In this episode of Wide Awake America, host Nadine Smith interviews Jessica Piper, a passionate advocate for rural communities and public schools in America. Jessica, a former American literature teacher for 16 years, ran for a house seat in Missouri’s first district in 2022. Despite losing that race, she continues her activism as the executive director of Blue Missouri and writes a substack called The View from Rural Missouri.
Nadine and Jessica discuss the critical lessons learned from running for office in a deeply red district, the importance of challenging every seat, and the necessity of engaging in dialogue with voters. Jessica shares her experiences of going door-to-door, the issues that truly matter to rural voters, and the surprising insights she gained from her campaign.
