An election that's almost over and a congressional candidate you may not have heard of in the cities.

[lively music] [music ends] The 2026 election is almost over.

We'll talk with Rock Island County's top election official about your vote, election security, and the challenges of conducting an election that some may already believe is rigged.

But first, the third candidate in the first district, Iowa's first congressional district race, features Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Democrat Christina Bohannan.

But what do you know about the other candidate?

The third candidate, Michael Bridgford, is a Quad City financial advisor, small business owner and independent candidate for Congress.

It's his first run for public office, and he joined us to talk about his vie on the issues and the campaign.

Why did you decide to run?

Why, why get your hands dirty in politics?

Jim, first, thanks for having me here.

Look, we need change in our government right now.

We've seen the pendulum go from side to side.

We're not getting results.

So we now have half the country rejecting, the political parties.

The approval ratings are al time low.

It's time for change.

It's time to actually represent the people of our district.

Do you think it's more than just the two party system being broken?

Do you think the fact that it is so polarized, it's actually more dangerous to the American public?

Yeah.

I mean polarization is a huge problem.

And what we're seeing is when people get to Congress, you know, they're putting a jersey on.

They're just fighting for their team.

They're not willing to work together.

There's so much special interest money on both sides that are driving that, and it just forces them to toe a party line that if they step out outside of they're going to be pushed out.

And that's just not working for our country.

But as you know, the two part system creates these alliances.

As an independent candidate in Congress.

What would you be able to do?

Well, there's a lot of great independent cans running around the country right now.

We have a record tight margin in the House.

It's two votes where a couple of independents would have a massive impact.

You know, the biggest legislation of this current Congres was the one Big, Beautiful Bill passed by one vote.

It's not how you would vote on a bill.

It's how you could actually change it, because you're not forced to toe a party line.

Well, let's start with, finances, because that's an area that you're you're very familiar with.

$40 trillion, deficit.

You believe in zero based budgeting for the federal government.

Is that really realistic to get zero based budgeting for the federal government?

I think we've got to look to get there, Jim.

You know, like you said, 40 trillion debt.

It's a 2 trillion annual deficit.

We're spending 7 trillion only bringing in 5 trillion.

I think that's what's driving our affordability crisis, were having to prin so much money to fund this debt.

We printed 8 trillion in just the last six years, took us 233 year to get to the first 8 trillion.

It's a two party problem.

They don't want to talk about it because we had cumulative inflation under the Biden administration of 25%.

We've seen that continue under the second, second Trump administration.

We've got to get to zero based budget, and we've got to rein that that deficit in.

You know, back in the 90s, we had four years of a balanced budget.

We can do it again.

And it's going to take independent representation because neither party is interested in doing it.

Well, it' more than just a balanced budget to bring down the deficit.

Of course.

There were major DOGE cuts.

Did you think those were effective?

Is that did do you think that something that dramatic still needs to be done?

I don't think that was an effective approach.

It was pretty haphazard.

It didn't seem like there was much foresight or strategy into what they were doing.

That's where we really need to be working with, you know, the department heads, the cabinet members to, to bring in their budgets.

I mean, look, just a year ago with the Pentagon, in September of 25, there was they had $100 billion of use it or lose it funds.

Did they did they lose it?

No, of course they went out.

They bought Apple products Steinway pianos, lobster tails.

We just can't keep doing that.

We can't afford to.

So are there departments that you would get rid of?

You know, I don't think there are departments I would I would get rid of.

I just think we need to to rein in the spending.

We also need to look at i bringing in additional revenue.

I mean, before that, that Big, Beautiful Bill, you know, Amazon's profit was 65 billion.

They paid 9 billion in tax.

The profit that jumped up to 90 billion.

And they only paid 1 billion in tax.

That's just not going to work in the long run.

So do you want to see greater taxation for that 1% of the super rich?

I mean I think we're going to have to look at that again.

We have a 2 trillion in your deficit.

We can't continue this forever.

You know, we just crosse 40 trillion just six years ago.

The debt was only at 20 trillion.

We've doubled in just six years.

We can't keep doing this.

Most of government spending, of course, is entitlements.

You take a look at Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income.

These are untouchables.

Right.

No, I agree, they are untouchables.

But that's where, you know, like Social Security in five years, there's going to be a mandatory cut if we don't take action.

We've known about this for 20, 30 years.

Neither party wants to address it.

We're going to have to look at increasing the cap on, on, Social Security tax.

We're going to have to look at, I think, adjustments down the road for the retirement age for young folks.

I mean, I'm 41.

I mean, I think a lot of folks my age and younger, we feel Social Security is going to be there for us.

And that's been a feeling, actually, for decades that people thought that Socia Security was going to go away.

And it hasn't so far.

You really do see a financial cliff in the years to come.

Well, we'll look, I mean, Bill Clinton in the 90s talked about 2031 as a as a date.

And now we're approaching that whoever's elected this year to the Senate, that' going to happen in their term.

This is here and now.

The more we kick the can down the road, the harder it's going to be.

These changes are coming one way or another, whether we want them or not.

It'd be better to do it in a more organized way now, working together and actually solving the problem.

There's other entitlements, though, that are, appropriated entitlements, so to speak.

That would be like veterans benefits and SNAP benefits.

So that would be an area where you really could cut.

Is that an area that you would look at?

I don't thin I would want to cut those today.

I mean, our, our you know, middle class working class are being hit from all sides.

The affordability crisis we got to take care of our veterans.

I don't think that's something we can look at doing today.

And the farm bill, I know that you said we need a farm bill.

We have to be, able to get a five year bill in order to farmers to plan.

What would you like to see in the farm bill?

And I want to talk about whether or not SNAP should be separated from it, which some people believe it should.

Yeah.

I mean, I grew up on a family farm, seventh generation.

I think we need to be looking out for our small family farmers.

We now see a lot of corporate farming, around 50,000 acres or more.

For me, I would be a focus on a farm bill for for the small family farmers.

We need to have more competition.

I think that's a that's a theme throughout, whether it's in ag, health care, even politics.

You know, politics is the only thing in our life where you have two options from the 1800s.

It's kind of bizarre.

But, with the farm bill, you know, we need to have, you know, conservation measures.

We need buffer strips.

I mean, obviously, with the water crisis we have in Iowa, our farmers just aren't being represented today.

They need representation in Washington.

But large farms should drive down costs.

Isn't that better for the consumer?

I think the issue that we're seeing, though, is that the these large, special interests, they, they get legislation that favors them.

And then what we end up seeing is are profit margins rising and rising.

And that's not driving costs down.

What we need is more competition.

Farm bill once again, a great portion of i has to do with the Supplemental Nutrition Program, the SNAP program, food stamps, as it were.

What area in that would you like to see changes needed to bring down the costs or to help more people?

Yeah, I mean, for a lot of these issues, I'd like to say the answer somewhere in the middle.

I think we're given two extremes.

You know, on one side, maybe the Republican side, they want to just cut that on the other side.

They just want to kind of let it go without any restrictions.

I think we ought to have, you know, smart restrictions where people, you know, need to be working.

They need to be contributing.

But we also have a lot of people hurting right now, and they need to be taken care of.

So you believe that that ther should be, a work requirement?

To some extent.

Yeah.

I mean, I think that's, you know, again we're at a $2 trillion deficit.

We need to be, you know, we can't just, you know, my kids would like to go to Disneyworld every, every weekend if I would take ‘em but I can't afford that.

And same thing with the federal government.

We've got to, you know, we've got to tighten our belt [?].

One of the areas, for farming is, the $8 billion, suggested by the president, to help farmers, get through these tough economic times.

Some would say that's caused by the Trump administration.

What do you see as far as that $8 billion plan is concerned?

I mean, is that just throwing problem, very small help to a larger problem?

Well, I mean, it' probably tied to the election.

It's coming out right now.

I think our farmers are in a lot of pain.

You know, our campaign treasurer is a farmer.

He's, he told me he's facing, you know, $50,000 more this year in diesel alone in costs.

It's a big number.

That's a big hit for our farmers.

And so with all the pain theyre in now, I would support, helping them out to get through this.

But, yeah, they don't, farmers don't want this.

Farmers want to have healthy markets.

They want to, you know they're small business owners.

They want to compete.

But right now they're just getting hit from all sides.

And I want to tal about the tariffs in particular, because that's really hit the farmers.

But what about the short term solutions?

One is that that money from the president, the other one is the greate use of what's called red diesel, which is usually, just used for a certain, equipment.

And, and the other is buying diesel from Russia.

Tell me a little bit about your views on that.

I don't think we should be making deals with Vladimir Putin.

I don't think he's an ally of ours.

I don't support that.

I, on, on the red diesel.

I think that's a good, good plan.

Again right now, I think we got to be looking at all options, whether it's, you know, an export ban on diesel, gas tax.

I mean, all this... I was going to say suspension of the diesel gas tax?

...all this being temporary.

But again, I mean, you know farmers are in a tough business.

They're in a business where they can't control the price at which they sell their goods and they can't control their input costs.

And now they're getting hit with tariffs, are getting hit with the impacts from the war in Iran.

And and we, you know, look, food security is one of the most important issues in our country.

I mean, if you lose that, you lose your country.

So we've got to take care of our farmers.

We've got to have a strong, you know, food supply.

And right now they're in a lot of pain.

There has been a lot of discussion about the tariffs and the fact that they were unilaterally mad by the president, as opposed to a greater role of Congres in, in, in imposing a tariffs.

A lot of people say tha it's been more of a jackhammer than a more strategic scalpel approach towards, tariffs.

Where would you like to see tariffs used that would be most effective?

I agree with the more surgical scalpel approach.

I think for national security areas, I think for pharmaceuticals, you know, I don't think we want to be relying on other countries in case we were to get in a conflict.

We want to have a secure, supply chain for that.

You know, with steel, other national secure areas.

I mean, look, there's a lot going on in the world today.

We see what's going on with China, Russia in the Middle East.

We do need to have protections.

But this broad based approach has just impacted, you know, really everyone, especially in Iowa, you know, whether it's, household items, groceries, everything, we've been impacte and we've got to rein that in.

Health care, of course.

Major issue, major expense for families.

The Affordable Care Ac under the Obama administration tried to alleviate or at least make sure that more peopl were getting health insurance.

It has been under, Republicans, Trump's first and second term it has been, a really cut back.

What would you like to see as far as the Affordable Care Act is concerned?

And, and a lot of people say the Big Beautiful Bill really impacted negatively rural health care in Iowa.

One thing I'd say, you know, I feel this personally, we, my family spends over $20,000 a year out of pocket on health insurance.

I'm self-employed.

So this is this is very real to me.

And, we need more competition.

You know, right now, again, we've seen in the health care with with the insurance companies, with PBMs, there's been consolidation an profit margins are driving up.

You know, I think Eli Lilly's profit now is 35%.

We need more competition.

I think, you know, this is just an area where both sides there's the special interests are driving legislation that's not they're not looking out for people on the ground.

And that's why we need independent representation.

The war in Iran, I we're covering a lot of territory here.

And thank you once again for joining us.

The war in Iran was supposed to be a short term, fix in order to make sure that that nation did not get a nuclear weapon.

That's a two part question.

Do you think that we're no assured that Iran does not have nuclear capabilities?

And how would you like to see this war end?

What is a win for the U.S.?

Yeah, well, you know, as you know, I'm not privy to you know, classified information to know exactly what's going on inside the country.

I preferred the approach that we did last summer where it was more, a mow the grass type approach where you go in strategically rely on intelligence.

You know, I don't it hasn't been clear to the American people what the real strategy is here, what the end game is.

And now it's a mess.

It's a quagmire.

You know, with the Strait of Hormuz that's impacting, you know, the whole world.

And Iowa specifically.

We need to wrap that up, and we nee to, to, to get back to normal.

You have talked about the fact that you are an independent.

You have, an independent voice.

Where would you fall philosophically, though, when it comes, because you think of Bernie Sanders is very much an independent but he falls more as a Democrat.

Where do you see yourself in the political spectrum?

I see myself as a true independent.

Right?

You know, I helped launch the Independent Leadership Council with former Senator Joe Manchin.

You know, he's endorsed me.

And, you know, he told me I' the only candidate he's getting, He got calls from sitting senators on both sides.

So so, you know, I'm no you know, privy to either side.

I want to work with a side when they have a good idea, and I'll oppose the side when they have a bad idea.

Look, no party has a monopoly on good ideas.

Right now we need people in Congres that are willing to compromise and work together to solve problems.

And that's what I'm running to do.

Do you think one of the problems with the political system is that voices that ar independent often aren't heard?

Yeah.

I mean, look, now, half the country, identifies as independent, according to Gallup, and there's no representation in Congress.

We have an exhaustive majority of people that just want to see government work.

They don't want to see politics.

You know, drive their lives.

They just want things to work.

And right now they're they're being, we're seeing the parties get more and more extreme, and it's just not working for our country.

We've talked about, if you're elected, what would happen if you're not elected?

What change would you try to do as an independent but as a citizen?

Sure, I mean, I think, Rob, Sands talking a lot about changes we could make here in Iowa, you know, it's a shame that, independent, you know, again, in our district is the largest group of voters, almost 200,000 voters, can't vote in a primary that their taxpayer, tax dollars are going to pay for.

So there's definitely changes we need to make.

You know, this independent movement is going to continue to grow.

There are great candidates around the country this year.

And I think that we're gonna, we're gonna break through and see change.

You've gone to county to county to county.

You have put, as you were telling me earlier, a lot of miles on the car.

As a first time candidate, what have you learned about this area of southeast Iowa?

Yeah, it's been fantastic to go out.

And, you know, when we when we knock on doors, we're not knocking, just Republican.

Democrat.

We talk to everyone.

You know, we talk to everyone.

And it's a common thing.

People are really frustrated.

They don't feel as though they're being represented.

They don't feel as though they're being heard.

They want change.

You know, a lot of people ar starting to give up on politics.

It's really scary.

They're saying, you know, I'm just getting to be, you know, all the attack ads, all the money, all the mailers theyre getting.

We've got to make change.

It's just getting out of control right now.

And people don't feel as though they're being represented.

Our thanks to Michael Bridgford, independent candidate for Congress in Iowa's first congressional district.

Still ahead, the countdown to Tuesday's elections with a woma who has helped run the elections for more than a decade and a half.

But first, a taste of what's coming up in November that might take your mind off of politics thanks to Visit Quad Cities.

[soft music] Check out the things to do this week in the Quad Cities.

The first Friday of every month is free senior day at the Figge.

All seniors aged 60 and up receive free admission.

Next, get ready for the Antique Spectacular Vintage Market.

There will be three days of fun at the QCCA Event Center.

There are only a few more nights to see Rock of Ages at the Circa 21 Dinner Playhouse.

Grab your friends and get ready for a night of rock n roll.

Then join Dress for Success Quad Cities for Recycle the Runway an exciting evening of fashion, creativity and community impact.

Finally, kids ages six through 12 can join Bettendorf Parks and Rec to learn how to make their very own all natural bath bombs.

For more events like these, check out our events calendar at VisitQuadCities.com President Trump has cast aspersions on the integrity of elections, saying they are often rigged, unreliable and the results should often be doubted.

Some of the criticism comes from early voting laws, mail-In ballots and the changes made to voting during the Covid pandemic.

But local and state election officials, both Republicans and Democrats, say elections are safe and the results are meticulously counted.

How?

How we talked with Rock Island County Clerk Karen Kinney, who is overseeing her last election befor retiring at the end of the year.

Everyone is worried about election security this time of year.

And you've heard it time and time again.

Are elections safe?

Yes, elections are safe.

I understand the concern with what they've been seeing in the news and social media, which seems to make it even worse.

Yeah, I mean... It makes a bad situation worse.

...okay.

People get pretty worked up, but you know, I, I can't blame them.

And I think it mostly affects the bigger cities.

I don't see, there being any big concern in Rock Island County, but we will have security.

Our sheriff deputies will be out patrolling just in case we need them for any reason.

And that's not unusual.

I mean, you've done that in the past.

Nothing's changed.

The thing, though, is, are the, do you go through the election rolls?

I mean, can somebody vote that's not allowed to vote?

I mean, explain to me ho it gets caught in the process.

Well if they didn't have proper IDs or they're not in the poll book.

When they come in, they, they sign the card.

And if it doesn't line up wit the signature in the poll book, that means their signature is no goo and they'd have to start over.

So you can't come in and say, I could go in and vote and say, I'm Karen Kinney.

No.

For a number of reasons because she will double check.

Yeah.

They'll check.

Theyll check.

They check everything.

They have excellent group of election judges.

And the other thing also is that that, county clerks have always pointed out there's a paper trail.

Yes, there is a paper trail.

And you're not connected to the internet.

No.

So outside interference is greatly reduced by that.

So explain that to me.

Well, um, it's not connected to the internet, which is wonderful because every city can't say that.

There are, there are instances where, their machine are connected to the internet, but we do not have that problem.

We have new equipment.

If you recall, the old equipment, was purchased in 2006.

So we purchased new equipment about a year and a half ago.

We spent 1.7 million.

And we're grateful for the ARPA funds, or else we wouldn't have been able to do it.

And what does the new equipment do?

What does the new equipment?

It votes?

I have not heard any complaints about the new equipment.

We're still going to hav paper ballots on election Day.

But the new equipment i somewhat like your cell phone.

It's easy.

If you make a mistake you can go back and correct it.

There's, also, receipt.

I call it a receipt.

It's actually a copy of your vote.

And you insert it in the slot after you vote, but you could look it ove to make sure everything's right and you voted the way you wanted to vote.

And what about early voting?

Because a lot of people you know, the mail in ballots, the counting of the absentee ballots, did did you see a great dea of people asking to vote early in this particular election?

Yes we did.

It's been very popular.

We've been early... Youve noticed that since, I mean, COVID, haven't you?

...yes.

Yes.

I mean COVID, I mean, it just spiked.

It was just so easy.

And I think a lot of people sat there and went, oh, this is the way to go.

I mean, I don't have to deal with lines or deal with anything.

That's right, that's right.

It is easy.

And we have a drop box out front.

That helps.

And we have a new addition to voting.

We have a drop box i each of our early vote centers.

So we have one in Moline at the library.

We have one at Silvis Cit Council Chambers and the Milan Municipal building.

And the, the drop boxes are righ next to the judges, so they keep a watchful eye on them.

Does it does it anger at least bother yo that that people really question early voting or really question the tabulation or anything along those lines when it comes to elections and that that people now really seriously question whether it's rigged?

No, people are curious and, there's a high level of transparency when it comes to election.

And I feel like that's our responsibility to answer those questions and put their mind at ease.

I don't feel offended when they ask me questions.

Elections really have changed a great deal.

I mean, I think of, because you mentioned the voting equipment in 2006, which I believe was in direc response to the 2020 election.

That was so close and I'm sorry, the 2000 election.

I'm sorry, Bush and Gore.

I mean, there was a ton of changes as far as election equipment was concerned.

After the 2000 election.

And then this is almost the next generation after that.

Right.

That, that election in 2000 was, I wasn't the county clerk yet.

Right.

I would have 16 years in.

[ha, ha, ha] So yeah.

It's been quite an adventure.

Yeah.

Let me ask you about that, because this is your last election, and you've seen so many changes, and then you do, of course, more than than elections.

Of course, I should point that out as a county clerk.

But when it comes to elections, what have you noticed over the tenure of, of 16 years as far as they're run?

And as far as they're conducted.

The changes we've had several laws change.

And a lot of them are mandated.

So sometimes that creates, financial strife as to how we're going to afford it.

But somehow we always managed to pull through.

Elections are expensive.

Nobody realizes what goes into an election.

My staff starts working long before the election to set up for the election and they work a lot of overtime from eight in the morning to sometimes 8 or 9 at night.

And that's just preparing envelopes for, early voting.

So there's a lot that goes into this.

Well, and there's a lot that goes into, Election Day.

But after that, as you know, I mean, television stations, newspapers, they'll print, you know, who won, who lost, but they actually di win or lose on election night.

It still has to be tabulated, and it still has to be, you know, officially certified.

So explain to me that, because that's yet another layer of protection as far as the vote being accurate, responsible and legal.

Well we do tabulate on election... Of course.

...okay.

Right now the judges are removing the absentee ballots from the envelopes, and they're checking signatures.

Check, check, check ever envelope, make sure it's signed, and then they are inserted into the tabulator, but they cannot be tabulated till after 7:00 on election night.

So you could do that work early, of course.

Otherwise we'd be there for months.

Okay.

And then the vote isn't certified until a week later.

They're unofficial results that night.

Yes.

And explain to how that works.

The, well, because we have to wait till everything comes in, because there still could be like, military ballots coming in or, mail coming i that hasn't been checked in yet.

And if it's postmarked by election night, it will be counted.

That' why those are unofficial totals.

Yeah, because everybody voted in person on Tuesday.

That's easy to count.

But some of these are going to come in like Thursday, Friday.

Yes.

May not be a great deal.

Right?

Some of them won't be counted but some will.

All right.

So once again get out and vote.

I mean, it's, it's, it's you constitutional right to do it.

And I urge everyon who has an absentee vote by mail to get it in as early as possible.

We've created, a situation where it's a lot more convenient now.

You can stop at one at like at the Moline Public Library and drop it in that box or Milan, or Silvis, any of those votes on there.

So it's much easier than it was before.

Or downtown Rock Island in the front of the building or at our counter in our office.

Lot of options.

Yes, yes, that's what you got to give them.

Our thanks to Karen Kinney, Rock Island County clerk.

Now, once again, Election Day is Tuesday, with polls in Illinois open from six in the morning until seven at night.

The polls in Iowa are open election day from seven in the morning until eight at night.

Next week, election night results.

What trends we're seeing and what direction might those votes take us?

That's next week on The Cities.

On the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile devic and streaming on your computer, thanks for taking some time to join us as we talk about the issues on The Cities.

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