics isn't like binary or, ⁓ you know, like you can't just separate it out and say, this doesn't, this doesn't belong with this because there's so much that's intertwined just like with our history and our constitution, going back to our original conversation at the beginning of like talking about you know, these policies where you see less than that, like this, that just want to tear that up and start over. This is where that intertwined comes in because there's so much rooted in our history. And you'll see people like me who want to say, I respect it. I respect what it made for the time, but it should be a living document. So we need to adjust it to 2026 and make it work for everyone to protect immigrants, to protect our. families, etc. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, because I bet you. George Washington with his wooden teeth had zero clue what was going to happen with machine guns and AI. Victoria Broderick: No, they had no idea. The core of our country and the immigration started, that's something to give us retired, but it didn't start that way. The initial pilgrims were political and religious exiles who were literally being kicked out of their country because they were considered too extreme. And they took that, came across the ocean, colonized, and in some of the most ⁓ violent ways as well as created this culture. And now we've got this culture of immigration. And here we are in 2026, what 51 years, 50 years ago, 50 years. And we're telling immigrants they don't belong. Every single person on our soil is an immigrant in some way, or form, whether it's their grandparents, their parents, great, great, great, great, great, all the way back like If you are not a Native American, you're an immigrant. And we're telling immigrants they don't belong here. And I just don't think that that's the move because we've been selling the golden ticket for literal centuries trying to get people to come here. We have whole shows dedicated to the Oregon Trail and the American West and the experience, these hearkened times. And yet we're saying immigrants don't go. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: Nope. No, that's just not, that's not, it's not American. It's not American. It's un-American, to be honest. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. And we're learning, you know, because there are folks and listen, people that are sitting here probably shaking their fists at this video saying, ⁓ we can't afford it. Listen, I understand. I get it. But what we're doing with our money today is we could be doing so many better things with the money that we're blowing overseas. Victoria Broderick: Thank So much money is spent overseas. I remember one of the facts that was mind-boggling to me is when I would pose the question of how many military bases does the US have on its soil from other countries? Most people go, wait, what? I'm like, zero. How many military bases do we have off of US soil? And they'd be like, ⁓ it's like, I'm like 800 and 23. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's a lot. Victoria Broderick: And then they're like, wait, what? Think about that. Think about that level of colonization, like that level of military presence across the world. mean, you know it, you're a veteran. Like, this is that experience. And then we have the audacity to bring veterans home and be like, good luck, we're gonna cut all your funding. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's the part that, that's the part that I always go off on this tangent and I just need to. If you haven't been through basic training, if you haven't been through the military, you don't understand how they scramble your brain. You don't get it. That's this video. That's all I'm going to say because I've said it on a bunch of different videos, just going off. You don't understand. Victoria Broderick: you Thank Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You don't understand what it is to go through the military and then be released. It's something as simple as when you're in the military, it's no man left behind. It's all about team. It's all about teamwork. Let's us, us, us push, push, push. And then when you go into corporate America, it's backstabbing and everything is me, me, me. And it's all about me. And we're seeing it right now. If you have any question what America would look like, If you ran it like a corporation, this is what it is. You have the boss and a bunch of sicko fans. Victoria Broderick: And it's a micromanager for a boss. Because he's, he is terrible and he's everything has to go through him and he blames everyone else. That is a tail like tailtip. I've worked. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and it's a micromanager for a boss. Everything has to go through him. Exactly. Corporate America to the T. And if there was one thing that I can have folks that say that is just take a look and see and notice, please notice that it doesn't work. It doesn't work. Yeah, we get a lot of things done, but look at what's getting done. There's no education. There's no investing in education, no investing in infrastructure, no investing in anything but defense and crypto. Victoria Broderick: And crypto and then telling you that you're the people that you should be angry at are immigrants and trans children. Literal two groups that one just wants to come here, have a better life, work, become citizens, love this country. Some of them love it more than both of us. You know, you know, and you know, then we have children who will make up of Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Look a lot like me. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: or a fraction of a percent who have no like, this is it's not it's a non starter for me. And that's who they're telling you to like to focus on when realistically your groceries haven't gotten cheaper, your gas is still going up. It's definitely gone up in the last week with this whole thing with Iran, your local hospitals are closing, your jobs are laying people off. You know, I live in the whiskey district. So I am the Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: Even though I am this big rural district, I host Jack Daniels, George Dickel, and Uncle Nearest. So yes, I am a bourbon drinker and whiskey drinker, and I have the best district in the state of Tennessee, and I will die on that hill. Because it is, this is it. It's part of it. But these companies are laying off. These are massive employers. Jack Daniels literally Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Okay. Victoria Broderick: Most of the county that it is in, which is a dry county, you can't buy alcohol there, which is ironic, mostly everyone there is employed there. Like, work, if they're not employed by Jack Daniels, they're leaving to go other places. So this is my district and we're being negatively affected because some man doesn't want Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's hilarious. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: the files to be released and doesn't want to take accountability and wants to protect his rich creepy friends. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): his friends. Yeah. How do we, how do we, well before we do that. What I don't really understand about the conservative movement is they rule by taking things away. Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. They can't win. They can't win. Well, they can't win on it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): ⁓ This book hurt my feelings take it away that brown kid make me upset take them away You know Victoria Broderick: Because anything that's outside of their small little box threatens their existence. You they they are the type of people that they are you own you bought a house in this beautiful neighborhood. They want to put the HOA in and tell you every single thing that you can and cannot do because they want their neighborhood to look a certain way and be a certain. This is really great. Sorry, I just just this is ripping. This is a rip, literally a rip. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. No, is helpful because I've been trying to figure it out. And if I can understand it, can hopefully like... ⁓ Help walk people through that that's not the way to do things You know so go ahead on your riff Victoria Broderick: Yeah, so like you've got this, you got this beautiful neighborhood and you know what? HOAs can be beneficial. Like sometimes you want a little continuity. You don't want someone with junk piled in their their yard. But when you step out of your front door and you step past that white picket fence, you know that 1950s house and this beautiful road and whatnot, you recognize that you're in your community. and that your community is not going to be just like your house. Those rules that you apply, you know, the HOA is here and your household rules kind of an inner mix, but those rules apply to your house. Like if you don't want your trash can to be blue, you want it to be red, you have a red trash can, but you don't have the right to tell the entire room. And they try to take the system, take the HOA, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: and say, no, you have to be like this and look like this and sound like this and be like this. Instead of saying, you know what, maybe those rules apply to me. Maybe those feelings that I'm, those big feelings as I tell my three year old when he's having them, maybe they're on you. Maybe that they're valid, they're valid, valid feeling, but they don't always correlate with the outside world. They don't always, it's not always the outside world's fault that you're having those big feelings. Maybe we can help you. Say like, maybe you need a hug. Maybe I am gentle parenting this too now. But I mean, these, this is, but that's what it is. You know, it's having these conversations, make people feel safe and their communities and know that they're right to believe what they believe and feel how they feel and love who they love and have those systems of belief aren't Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): hahahaha Victoria Broderick: threatened by someone who's running for office who just wants you to have universal health care. It's not threatened by the trans kid down the road who just wants to exist. It's not threatened by the immigrant family who is fleeing a country for whatever reason. Or maybe they just want a better life for their children and they've been sold the American West and they love John Wayne movies and they are here. It's not threatened by those people, but you're being that you're being threatened by those people. You're being told by people who have a vested interest in you not paying attention to the people literally forcing you into this "HOA" and then making it so that you'll never be able to escape, that you will be at corporate shell, you'll be working for corporations for the rest of your life, you won't be able to retire, you won't be able to pay your doctor's bills because you're gonna go bankrupt. You might put off that cancer screening that you need to have and then find out your stage four When if you had just gotten checked six months prior, you would have been okay. These are those people who are telling you to hate these people while robbing you blind. That's why like during my speeches, I say this isn't a right or a left fight. This is a bottom versus top fight. And the top is telling you where to look and where to go. And it's on you to do that. And it's on me as a candidate for office, as a person running for office who's educated is to help you understand the system. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): 100%. Victoria Broderick: And then also fix the system so that your life is one, better. Two, politicians are held accountable. And three, the system is still here in 15, 20 years so that you can exist. you're not going to be able to, power only wants more power. You know, we always think of that Superman quote of, you know, with great power. No, not Superman. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Spider-Man. Victoria Broderick: Spider-Man, where they're saying with great power comes great responsibility. And that is, I'm really disappointed in my, ⁓ where great power comes great responsibility. My movie self is angry with me right now, because I'm so much better than this. But I mean, this is that. And also like for the people watching, yeah, I'm a candidate for office, but yes, I watch a lot of Marvel and a lot of TV shows. This is what you're missing. If I sound like this great candidate that we're, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You Victoria Broderick: having this great conversation. It's not just because that this is my second run for office. It's also because I'm a real person and I recognize that our system is failing us and we deserve better representation. And I want to show you that that it's possible because maybe I didn't create the problem, but sure as hell, I'm not going to sit by and not fix it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's so important for people to understand. We have so many politicians and I currently live in California. I'm still trying to figure out why people hate Gavin Newsom. And the best excuse I've gotten is that he's just a politician. He's just a career politician and people don't like career politicians. Do you? What is it? Victoria Broderick: I have a different answer to that. Oh, I mean, just because I think he's gearing up for a presidential run. And I like Gavin Newsom. like the way he punches at this administration. I like what he's done in California. What I don't like is that he abandons marginalized communities when it suits him because he is looking for that moderate vote. And a lot of people think that moderate voters want you to vote on things like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: trans rights and LGBTQA rights and, you know, abortion. Moderate voters aren't what we're looking for. We're looking for swing voters and swing voters are different. Swing voters vote on the economy. They're immigrants who want to see that their local shop that they wear, everyone comes to get their, you know, Mexican candy or, you know, Cuban candy hat, like they thrive and they are seeing the benefits of their community. It's the working person who's like, hey, I need this retirement fund to work for me. I need my ⁓ 401k to do well, so I'm going to vote on that. Those are swing voters. They're not people who are like, I don't want to see trans kids. That's not a swing voter. Maybe there's like a small fraction of them, but it's the exception. It's not the rule. And I think that that's where I disagree with the Gavin Newsome thing as a candidate. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: I disagree with him because I learned that standing on business does way better with voters than being wishy washy. As well as people will tell you all the time that you'll lose an election over LGBTQAI plus rights or supporting Black, Brown and Indigenous people. I'm like, no, you don't lose elections over that. You lose elections when there's voter apathy, when we have candidates and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): 100%. Victoria Broderick: political parties that are not representing the people. And when we're not, we're not putting forward the candidates that people want to hear. I will get, I didn't get any help in 2024. I will, I doubt I'll get help in 2026. And that's fine with me. I'd rather get this on my own. I'd rather do the work and build the coalition and show that better representation is possible without a political party. Cause yes, I'm running as a Democrat, but we're in a two party system. They're only two months into transportation, bringing this back to that, you know, where I talking about the house with the white picket fence. You're not buying that when you're voting. You are getting on a bus going in the direction you want to go. And where you get off is your choice. And you might want to say, you know, a leftist might stay on the bus for the entire time if the candidate is going in that direction and the politician's going in that direction. But that's not always the case. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: you have the choice every two years to hop on a different bus and make a calculated decision based on the candidate that's on the ballot. And you can do that all the way down to a local level. That is why we're here. We're in this system. We're in this because we're in a two party system and a lot of people don't understand how it works and they're disenfranchised and like bringing that back to Gavin Newsom. He is going to likely be a higher candidate. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: So like, would I want to vote for him? No. But how I fix that is being consistent in my voting. I say, OK, I want to vote for progressive down ballot candidates because those are candidates who will run for president. And yes, president is a great role. It's like the epitome of your career. It is the first question I will get asked when I'm elected to office is, are you going to run for president? And the answer is, can we just do the work? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: And then I'll talk about that because it just sounds like a big job. And the work is in Congress. It's not in the White House. there is work there and we want a good representation there. But I would rather, you know, make sure that we've got a fully stacked team, if you will, going all the way down because those things affect your life. Local and state ⁓ candidates and politicians affect your daily life. Federal candidates affect the economy. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: and affect how the laws of the land work. if you loved the color blue and Congress said, only like green over here and made it illegal, that would be something that Congress could do at a federal level. And a state might say, well, no, we like purple over here. And the federal laws know green's the color. That is a simplistic way of putting this into context. for voters and so when look at Gavin Newsom, he's not a perfect candidate. He's got some things that I disagree with and given the opportunity, I'd vote for someone else. Now, if he is at the top of the ticket in 2028 and that is the choice, I will vote for him through great gritty teeth. But my goal is a candidate who will be in office when he is elected into office, I will say. Let's make this better. make it so that people, progressives can run on the ballot as progressives. They don't have to run as a Democrats. ⁓ Let's make it so that there are protections in place in Congress to protect our trans youth, to protect our rights, to protect abortion, whatever. Those are things I can tangibly do in Congress that, maybe I don't like the president. know, Gavin, if you're out there and you want a free tip, stop. throwing marginalized communities under the bus for the love of God. Like, just stop doing it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): track the money for that's supposed to go to homeless people. Track that and figure out where that went. Victoria Broderick: And like, think that's where people were starting to see those beginnings of like more engaged voters. So we're starting to think about the 2028 election. Also, we're all just like hoping a prayer for 2028 to just make it here. And we just come out unscathed, barely. But this is where we're starting to have these conversations of why we don't like him. And, you know, that's where my education comes in and pushing for down ballot voting because Yes, he could be elected, but if Congress has a full slate of people who are like LGBTQA or rights are protected, let's put Roe back in place and codify it. Let's make sure that gay marriage is codified. Let's make sure that your health care, universal health care, Medicare for all is a policy. We're not going to have to worry so much about what he's doing up at the top. He can just be over there, like maybe punching at Donald, who's probably going to be having some big feelings about losing another election. But we'll just let him do that while we make sure that your pocketbook and your wife is livable. Because like, what good is the American dream if you can't afford it? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah, I want to I want to drop this in here and this is specifically for the good people of Tennessee for I talked to a lot of political hopefuls and the more let me say like this more candidates would rather be independent. than they would under any of the two umbrellas because good people of Tennessee, are correct. Politicians are in it for themselves. Up to this point, politicians have been in it up to themselves. And yes, both branches of the political ⁓ machine do play games with the money and they do, you know, all that crony capitalism, all that shady stuff. Victoria Broderick: Thank Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They do do all of that. But for someone like a Victoria that would rather probably I'm assuming I'm jumping on assumptions right now. You would you would rather go and and and be Victoria Broderick than Democrat Victoria Broderick. Right. Victoria Broderick: You Yeah, I want people to vote for me because of my policy, not because of the letter beside my name. I want you to buy in, which I guess we could do that at some point. I'll let them buy into me. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Yeah, but like to finish up my point, ⁓ you have to leverage the machine that is the Democratic Party. what people don't realize is you get access to like phone banks and to other like mailing lists and all kinds of stuff. So it helps make your job easier. Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I'm trying to break this down for normal people because this is stuff that I have been learning. So when people say, ⁓ money, all the money and all that things are fixed and all this stuff, this is everything that everything that Victoria is doing with the Democratic Party. She's leveraging the machine that they have so she can reach out to you guys. Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I'm actively changing the party. I'm actively on the ground changing the party. You want to talk about that? So let's talk a little bit about the political machine. So money out of politics quite often does not include candidates. Candidates don't get that same grace and space in the money out of politics game. Now we are seeing a shift. So I'm a grassroots candidate. ⁓ So for those of who know, I'll do my little stump speech. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah? Yeah. Yeah. Yes, please. Victoria Broderick: because I think this is where, this is where it really brings home what I'm doing. So I'm Victoria Broderick and I'm running for Congress in Tennessee's District 4. I am a working class mom. I ran my first race in 2024, a hard launch into politics because I found that my opponent was going to run on a post and I said over my dead body. I ran a congressional race in five months raising... two tiny humans, four fair babies, and fostering with our local humane society while working full-time, raising over $120,000 in five months. And what we learned after I lost my election is it worked. People bought in. And about 15 seconds after a loss, before the numbers even came back, I had already decided I was gonna run again. But when people asked me how I got here, it didn't start. in 2024, it started, that was my hard launch into politics. It started in 2021 when I suffered an IUD fail and found that I was pregnant. I had a 13 month old baby at home and I was navigating a complicated pregnancy and our medical care system. And what's significant about 2021? Roe was still in place. I had all the, I had all the things that I would need if anything went wrong. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: Unfortunately, I miscarried and about a month later found out I was pregnant again and had to navigate again a complicated pregnancy, a system that is, you know, hard. I was lucky. I had a beautiful baby nine months later. But while I was on maternity leave, Roe was overturned and I did the logical thing. I became livid and did, a TikTok called the Friendly Neighbor Liberal and started yelling at people on the internet and also educating voters. I also, a month later, became a county chair of one of the 93 counties in Tennessee at the time. Now every single county has a Democratic Party. And I started not only working within the party to make change and build recognition and build back the Democratic Party that had been abandoned because of the system, I was educating and whatnot. It came up that my opponent was going to run on a pose. I hard launched because that's where candidates come out of. They come out of random places or they come out of experience. And I didn't stop my candidate experience and stop my party engagement because in 2025 I was appointed to the Tennessee State Executive Committee because there was someone stepping down and I got party calls from across the state. asking me to step into it because I was a progressive, because I was so outspoken, because of the work I had done at a county party level and as a congressional candidate. And I am actively working within the Tennessee State Party to advocate for more progressive policies for candidates to have more support so we can see working class people able to do this. I was able to leverage the system. in my favor. And I didn't realize how my work had played out until candidates and people like Gloria Johnson will take my phone call. When I can reach out, I can get on a county meeting, like a statewide meeting, and people are like, ⁓ my God, it's Victoria. Or they come up to me in an executive committee meeting and someone's like, I follow you on TikTok. I love your content so much. It's that moment of like recognizing the work we're doing and I didn't have a plan. So this is how we fix the system. I recognize as a candidate, I've experienced the abandonment that comes from not only the party, but from the system. I've just not let it stop me because that's just not who I am. And that $120,000 that I talk about, which is a amazing amount because I was literally told two days into deciding to run for office, they're begging for a candidate that I'd be lucky if I raised $50,000. I'd be lucky to make it through this election. They literally are writing me off in the beginning. These are people within the Democratic Party at the time. And I raised $120,000 and 95 % of that is small dollar donations. So $200 or less. didn't take a single corporate dollar and I did corporate PAC dollar. nor did I take any AIPAC money. And I was the only federal candidate in 2024 in the state of Tennessee to sign a pro-peace pledge because I support policy. And I grew the district. That is what shows you what is possible when you utilize the system. You stand on principle and you don't stop because I'm fun-sized and feral. I have a t-shirt. Go find it on my website. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): beautiful. fun size and Pharaoh. Victoria Broderick: It's so much fun. But this is, I am ready. I know. mean, my social media, it's a product of being a content creator prior to running for office. And like a lot of my followers had come after my run for office, but I never lost that authenticity. You know, I never lost that personality. You'll see it. We talk about it so much. I get met by people and they're like, ⁓ my God, you're just like that. I thought you would be, except you're short. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Your social media is so much fun, but go ahead. ⁓ Victoria Broderick: Like, I don't know what you mean. So I started joking. I've started joking in the group. So they're I'm fun-sized and feral. And I put it on a t-shirt because so many content creators, these big content creators, so I'm like a huge fan of, or like, no, I love this. Put it on a shirt. And I'm like, OK, let's do it. I mean, this is that fun, that fun side of it. So like real candidates, like I'm sure you're getting to experience it. Just real people doing real things and. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: You know, I say I'm a politician all the time, but the most shady thing about me is I have tattoos. Like, that's the most shady thing about me. Everything else, here we are. So that's my elevator pitch. So that kind of like shows you what is possible when you utilize a system and you, you know, advocate for change. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. So when you're advocating for change and you are out, whether it be you're making phone calls, you're knocking on doors, all that, there's a lot of work to doing what you do. But when you're out there, how do you explain something like universal healthcare to someone who might be more conservative minded? Victoria Broderick: I mean, I just sit down and I'm like, okay, you know, like, it was like, do you ever think about going to the hospital? And they'll be like, yeah, like, why do you think about it? Well, I'm worried about my deductible. I'm worried about what I might be diagnosed with. I'm worried about the wait times and whatnot. say, okay, yeah, like I get that. was like, wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to worry about the cost that you could maybe go to the doctor a couple of days earlier than deciding to go to the hospital? And they're like, yeah, that'd be nice. Like, it'd be really good. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: be really great if like your taxes, like if you didn't have to worry about walking away with a bill, you know? And it's really simple in that conversation. Like I get it. I get it. You're afraid. You're like, it's new. You know, the private system does something. I was like, but you know, like those wait times, you still got to know how often do you have to wait in the ER? And they're like four or five hours. It's the same. I was like, that's a short. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): But you have to pay way more. But you have to pay way more for that weight. Victoria Broderick: Yeah, I was like, you know, it's the difference between, you know, I explain it to, I love putting it in this perspective too, especially when it comes around like when we talk about pregnancy and babies and whatnot. I'm like, you know, the average cost for a birth in the United States is like nine to $10,000, nine to 15,000. And that's a natural birth. That's maybe you, maybe you've got the epidural because it's been a hard pregnancy and you do you girl. We want to make sure that you. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Sure. Victoria Broderick: that those epidurals are nice. And you know what your birth plan, your choice, you are bringing your life into this world. Like you pick the best method for you. I was like, but think about it. I'll take 10 to $10 $15,000. You have a C-section is $30,000. And you're going to be kicked out of the hospital regardless of if it came out naturally or if you had a C-section in 48 hours because of private health insurance, because they don't want to pay more. Instead of your medical professional saying, you know what? She had a C-section. It was a really hard labor. Let's keep her in for five to seven days so that she has extra care for the baby that she's just brought into this world after nine months. And also for herself. Maybe she gets a little extra time. And then you have another mom who's like, you know, pop the kid out. You know, I'm ready to go home. That's me. I did that with my second kid. I had my second child. And as soon as she said, you want to go home within like 24 hours? like, yes, I want to sleep in my bed. I was like, I'm five minutes from the hospital. Let's go. And she, and she let me go home because like, you know, I, private insurance, all those things. It's allowing the medical professional and the individual to determine the best course of action for them and to take the someone who just needs to make a profit. Cause he's trying to cut those bills. He doesn't want you staying there longer because he wants that extra 50 cents. You're going to get a $500 bill, he, he, he's going to get a little bit more than that. You know, it, that was, the math was wrong. Anyway, I've worked full time guys. Like this is part of it, but I mean, this is that, this is that how I speak to moderate voters, but a lot of time now what I'm encountering moderates, it's, they want to know if I'm taking corporate PAC money. They want to know if I'm taking APAC money. They want to know where I stand on the war. They want to know and keep asking them, ask for candidates where they stand. This is the time to pick the candidate for yourself. know, your primaries, depending on what state you're in, are coming up. Mine's in August. But these are the questions that I'm getting asked now. You know, I had a Republican come up after a forum and I never hide where I stand on the political spectrum, but people come up and they're like, you just sound so reasonable. And I'm like, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And those are all very good questions. Keep asking those questions, you guys. Victoria Broderick: because it's policy, because we're not talking about hating an immigrant. We're talking about your life being affordable and your children being able to go to a good school and there to be a playground in like less than a mile from your house. And that small coffee shop that you love because you don't want to go to a big brand box store is able to stay open because they're not worrying about what Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Right. Victoria Broderick: Someone's tweeted on Tmoo Twitter today. Like, they're not worried about that. And, you know, I can't take credit for that. That's true social. ⁓ I can't. My friend USMC says that all the time. USMC angry veteran guys. But I mean, he says it a lot. ⁓ But like, this is that this is how we talk to voters. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Right. Teemu Twitter. I love that. ⁓ yeah. Victoria Broderick: but they're not used to it because they're used to being talked at by corporate politicians who are to the, you put the suit on and are like, whatever. And I'm like, if someone walks away from a town hall with me or a forum or conversation and they're like, I can have a beer with her. I know I've done my job right. I know I've been, I know I've met them where they are. I know I've had the conversation and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: that has led to some really interesting conversations, some really loyal voters. have, you know, I have some of the best people in my district and they show up and I'm just like, what are you? How are you? Like whatnot. And they're not used to it because we have not my opponent who we can always talk about because I mean, he's the epitome of what is wrong with politics because in a Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Does he even live in your district anymore? Victoria Broderick: No. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): No, you see, you see, and good people, good people at Tennessee. That's another thing. Please, please stop letting these rich folks that don't even live in your district. Tell you what to do within your district. If they're not struggling with you on the day to day, why are you giving them the job? Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Why? I live, played Olivia in my town. So this is a great time to talk about my opponent because a lot of people know about him because while he is a mega Republican, he's not loud and outspoken. So my opponent is Scott DesJarlais. He has been in office since 2012. ⁓ So he's going to be a 16 year incumbent. am hit. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Please. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: The first year that he wasn't going to be opposed was in 2024 when I stepped up. Now, what people need to know about my opponent is Scott DesJarlais is most famously known for a few things. One, that is pulling a gun on his wife and dry firing through a door and forcing her to get an abortion. That came out in divorce documents in 2012 after he was elected. Peace Force 2 of... Yeah. Just go ahead and just hold the beer, because it's gonna get better, guys. If you're watching this, listening, whatever, just go ahead and hold your beer, because... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Wow. Tennessee Four, come on y'all. Victoria Broderick: Okay, so he's also forced two other partners to get abortions because they were patients, because he's a medical professional, and he was trading medicine for relations with his patients, and this was what happened with that. So he's forced two other patients to get abortions. God has forgiven him. Don't worry, guys. He found Jesus. ⁓ I don't know where. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Is he the kind of Christian that wears daisy dukes and dances around? Victoria Broderick: He looks like a potato. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): No. He went. Victoria Broderick: He looks like a potato. You should just Google a picture while I'm doing this whole little spiel. So look up Scott DesJarlais. ⁓ DesJarlais or DesJarlais. So he has been voted by a conservative magazine the worst congressional Republican. ⁓ He a Tea Party Republican. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Go for it. I'm gonna look him up. Victoria Broderick: big Trump-er and has been caught in closed-door sessions in our district saying if he speaks to voters, he loses votes. So this is our representation. He saw the picture, guys, of my opponent. I think this would be a good time in the video to just clip a picture of him. Yeah, notes time, hey? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): ⁓ yeah. Yeah. Ball dude. Ball dude. Yeah. Chin kind of sinking into his throat. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Slag jaw fella. Okay. That's him. Hi. Victoria Broderick: potato. You know, he had the audacity at one point to ⁓ chastise another member of Congress for missing three days of work while this dude was having chemo treatments on the government and missed most of his votes for one semester, like one of the semesters of like Congress. Three days, one of his coworkers. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: three days and had the audacity. And I think those days were taken off for like some family, a family member passed and whatnot. And this dude who's had a whole medical, all of his medical bills covered, doesn't have to think about cancer treatment, what other, and he has the audacity to be like, you missed three days. Okay, bro. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: He's a vibe, and I know he knows about me at this point. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): He, he, he, ⁓ I don't know him, so I'm going to not go as hard on him, but he looks like someone who. Don't work too hard. Who doesn't? Yeah, he don't work too hard. He don't work too hard. So what is it about him that, that, why do people continue to vote for him? Is it just because... Victoria Broderick: dry fires on his wife and forces them to get an abortion. Thank Republican and apathy, voter apathy. We, I mean, we have about a 10 % voter turnout rate in Tennessee. Like people don't show up and that's because nobody votes. That's why like I say it's so important to vote down ballot ⁓ because a lot of these races come down to single digit numbers. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So like nobody votes. Tennessee, come on. Victoria Broderick: And so it's really easy to see, like, so in a general election, if you look at our district, I think he got like something around, it's like a hundred and some 50,000 votes or whatnot. Cause I know, I know my number better than I know his number because I had to like figure out like that math of like, did I in fact do something? And I did. ⁓ People just don't show up or they just feel like they can't show up because there's not good representation or Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: The Democratic Party has failed them because these county parties are struggling to keep people on. They're going based on antiquated pre-Obama era-like policies and bylaws where the average person, the average voter, the millennial who is coming up, basically this election cycle will make or break the election, are just not engaged because we're working. We don't have all this free time that our parents had. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yep. Victoria Broderick: We don't have that time and a lot of this work is volunteer. My state EC position is volunteer. So when I do a state EC thing, I have to pay for that out of pocket. I don't know about you, everything's expensive right now. So I have to think about it. I have to think about every single dollar that I spend and that's not common for most. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): everything. Victoria Broderick: congressional candidates, because here's this dude who's a medical professional, he's from a different era, who's been in office for 16 years, doesn't have to think about it. He's sitting on $500,000 in his congressional budget, and he won't lift a finger until he thinks that his seat is threatened. Whereas I, a congressional candidate for Congress, I worked full time during my election. So my schedule looks crazy to some people. I know you worked really hard with me to like schedule everything out. I had to like get all the details and whatnot. And then I hopped on here after I got off work. So whenever you guys are looking at this, I've worked a full day. I have two tiny humans. I've been up since about 5.45 this morning. My day doesn't stop. And I do congressional work all like... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Super Mom. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: in the mornings and then I start my work life and we were literally talking about how my product went down and I was supporting that and like, and then I campaign after. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Let people know what you do. Let people know what you do for a living from between nine and five. Victoria Broderick: So between nine and five, I am a tech support person. So how I explain this in my district to older voters is I'm the person who asked you if you turned it off and on, off and on again. I'm that person. But have you restarted? Have you cleared your cash? I, that's, so, but for those who don't like who are a little bit more tech savvy, maybe a little bit more millennial, I, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Have you restarted your computer? Hahaha Victoria Broderick: support SaaS products. And I've been doing this for about five, probably five and a half years by the time I win this election. So I do lots of support. I've supported different types of products. I have a unique experience in the tech industry of watching the industry change with administration and watching the economy affect that. I also have like a front seat view of what AI will do to my industry if it's left unregulated and just Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: you know, untouched. but prior to that, for people who are like, well, what did you do prior to that? I worked in international domestic logistics. My job was importing products from China, India, Italy, Spain, um, into the United States. And I, uh, was negatively affected by the tariffs in 2017 and 2018 where we had $3.5 million worth of freight on a freight liner. that now the tariff had changed and we had all of our contracts paid. I, at the time, my job was trying to explain to customer service why the product wasn't already on US soil and was going to be delayed another month. And not knowing the back end side of it is our company's, like owners, a small business that literally worked with larger industries that bought. that the tariffs would benefit them and then realize very quickly that they could not compete because the infrastructure wasn't there. This small business had to decide if it was going to pay the additional cost and just risk the company to keep the contract with the larger company or go bankrupt. So they paid and I lost my job. My job was literally ⁓ sent over to China. for someone else to do. trained people to do my job. And that was the first experience. And then I moved into just domestic logistics and I watched the pandemic go full swing and not be controlled. And then I also witnessed what happens when you were a working mother and you're coming back into the workforce after maternity leave and how cut throat companies can be. Because you're, so, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: It's this weird last almost 10 years of experience that has driven a political activism because I recognized that one, I wasn't being represented well, but two, how are they going to know what it's like on the ground if they've never worked in international domestic logistics and know the tariff, know the travel time, know how contracts work? How are they going to understand how AI is going to negatively affect an entire industry? When chat GPT can literally write an email in my voice because there's no regulation and my company could ask most of my job and hire one person and let chat GPT answer emails because chat GPT can now write emails in customer service voices across this country because we're literally training it. Because instead of treating it like a tool and regulating it like a tool, it's going to become a whole person. Outside of this, I went down a rabbit hole on a podcast thanks to my husband over the weekend. And I was just like, we've seen this Will Smith movie. But that's my work experience. I'm a customer service person. I, you know, I worked all throughout the university. My degree was in corporate communication with a minor in health from Austin Peay State University. Let's go P. Clarksville, Tennessee. You would know Clarksville because it's a military area. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You Victoria Broderick: ⁓ but let's go pee. ⁓ and you know, worked and moved into the industry, like working. I've been working in customer service my entire life. Everything's just a version of customer service and I will treat con Congress no differently. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And let me explain to you if I was in Tennessee, specifically Tennessee for why I would be taking a serious look at you as a candidate. Doctors and stuff. Okay, fine. But if you understand software development and customer service, all you are, your brain knows how to problem solve. And Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): understanding logistics and international relationships and all that stuff. All of those skills are so incredibly important when you're dealing with some hardheads in Washington that don't want to move because they're comfortable doing the same old thing. But yet the good folks at Tennessee still have these problems that aren't going away. And for generations, we've been asking for help. I'm assuming Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I've never lived in Tennessee, but I'm assuming good folks of Tennessee are good and goddamn tired of people saying, we're going to fix it, we're going to fix it. And nothing has changed. And if anything, it's gotten worse. Victoria Broderick: ⁓ yeah, I mean, even I recognized it having lived in this district as a child, I mean, graduated and gone to university. I've watched our roads degrade over since 2008. I remember when we first moved here because I came from Georgia, is a big, you know, I get outside of Atlanta, which is like, you know, I say Atlanta, but it was like Little Bern still mountain area. Like, you know, it's that, that area of town and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: I remember our roads were so smooth and I remember I commented on my parents commented on how smooth the roads were. But up until 2008, we were represented by a Democrat in Congress. My district was blue and there wasn't a supermajority. But then in 2011, there was a down ballot initiative with the Republican party. So they flooded the market. And I mean, they made it so that they flipped all these seats and then they gerrymandered it, you know. and made it harder for people to run for office, made it harder for to get elected, it made it harder for people to feel represented in their districts. And yeah, go ahead. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's the part. Is there a way to just do away with all gerrymandering? Like stop drawing these goofy maps that all they do is degrade. Is that the right word? Degrade? Yeah, they degrade our trust in the system. Victoria Broderick: Yeah, I mean, there is a way to do this, but it's it's multifaceted. Like, so like the easy answer is yes, we can fix it. Is it easy? No. So like it's a it's a combination of things. So like a lot of our representation and the way that our representation is based out of is based out of the Civil War. The reason that we have the three fifths part of our constitution is because Southern plantation owners wanted to make sure they had just a little bit more leverage in Congress. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: And when they didn't get their way, they stomped their feats and seceded from the United States. So I had to just bring it all back to that Southern standard, whatnot. I told you it was a good talk, or I told you I liked doing this. so it's that, it's right choice voting. It's also, and this is the beauty of this, this is also the beauty of this, is what I am doing. When I flip this district, and I'm going to flip it, what it proves, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Ranked choice boating is a good one. Victoria Broderick: is that not only that my policies work because I can't take credit for the administration doing their their their team or whatever, but I can say that I've been putting the work in for two years. I've been meeting with voters for two years. When I flipped this district, it's already been gerrymandered to hell and back. So there's not a real way for them to do it. And once I'm in office, it's much easier to keep said office. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: than it is to build the momentum because people are going to get used to it. People are disenfranchised right now. And that's not to say I want term limits. I want to make sure that I'm not sitting in Congress getting, you know, high on the hog. I want to dip out, guys. I want to write the novel of how I, not the novel, but the like memoir of how I flipped this. Maybe I'll write a novel too. But this is how we do it. So like, yes, we can do all those other things. But right now, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Victoria Broderick: what I'm telling voters is if you want to be a player on the field, if you want to see strategic change, voting blue down ballot is the way to do it. Because even if the 2026 election is rigged, which it will be rigged, there is no question if ands or buts about that. If you're hearing that, you're like, ⁓ God, what's the point? The only thing that they cannot control is voter turnout. You being engaged, you hearing this podcast, you seeing what's going on in the news and saying, I'm going to go to the ballot box and I'm going to vote Democrat down ballot. Maybe I found the right candidate. Maybe I don't know. I'm going to vote Democrat. What you are saying is you care. And what that means is states like Tennessee, states like Georgia, states like North Carolina are players on the field where we don't have to rely on states like California and Michigan. And, know, North Carolina, which is kind of like, kind of on the teary edge of a purple state. We don't have to rely on them. We're flipping every district. We're engaged in a way that we've never seen before. And what does that mean for you? It means lower gas prices. It means lower, you know, grocery prices. It means corporations paying their fair share so that you get paid well. It means Medicare for all. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: so that you're not having to sit at that five, nine to five job being like, I hate this job. I hate doing this. You can go out and start that small business you've been thinking about because the loans are there because the, because you don't have to worry about it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's the big one. Yeah. And not just that and not just the loans, but like, imagine if you wanted to start your own business and all you needed was 10 or 15 thousand dollars, that 10 or 15 thousand dollars didn't go to your prescriptions or to the ER visit or to the doctor visit or whatever. It's already yours. Now you don't have to ask anyone to spend your money on creating your own business. Victoria Broderick: And you don't have to worry about it. Think about it. If you're listening to this video, if you're listening to anything that I say, why haven't you started your own business? Is it because you're worried about your family and having health insurance because you know that medical care costs are out of control? If that is the reason Medicare for all universal health care, if you will, fixes that a little further because then you can work a barista job. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. It helps you reach a little further. Victoria Broderick: that everyone tells you is just for a college student, you can work, do that and start planning out your process, getting the loans approved or whatever. And you don't have to worry about it if you decide to throw caution to the wind and start your business. This is ways, it's money in your pocket. And it helps the economy because when small businesses don't have to worry about the... Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Victoria Broderick: about their employees and they don't have to worry about the district as a whole, their community. People spend more money. People have more spending money. They're more likely to show up. They're more likely to start businesses and that makes it competitive. That means that you're not having to worry about, you don't need the local Starbucks to open up in your county because there's two beautiful coffee shops that have mom and pop shops that are Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mama pop shops, yep. Victoria Broderick: places that you want to You have a restaurant there. Maybe you have a local grocery store. have a local pharmacy. You have a local shop that you can buy from so you're not having to buy from Amazon. But because they're not competing with Amazon because Amazon's paying its fair share, they can put those prices closer so that maybe you're spending 50 cents more. But guess what? You're not worried about an unexpected medical bill. You're not worried about child care. You're not worried about your kids. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: know, schooling because this education system has worked. This is how it works for you. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And even more apropos according to what's happening these days is wouldn't you rather have a group of people that is trying to invest in you and your health and your ability, your education and your ability to start a company and your ability to do all these things instead of taking all this money running Doge. Victoria Broderick: you Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): all crazy and then taking all your taxes and bombing other countries. That's the only thing they are worried about right now. They're trying to collect oil and natural resources so they can do whatever goofiness they want to do. ⁓ And it doesn't help you on the day to day. Your roads are busted. They did away with the ⁓ education. ⁓ Victoria Broderick: you Thank Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): ⁓ Department of Education, they're taking things away from you and they're repurposing it to bomb people in other countries. Think about that. Victoria Broderick: Yeah. And they're telling you that it will be more expensive. I already pay a lot of money in these costs. I already live in a town where there's no daycare, like there's no open daycare spots. So I have to go private. Like these are things that I wouldn't have to worry about if we had a built out maternity care plan where you get six months maternity leave and you have Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: the option to maybe stay home for a year so that you get that first year out of your kids because it's like a vital time. It's so beautiful and so but if you want to go back to work, there's a daycare center that is affordable because we understand that the earlier we start with education, the better the outcomes when parents are taking care of and communities are taking care of. Not only do they have more kids, they spend more in their community. They invest more in their community. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, 100%. Mm-hmm. Right. Victoria Broderick: But they don't want that because if you're struggling every single day, you're not going to have the energy to show up and say, hey, you work for me. Where's my coffee? And my version of coffee is legislation that pays out for you. You know, it's making sure that, you know, I'm not taking corporate money. That's why I'm not going to get supported. I don't take corporate PAC money. I don't take a PAC money. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: I actively speak about money out of politics. I ran my congressional campaign in a way that nobody wanted me to working full time. know, being a young mother with a three and a five year old at the time, a two and a four year old fostering with our local humane society. These are not things they want to see because it proves that the system is felt like fellible. It proves that I can break the system with the right messaging, with the right strategy and with just sheer Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: work that I'm doing. These are, this is what they don't want. They don't want people like me because I can't be bought because I'm working for you and not for that. And why don't you, like the question I asked voters is why don't you want better for you? What is it about my platform that makes you think I'm not going to work just as hard for you? Is it because you think that I'm too far left? Well, look at my policy. Pick two things that you like and decide. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Right. Right. Victoria Broderick: And then in two years, if you don't like it, vote me out. It's not going to be personal for me. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And remember, and remember the incumbent has been in there for 16 years. And how's your life looking? Victoria Broderick: Yeah. Yeah. Because I mean, he's over here. He literally posted, I think it was like 20 in the last 24 hours. We have a, we have a veterans hospital closing in my district and I am not surprised for it. I literally screenshot it at my, I was planning to, I'm making a video and then things happened. And all I can think is he's saying that he got no notification. Girl, I've been in the district for months and I knew this was going to happen. I knew that this was coming. But there's nothing I can do about it other than me speaking about it actively. And you're a sitting member of Congress with a child in the army. And you're surprised that they're, you voted to disenfranchise our veterans. The men that you are like, and these brave souls say, know for a fact that you're going to prop up on Veterans Day and be like, they're the greatest blah, And then do absolutely fuck all for them. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hahaha Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: in office. Like, I'd rather, I'd rather every veteran question every single decision I make just to know that their health care is going to be maintained because they served our country and that's an honorable thing than whatever he is doing. Because like, why? Like, I'm not shocked, but he posts this whole letter, sends it out, blah, blah, blah. I knew this was going to happen months ago. Where were you? You're not engaged. You don't live in the district. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: You're not here, you're not in your community. You're not prioritizing. You're afraid of talking to voters because you'll lose votes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): What are some of the biggest issues that the good people of Tennessee for have to contend with? And what are some ideas that you have that would help fix those issues? Victoria Broderick: I mean, first and foremost, we have to address the health care in the room. ⁓ This is something that my district struggles with. have a post about this. About 45%, almost 50 % of the children in my district are on some form of government health care. I have literal counties in my district where 45 to 50 % of the children are on this. And we just cut Medicaid funding. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Mm. Mm. Victoria Broderick: For Tennesseans, they're like, well, that's not me. That's TennCare. TennCare is Medicaid. It is literally takes care of our elderly and takes care of our youth. And there is a small group of people who are of like working age who need access to that, whether it's a mother who's lost her job, been there, done that, and needs to, like needs the healthcare system. Or it's just a young person who's going through a mental health crisis and their family needs those resources. But this is my district. My district, we used to suffer a maternity care ward that closed ⁓ in Giles County, which is Pulaski, Tennessee, if that sounds familiar. That's because where the KKK started. this is one of our, this is one of the counties in my district and their maternity ward closed. So now those patients who have maybe an OB right there, have to drive 45 minutes to an hour to the next closest hospital, whether that's in my town or in Huntsville, Alabama, they have to cross the state line or they have to drive an hour and a half north to Nashville, Tennessee to get care, which a lot of people bypass any of the towns between there because they want to go to Vanderbilt, they want to go to Centennial Women's Health, those things. They should be able to, but realistically, they shouldn't have had that. their OB office in a rural district close. These are wards that are needed for people who are just working class people who maybe live in an area where it's hard to get cell service. That is a big part of a rural district. so healthcare is a huge part of that. Jobs is a huge part of that because we're losing jobs as a rural district. We lose jobs to young people having to leave. They have to go to a big city. It's a rural district, so they have to go to Chattanooga, have to go to Nashville, they have to go south to Huntsville, they have to go meet the state. That shouldn't be a thing. We should have access to Wi-Fi and fast internet as we are part of the state. Just outside of my district is Chattanooga, Tennessee, which has Google fiber throughout the entire city. It is one of the fastest Wi-Fi cities in, I think, pretty sure the country. Don't quote me on that. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: But this is this is that district. We're also rural like farmers are farmers are not suffering at the moment with the soybean contracts because a lot of our soybean contracts go to like Alabama. However, as time progresses, as these things progress, we're going to see that more. The longer the tear stay in place, we've got the whiskey district, George Dickel, Jack Daniels, Uncle Nearest. These are distilleries. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Ha ha. Victoria Broderick: Jack Daniels in particular, where literal countries are their top buyers, I want to say it was like 2011, this country of Spain was the fifth largest buyer from Jack Daniels. And I just remember at the time it just sat with me because it was such a large number. However, when you have a company like this, the major employer in a rural county and surrounding county. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Wow. Victoria Broderick: That is now laying off employees because countries are boycotting American goods and tariff prices are getting astronomical and whatnot and grocery prices and whatnot. People just don't have the money to spend on their favorite, you know, Jack Daniels, you know, black label. That is not good that that rolls downhill and we're already seeing that. So District 4 needs representation that understands what the average person is going through, is also going to put in place the infrastructure to help support them because we're not Nashville, we're not Chattanooga, you know, ⁓ you know, when we talk about southern states being welfare states, my district has the potential to be able to be self sufficient and create more infrastructure and jobs. But without an engaged congressional representative, we don't get that. We just get whatever is happening here and it's not good, it's not fun. And it leads to really bad outcomes for average Tennesseans. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. And I wish I could take this video and just walk around the entire Tennessee to like explain like you guys 10%. That is very little. That's a lot of people that just don't care. Care might be the wrong way to say it, but that they're not participating in it. Victoria Broderick: Yeah, I like here. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Like the politics is happening to you and you have the opportunity to leverage it to benefit you and your family and your family's future. Victoria Broderick: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean, it's the equivalent. I put it in this perspective. It's something that I started saying it just at the end of 2025. Politics is deciding whether you want to be a player on the field or the turf that politicians walk on. I prefer to be the player on the field. Even if you're just a watcher, if you're not quite comfortable, you're like, I don't know, just going to sit on those bleachers, those uncomfortable bleachers. That's fine. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Ha ha ha ha. Yes, ma'am. Yep. Victoria Broderick: But deciding to be the turf, deciding to not participate is not the move. Cheering is all great and good, but if you want to see actual change, deciding to be on the field, and I want you to be there because the more engaged you are as a voter, the more you understand the process, the more you understand our system, the better the outcomes are. And I want to encourage you to be there. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And that's one of the things that the more I talk to candidates like you, that's you guys want to be ⁓ reached out to and connected with. You want to be held accountable. You want to, you know, if something is happening, ⁓ you want to be questioned and you want to explain the answer. And we've like, We've never had that in this country. Victoria Broderick: I want you to challenge me. I want you to challenge me. I've been challenged. I've been on lives before where, like just on podcasts and interviews where I get challenged by like a progressive or somebody might fall outside that lane. And I'm like, it feels uncomfortable in the minute, but like it's so important because I am that representation for so many people. They're not going to come in contact with a congressional person, even an aid. You know, there's power in that. But also with that power comes responsibility. And I think what you're finding, and like, this is something we've talked about a little bit offline, is we're engaged in that way and we understand the power and we are not letting it go to our heads. And we're also not letting it be a reason to like stifle us. We're finding that uncomfortable ground. And like, almost, I almost had this moment where I was like, ⁓ I'm a millennial, so I have like that trauma. of like just wanting someone to tell me I'm doing a bad job so that I can do better. And like every millennials over here like, Oh God, I hate this so much. Why is she saying the things that we don't want out loud? But that's part of it is I want that engagement. I want you to feel empowered. I want you to feel empowered to step up to office. I can't tell you how many people I've talked to her like, I decided to run for office because I watched you and I was like, why? Why? But it's empowering. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You Victoria Broderick: Like it's, it's understanding that power, understanding what is capable, like what is possible in a rural district like Tennessee for where a working class mom who has tattoos and has two Chinese humans and all the things becomes friends with some of these big creators and is able to, to make a footing for themselves in a real way while also making strategic change in my district. And basically taking the system and saying, I'm gonna flip it. I'm gonna flip the damn table because you deserve better. it's personally, it's because I want it, but it's also because it's what's best for everyone. I didn't watch Star Wars. I didn't watch Harry Potter. I didn't watch Hunger Games. Just sit on the sideline and watch these things happen to me. And if that makes you just go to the polls, that's a small win. If I can get you to be a player on the field and feel comfortable in your vote. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): 100%. Victoria Broderick: and feel proud of your vote and feel engaged in your vote and feel empowered to make me work for you, that's the goal. Because moving the needle and making politicians look better, that's just, that's the work that we have to do regardless. Making voters feel confident in the system, that's the goal. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And a rich dude's not gonna look out for you the way Victoria would. Let's just go ahead and rip that bandaid off. Victoria Broderick: No, no, I'm a penny pincher at the end of the day. I remember someone saying that they were like, they asked me a question and I was like, no, I'm a penny pincher at end of the day. I'm always looking to save a dollar. Like put me in a congressional budget meeting and I'll be like, no, no, no, they don't need that. We don't need that. We, nope. And I'll be like, no, no, no, that's needed. And here's why. Yes, it looks like a big upfront cost. I know that, but we're paying for quality. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, it's gonna last longer. It's gonna be cheaper in the long, yeah. Victoria Broderick: It's going to last long. going to look better. Like, here's how that money is going to play out. And people can relate to that. They can relate to understanding, you know, you know, what I'm trying to say. it's like, if moderates worked, if moderation and cookie cutter politicians worked, my district would have flipped back in 2018 or 2020. But it didn't work. I don't look like a normal candidate, but we don't need normal, we need three dimensional, attainable, real people who can quote, you know, can quote, you know, Jurassic Park, but also understand that the tariff policy, like, I think that's what made Obama so relatable is like he releases his playlists, and it's all things that we're listening to. And I'm the same thing. It's like, I'm just a modernized version of it, and a little bit more fiery. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Yeah. Victoria Broderick: you Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. I know we're getting close to having to land this plane just because you're a wonderful mom and you have responsibilities. So, let's wrap up by saying, Victoria Broderick: try. Unfortunately, I'm like every adult. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Reach out to the people in your district. Let them know why they need to take a look at you and possibly vote for you. And then let them know where they can find you online. Victoria Broderick: Yeah, so guys, you can find me at Victoria, the number four, Tennessee.org or.com. I have all my policy there. What I'm running on 2026, like obviously I ran in 2024, but in 2026, I am running on safety, affordability, freedom and equity. So safety is anything from a safety net to protect you when you have a hard day to making sure that your grocery prices are taken care of and. You know, that corporations are paying their fair share so that your taxes go further. Affordability. Everybody has to pay bills. Why not make it so that it's fair for everyone? And, you know, so that you have a little bit of extra money at the end of the month. Freedom. What good is the American dream if you can't afford it? If you can't marry who you love or get the best healthcare for your person. Like, these are not radical ideas. Having the right to have a gun, but also understanding that we are part of a community and that our freedom should represent that being responsible gun owners so that everyone's freedom is protected. And then equality, you know, or not equality, equity. You want to make sure that every single person has a fair start in life. And that doesn't mean that you don't get more or somebody gets more. It just means that you pay your fair share. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Victoria Broderick: Corporations pay their fair share, billionaires pay their fair share. And that those systematic oppression, those things that hold us back, you know, the not having access to healthcare because you have to rely on a job, those things don't stop you from your full potential. So in 2026, we're gonna make it safe. Safety, affordability, freedom and equity. And you can find me, Victoria, the number four ⁓ dot org or dot com and yeah, find me on all the social medias i'm very spicy in the comment sections because I believe you deserve better representation And also i'm fun-sized and feral and that merch is on my website Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You If you guys have it, please do yourself a favor. Please do yourself a favor. Check out Victoria on social media. The fact that you are so intelligent, but approachable and hilarious. It's you're fantastic. You're fantastic. ⁓ Victoria Broderick: you I know. I'm just, and I mean, you can attest to it. You've seen what I'm like offline. I'm not any different offline that I am online. I may be just sick. Fuck a little less. I just don't cuss as much. ⁓ but that's just being, ⁓ no, no, no, no, no. I, I do cuss when my kids are around and here. we'll, we'll, land this plane here. So my children, I am of a household like, you know, cussing happens, whatever. We just don't see it at school. ⁓ Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): These are facts, folks. These are... I don't cuss when my kids are around. ⁓ Okay. Victoria Broderick: So my son, my oldest, my five-year-old, and five-year-olds will humble you in a real way. ⁓ He likes to say this fun little phrase of like, what the heck of the world? And so like one day I just like respectfully was just like, ⁓ what the heck of the world? He said, no, mama, you say what the fuck? I say what the heck of the world? And I was just like, this. I'm sorry, what? And he gets this big old smile on his face. And I was just like, he's like, don't worry, mama, I don't say that at school. And I was like, good, you're gonna get a lot of people in trouble, including me. But I mean, he does it, maybe he uses it in the correct fit. And my youngest does it too. He doesn't do it as much because he doesn't care. Three year olds don't care. Three nagers are real. He's rolling into the fuck you force in a real way. And every parent of a young child understands that. But I mean, this is my life. I'm just a mom. I have four babies. I foster. I have two tiny humans that are, they're give me a run for my money. That is for sure. They're so smart. And I'm just like, you know what? I picked my battles today and the battle was on the internet. It's not with a five-year-old. So I lost. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's right. Victoria Broderick: They're good negotiators too. But yeah, so you guys can find me if you want to see more about me and see a little bit more about your personality, see what I'm like on online. I've got. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Ugh. Do yourself a favor and track her down. Victoria Broderick: I've been having fun on threads recently. That's in my most recent. But yes, please follow me on all the social medias and especially if you're in District 4. Vote for me in the August primary and then vote for me in November because you deserve better representation. And we're flipping this district whether you vote for me or not. So hop on the train. It's going to be a lot more fun. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): There you go, Tennessee. There's your girl, Victoria Broderick. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to come hang out, explain to me what's happening in Tennessee. Victoria Broderick: We're gonna do it. folks. ⁓ so much. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. All right. You're. You're very welcome. And with that everybody, we're out. Victoria Broderick: Thank you so much for having me. Thank you guys so much for listening.