{"id":5980,"date":"2026-02-20T20:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/can-this-independent-win-a-deep-red-district-the-democrats-cant-firefighter-mike-thurow-independent-for-congress-in-wisconsins-6th\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T20:01:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:01:00","slug":"can-this-independent-win-a-deep-red-district-the-democrats-cant-firefighter-mike-thurow-independent-for-congress-in-wisconsins-6th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/can-this-independent-win-a-deep-red-district-the-democrats-cant-firefighter-mike-thurow-independent-for-congress-in-wisconsins-6th\/","title":{"rendered":"Can This Independent Win a Deep Red District the Democrats Can\u2019t? Firefighter Mike Thurow Independent for Congress in Wisconsin\u2019s 6th."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm\/?e=\" width=\"100%\" height=\"210\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><b>Tackling ICE Accountability. Trump&#8217;s Latest Iran War Could Happen Any Minute Now. Tariffs Harm to Wisconsin Farmers.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>Wisconsin&#8217;s 6th District hasn&#8217;t elected anyone but a Republican to Congress since 1967. But Mike Thurow \u2014 a union fire captain, hazmat team commander, and father of four \u2014 thinks the district isn&#8217;t red or blue. It&#8217;s fed up. Thurow recently declared his independent candidacy for Congress, and his message is simple: Washington is burning, and politicians from both parties are watching. As a trained firefighter, he says his job is to show up, do the work, and never ask who you&#8217;re going to save before you save them. That&#8217;s the exact opposite of what he sees in Congress right now \u2014 and he&#8217;s running to change it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Paul and Mike cover the top stories shaking the country this week. ICE and the line between good public safety and trust, masked agents without badges destroying community trust that makes any law enforcement possible \u2014 and that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem&#8217;s disqualifying conduct. With ships moving into position and Trump threatening strikes on Iran, the Constitution requiring a congressional declaration of war, and Trump&#8217;s broader record: &#8220;I think we&#8217;ve dropped bombs on seven different countries at this point. That&#8217;s not no more foreign wars.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Thurow is running in a district that went hard for Trump \u2014 and he gets why. He understands the rage, the frustration with a two-party system that&#8217;s been bought and paid for by corporations and billionaires while working people get left behind. He&#8217;s not taking corporate PAC money. He&#8217;s not interested in party bosses. He&#8217;s a union firefighter who taught hazmat response to every fire department in the district and says signatures will come easy because the people already know him \u2014 and they&#8217;re ready for an off-ramp. As he puts it: &#8220;The most patriotic thing you can do is call out when we&#8217;re falling short of our principles.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This is the latest in IA&#8217;s ongoing <\/span><b>Meet the Independent Candidate Series<\/b><span>. Mike Thurow represents the kind of leader this show and millions of Americans have been calling for \u2014 someone with real-world experience, real accountability, and zero interest in which jersey you&#8217;re wearing. If you want a firefighter in Congress, head to <\/span><b>thurowforcongress.com<\/b><span> to donate, volunteer, and help get him on the ballot. Signatures open in April \u2014 Wisconsin voters, your moment is coming.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-WATCH <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/oyckUvegUe8\"><span>video of this episode on our YouTube channel.<\/span><\/a><\/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>-Learn more about <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/americanveteransforukraine.org\/\"><span>American Veterans for Ukraine here<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/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>&#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>Union fire captain and independent congressional candidate Mike Thurow joins Paul Rieckhoff to talk about why Wisconsin&#8217;s 6th District is &#8220;on fire&#8221; \u2014 and why a firefighter might be exactly what Congress needs. They break down ICE accountability, Trump&#8217;s threats to strike Iran without congressional approval, tariffs hurting Wisconsin farmers, and what it takes to run and win as an independent in a deeply red district. Country over party. People over politics. This is Independent Americans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5980","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-ep446.jpg",1400,1400,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep446.jpg",1400,1400,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep446.jpg",1400,1400,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep446-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep446-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep446-1024x1024.jpg",750,750,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep446.jpg",1400,1400,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep446.jpg",1400,1400,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ia-promo-square-ep446.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":"Union fire captain and independent congressional candidate Mike Thurow joins Paul Rieckhoff to talk about why Wisconsin's 6th District is \"on fire\" \u2014 and why a firefighter might be exactly what Congress needs. They break down ICE accountability, Trump's threats to strike Iran without congressional approval, tariffs hurting Wisconsin farmers, and what it takes to&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5980","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=5980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}