{"id":5974,"date":"2026-02-17T20:36:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/open-primaries-presents-independent-veterans-are-spoiling-for-a-fight-w-john-opdycke-paul-rieckhoff-ty-pinkins-and-todd-achilles\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T20:36:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:36:00","slug":"open-primaries-presents-independent-veterans-are-spoiling-for-a-fight-w-john-opdycke-paul-rieckhoff-ty-pinkins-and-todd-achilles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/open-primaries-presents-independent-veterans-are-spoiling-for-a-fight-w-john-opdycke-paul-rieckhoff-ty-pinkins-and-todd-achilles\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Primaries Presents: Independent Veterans Are Spoiling For A Fight. w\/ John Opdycke, Paul Rieckhoff, Ty Pinkins and Todd Achilles."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm\/?e=\" width=\"100%\" height=\"210\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span>This is a special collaboration between Independent Americans and Open Primaries, featuring two of the most compelling independent Senate candidates in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Todd Achilles is a former US tank commander, Idaho state representative, and tech executive now running for US Senate in Idaho. Ty Pinkins served over 20 years in the Army including three combat tours in Iraq where he earned the Bronze Star. After earning his law degree from Georgetown, he returned to the Mississippi Delta to fight for his community\u2014and now he&#8217;s running for US Senate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Both are running as independents. Both are military veterans who put country over party. And both have a strategy that goes far beyond just winning their own races.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The conversation tackles the biggest questions facing independent candidates: How do you counter the &#8220;spoiler&#8221; narrative? How do you compete against unlimited party money? Why won&#8217;t the media cover independent campaigns? And most importantly\u2014what happens when you actually win?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The answer to that last question is where it gets interesting. With four independent veterans running competitive Senate races in 2026 (Todd in Idaho, Ty in Mississippi, Dan Osborn in Nebraska, and Brian Bengs in South Dakota), they have the potential to create an independent &#8220;fulcrum&#8221; in the Senate\u2014denying either party a majority and forcing both sides to negotiate with principled independents on issues like campaign finance reform, stock trading bans, and open primaries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Independent Veterans of America (IVA) and host of Independent Americans, explains why veterans are uniquely positioned to lead this movement: they&#8217;re country-first, they understand sacrifice, and when they served, they wore America&#8217;s jersey\u2014not a red or blue one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This episode also features insights from John Opdycke, founder and president of Open Primaries, who has been fighting for election reform for decades and sees independent veterans as the breakthrough this movement needs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Connect with Independent Americans:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Subscribe on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@independentamericans\"><span>YouTube<\/span><\/a><span>, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0F1lzdRbTB0XYen8kyEqXe\"><span>Spotify<\/span><\/a><span>, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff\/id1457899667\"><span>Apple Podcasts<\/span><\/a><span>, and all podcast platforms<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Read more at<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/independentamericans.substack.com\"> <span>Substack<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>Support ad-free episodes at<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/independentamericans\"> <span>Patreon<\/span><\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Connect: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/IndependentAmericansUS\/\"><span>Instagram<\/span><\/a><span>\u00a0 \u2022 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/indy_americans\"><span>X\/Twitter<\/span><\/a><span> \u2022 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/indyamericans.bsky.social\"><span>BlueSky<\/span><\/a><span> \u2022 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IndependentAmericansUS\/\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PaulRieckhoff\"><span>X<\/span><\/a><span>, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/paulrieckhoff\/\"><span>Instagram<\/span><\/a><span>, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.threads.com\/@paulrieckhoff\"><span>Threads<\/span><\/a><span>, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/rieckhoff.bsky.social\"><span>Bluesky<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>-WATCH <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/GlrrCjLHTzY\"><span>video of this episode on our YouTube channe<\/span><\/a><span>l.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Read <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/johnopdycke.substack.com\/p\/gallup-independent-voters-hit-45\"><span>the entire op-ed here<\/span><\/a><span> and share this episode with someone that needs to hear it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Learn more about Paul\u2019s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/independentveteransofamerica.org\/\"><span>Independent Veterans of America<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8211;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/independentamericans\/posts\"><span>Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community<\/span><\/a><span> of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8211;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/independentamericans.us\/merch\/\"><span>And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch<\/span><\/a><span> now in time for the new year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/righteous.us\/\"><span>Righteous Media<\/span><\/a><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And now part of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bleav.com\/shows\/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff\/\"><span>the BLEAV network<\/span><\/a><span>!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href=\"https:\/\/pcm.adswizz.com\">pcm.adswizz.com<\/a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Four independent veterans are running for US Senate in 2026 with a plan to break the two-party stranglehold on Congress. Todd Achilles in Idaho and Ty Pinkins in Mississippi join Paul Rieckhoff and Open Primaries founder John Updike to discuss how they&#8217;re turning the &#8220;spoiler&#8221; myth on its head and building an independent fulcrum that could reshape American politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-episodes","entry"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep443.jpg",1400,1400,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep443.jpg",1400,1400,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep443.jpg",1400,1400,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep443-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep443-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep443-1024x1024.jpg",750,750,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep443.jpg",1400,1400,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep443.jpg",1400,1400,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep443.jpg",1400,1400,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/author\/admin\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/category\/episodes\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Episodes<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Four independent veterans are running for US Senate in 2026 with a plan to break the two-party stranglehold on Congress. Todd Achilles in Idaho and Ty Pinkins in Mississippi join Paul Rieckhoff and Open Primaries founder John Updike to discuss how they're turning the \"spoiler\" myth on its head and building an independent fulcrum that&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}