#Blazin8: The 8 midterm races that could change the face of Congress

Glenn is not the only member of TheBlaze team who is looking to highlight up-and-coming talent in the conservative movement. Doc Thompson, host of The Morning Blaze with Doc Thompson on TheBlaze Radio Network, and his producer Skip LaCombe have been scouring the country looking for key races that could really have an impact this November.

Doc and Skip introduced Glenn to strong candidates like Matt Bevin in Kentucky and Greg Bannon in North Carolina. And as guest hosts of the Glenn Beck Radio Program this morning, Doc and Skip broke down their #Blazin8 – the eight candidates they believe can make the biggest impact.

“We decided leading up to the midterm elections we're going to use the term ‘Blazin8.’ And what I want is the eight good candidates that can get elected – not just by what the polls say – but based on them being good enough…the Ted Cruz and Mike Lee types,” Doc explained. “And if you could manage to pull off, by some miracle, all eight of them… the sum would be greater than the parts [and] they would be able to turn things around. I've got my eight.”

Doc laid out his top eight candidates and explained why they provide the best opportunity to change the status quo:

1. Greg Brannon, North Carolina

The first one I will give you is a guy who is going to get elected. Unless something happens, he is going to get elected. You heard him on the Glenn Beck Program. I was so happy that I met him along with Skip months ago. Glenn got him on. The guys love him: Greg Brannon, North Carolina. Dr. Greg Brannon is the guy, and he is likely going to get elected. He's a OB/GYN. He's rock solid. First of all, he's likely to win the primary… And he will defeat Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC). What you get there is a Republican who takes out a Democrat and someone who is not just a Republican but a solid one, a Mike Lee Ted Cruz type.

2. Tom Cotton, Arkansas

Second, this is going to come to no shock to anybody. Tom Cotton out of [Arkansas]. He's on my Blazin8 list. He has a very good shot of taking out Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR). Once you get there he’s a solid conservative who's going to vote the right way then you take out a Democrat who's been an extremist.

3. Sam Clovis, Iowa

The next one is the first person we interviewed when we were looking for non-establishment candidates. Sam Clovis from Iowa… Sam Clovis is going to be a rock star from Iowa. He's running for the seat being vacated by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA). There's no reason for Tom Harkin to be representing Iowa for so long. Iowans don't believe what Tom Harkin believes in, but he continues to get elected because incumbents get elected. You put somebody like Sam Clovis in there, you really turn things around. You replace Tom Harkin, who has done the most despicable things… with his votes.

4. Shak Hill, Virginia

One more senator that is off the chart a little bit. I'm admitting his election is going to be more difficult. But it's really important for two reasons. And that is Shak Hill from Virginia. Shak Hill is running in the primary against Ed Gillespie. Remember that name? Worked for George W. Bush; is a lobbyist now. Is that really somebody you want to go to the Senate, to represent you in the commonwealth of Virginia? Somebody who worked for George W. Bush? Did you not get enough of that guy? He was an adviser and you want him to represent you? Check out Shak Hill.

Defeat him in the primary and consider Shak Hill because you know who they'll go against in the fall? In the general? Senator Mark Warner (D-VA). Mark Warner who has one of the richest members of Congress. That wouldn't dissuade me from voting for somebody. But when they're one of the richest members of Congress and telling you that you should give up more of your tax dollars in Congress to fund more food stamps for people who won't work, I find that little a bit more conflicting. You will see Mark Warner, that dirt bag, use this in his campaign because this is what the Democrats are going to use throughout the summer: Income inequality. Do you know who has an income inequality? Me and Mark Warner. The guy is worth $300 million and he's telling me about income inequality? Fine, make your money, Mark Warner. Get rich. Fine. But how about leaving me alone so I can as well.

5. Lee Bright, South Carolina

Going up against Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) in South Carolina, Lee Bright. Consider Lee Bright, please… It doesn't give you another Republican. It gives you a Republican upgrade. See, the first four were all people that will defeat Democrats. The next four are all people that would defeat progressive Republicans. Consider Lee Bright out of South Carolina to defeat Lindsay Graham.

6. Matt Bevin, Kentucky

Matt Bevin to take out Mitch McConnell. You've heard him on Glenn Beck’s show. You know about Matt Bevin. He also would be a substantial upgrade. Trust me, the Lindsay Grahams and the Mitch McConnells aren't any better than the Tom Harkins. They're not. They're not any better than the Mark Pryors. They're not any better than the Mark Warners. So Matt Bevin and Lee Bright. Kentucky and South Carolina for upgrades.

7. Chris McDaniel, Mississippi

Out of Mississippi, Chris McDaniel to defeat Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS). He's been there 400 years. Track his voting record over the years and you will see it's gotten progressively worse. Defeat Thad in Cochran in the primary. Put Chris McDaniel there. Both Chris McDaniel and Matt Bevin are in a similar situation. They will likely lose to the Democrat in the fall. Even though their states want conservative people. People are so sick of them. If you don't get Chris McDaniel or Matt Bevin in through the primary and have them win and go against the Democrat, you may be lost anyway.

8. Dave Brat, Virginia

Finally, the lone member of the House of Representatives that you must take out: Eric Cantor. He is in leadership, and as I told Glenn, if you think John Boehner is bad, when Eric Cantor gets in, you will pray for the days of John Boehner. You will beg to have John Boehner back. Eric Cantor has one of the worst records in Congress when you actually know about him… You must defeat Eric Cantor one way or another… Dave Brat is an economics professor at Old Dominion University.

“The candidates I've laid out, if people know about them, will likely get elected,” Doc concluded. “So vet them if you like them. Tell people about them. And then we can turn this thing around. Use that hashtag: #Blazin8. And tell me yours.”

A new Monroe Doctrine? Trump quietly redraws the Western map

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

The president’s moves in Venezuela, Guyana, and Colombia aren’t about drugs. They’re about re-establishing America’s sovereignty across the Western Hemisphere.

For decades, we’ve been told America’s wars are about drugs, democracy, or “defending freedom.” But look closer at what’s unfolding off the coast of Venezuela, and you’ll see something far more strategic taking shape. Donald Trump’s so-called drug war isn’t about fentanyl or cocaine. It’s about control — and a rebirth of American sovereignty.

The aim of Trump’s ‘drug war’ is to keep the hemisphere’s oil, minerals, and manufacturing within the Western family and out of Beijing’s hands.

The president understands something the foreign policy class forgot long ago: The world doesn’t respect apologies. It respects strength.

While the global elites in Davos tout the Great Reset, Trump is building something entirely different — a new architecture of power based on regional independence, not global dependence. His quiet campaign in the Western Hemisphere may one day be remembered as the second Monroe Doctrine.

Venezuela sits at the center of it all. It holds the world’s largest crude oil reserves — oil perfectly suited for America’s Gulf refineries. For years, China and Russia have treated Venezuela like a pawn on their chessboard, offering predatory loans in exchange for control of those resources. The result has been a corrupt, communist state sitting in our own back yard. For too long, Washington shrugged. Not any more.The naval exercises in the Caribbean, the sanctions, the patrols — they’re not about drug smugglers. They’re about evicting China from our hemisphere.

Trump is using the old “drug war” playbook to wage a new kind of war — an economic and strategic one — without firing a shot at our actual enemies. The goal is simple: Keep the hemisphere’s oil, minerals, and manufacturing within the Western family and out of Beijing’s hands.

Beyond Venezuela

Just east of Venezuela lies Guyana, a country most Americans couldn’t find on a map a year ago. Then ExxonMobil struck oil, and suddenly Guyana became the newest front in a quiet geopolitical contest. Washington is helping defend those offshore platforms, build radar systems, and secure undersea cables — not for charity, but for strategy. Control energy, data, and shipping lanes, and you control the future.

Moreover, Colombia — a country once defined by cartels — is now positioned as the hinge between two oceans and two continents. It guards the Panama Canal and sits atop rare-earth minerals every modern economy needs. Decades of American presence there weren’t just about cocaine interdiction; they were about maintaining leverage over the arteries of global trade. Trump sees that clearly.

PEDRO MATTEY / Contributor | Getty Images

All of these recent news items — from the military drills in the Caribbean to the trade negotiations — reflect a new vision of American power. Not global policing. Not endless nation-building. It’s about strategic sovereignty.

It’s the same philosophy driving Trump’s approach to NATO, the Middle East, and Asia. We’ll stand with you — but you’ll stand on your own two feet. The days of American taxpayers funding global security while our own borders collapse are over.

Trump’s Monroe Doctrine

Critics will call it “isolationism.” It isn’t. It’s realism. It’s recognizing that America’s strength comes not from fighting other people’s wars but from securing our own energy, our own supply lines, our own hemisphere. The first Monroe Doctrine warned foreign powers to stay out of the Americas. The second one — Trump’s — says we’ll defend them, but we’ll no longer be their bank or their babysitter.

Historians may one day mark this moment as the start of a new era — when America stopped apologizing for its own interests and started rebuilding its sovereignty, one barrel, one chip, and one border at a time.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Antifa isn’t “leaderless” — It’s an organized machine of violence

Jeff J Mitchell / Staff | Getty Images

The mob rises where men of courage fall silent. The lesson from Portland, Chicago, and other blue cities is simple: Appeasing radicals doesn’t buy peace — it only rents humiliation.

Parts of America, like Portland and Chicago, now resemble occupied territory. Progressive city governments have surrendered control to street militias, leaving citizens, journalists, and even federal officers to face violent anarchists without protection.

Take Portland, where Antifa has terrorized the city for more than 100 consecutive nights. Federal officers trying to keep order face nightly assaults while local officials do nothing. Independent journalists, such as Nick Sortor, have even been arrested for documenting the chaos. Sortor and Blaze News reporter Julio Rosas later testified at the White House about Antifa’s violence — testimony that corporate media outlets buried.

Antifa is organized, funded, and emboldened.

Chicago offers the same grim picture. Federal agents have been stalked, ambushed, and denied backup from local police while under siege from mobs. Calls for help went unanswered, putting lives in danger. This is more than disorder; it is open defiance of federal authority and a violation of the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

A history of violence

For years, the legacy media and left-wing think tanks have portrayed Antifa as “decentralized” and “leaderless.” The opposite is true. Antifa is organized, disciplined, and well-funded. Groups like Rose City Antifa in Oregon, the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club in Texas, and Jane’s Revenge operate as coordinated street militias. Legal fronts such as the National Lawyers Guild provide protection, while crowdfunding networks and international supporters funnel money directly to the movement.

The claim that Antifa lacks structure is a convenient myth — one that’s cost Americans dearly.

History reminds us what happens when mobs go unchecked. The French Revolution, Weimar Germany, Mao’s Red Guards — every one began with chaos on the streets. But it wasn’t random. Today’s radicals follow the same playbook: Exploit disorder, intimidate opponents, and seize moral power while the state looks away.

Dismember the dragon

The Trump administration’s decision to designate Antifa a domestic terrorist organization was long overdue. The label finally acknowledged what citizens already knew: Antifa functions as a militant enterprise, recruiting and radicalizing youth for coordinated violence nationwide.

But naming the threat isn’t enough. The movement’s financiers, organizers, and enablers must also face justice. Every dollar that funds Antifa’s destruction should be traced, seized, and exposed.

AFP Contributor / Contributor | Getty Images

This fight transcends party lines. It’s not about left versus right; it’s about civilization versus anarchy. When politicians and judges excuse or ignore mob violence, they imperil the republic itself. Americans must reject silence and cowardice while street militias operate with impunity.

Antifa is organized, funded, and emboldened. The violence in Portland and Chicago is deliberate, not spontaneous. If America fails to confront it decisively, the price won’t just be broken cities — it will be the erosion of the republic itself.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Colorado counselor fights back after faith declared “illegal”

Drew Angerer / Staff | Getty Images

The state is effectively silencing professionals who dare speak truths about gender and sexuality, redefining faith-guided speech as illegal.

This week, free speech is once again on the line before the U.S. Supreme Court. At stake is whether Americans still have the right to talk about faith, morality, and truth in their private practice without the government’s permission.

The case comes out of Colorado, where lawmakers in 2019 passed a ban on what they call “conversion therapy.” The law prohibits licensed counselors from trying to change a minor’s gender identity or sexual orientation, including their behaviors or gender expression. The law specifically targets Christian counselors who serve clients attempting to overcome gender dysphoria and not fall prey to the transgender ideology.

The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The law does include one convenient exception. Counselors are free to “assist” a person who wants to transition genders but not someone who wants to affirm their biological sex. In other words, you can help a child move in one direction — one that is in line with the state’s progressive ideology — but not the other.

Think about that for a moment. The state is saying that a counselor can’t even discuss changing behavior with a client. Isn’t that the whole point of counseling?

One‑sided freedom

Kaley Chiles, a licensed professional counselor in Colorado Springs, has been one of the victims of this blatant attack on the First Amendment. Chiles has dedicated her practice to helping clients dealing with addiction, trauma, sexuality struggles, and gender dysphoria. She’s also a Christian who serves patients seeking guidance rooted in biblical teaching.

Before 2019, she could counsel minors according to her faith. She could talk about biblical morality, identity, and the path to wholeness. When the state outlawed that speech, she stopped. She followed the law — and then she sued.

Her case, Chiles v. Salazar, is now before the Supreme Court. Justices heard oral arguments on Tuesday. The question: Is counseling a form of speech or merely a government‑regulated service?

If the court rules the wrong way, it won’t just silence therapists. It could muzzle pastors, teachers, parents — anyone who believes in truth grounded in something higher than the state.

Censored belief

I believe marriage between a man and a woman is ordained by God. I believe that family — mother, father, child — is central to His design for humanity.

I believe that men and women are created in God’s image, with divine purpose and eternal worth. Gender isn’t an accessory; it’s part of who we are.

I believe the command to “be fruitful and multiply” still stands, that the power to create life is sacred, and that it belongs within marriage between a man and a woman.

And I believe that when we abandon these principles — when we treat sex as recreation, when we dissolve families, when we forget our vows — society fractures.

Are those statements controversial now? Maybe. But if this case goes against Chiles, those statements and others could soon be illegal to say aloud in public.

Faith on trial

In Colorado today, a counselor cannot sit down with a 15‑year‑old who’s struggling with gender identity and say, “You were made in God’s image, and He does not make mistakes.” That is now considered hate speech.

That’s the “freedom” the modern left is offering — freedom to affirm, but never to question. Freedom to comply, but never to dissent. The same movement that claims to champion tolerance now demands silence from anyone who disagrees. The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The real test

No matter what happens at the Supreme Court, we cannot stop speaking the truth. These beliefs aren’t political slogans. For me, they are the product of years of wrestling, searching, and learning through pain and grace what actually leads to peace. For us, they are the fundamental principles that lead to a flourishing life. We cannot balk at standing for truth.

Maybe that’s why God allows these moments — moments when believers are pushed to the wall. They force us to ask hard questions: What is true? What is worth standing for? What is worth dying for — and living for?

If we answer those questions honestly, we’ll find not just truth, but freedom.

The state doesn’t grant real freedom — and it certainly isn’t defined by Colorado legislators. Real freedom comes from God. And the day we forget that, the First Amendment will mean nothing at all.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Get ready for sparks to fly. For the first time in years, Glenn will come face-to-face with Megyn Kelly — and this time, he’s the one in the hot seat. On October 25, 2025, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, Glenn joins Megyn on her “Megyn Kelly Live Tour” for a no-holds-barred conversation that promises laughs, surprises, and maybe even a few uncomfortable questions.

What will happen when two of America’s sharpest voices collide under the spotlight? Will Glenn finally reveal the major announcement he’s been teasing on the radio for weeks? You’ll have to be there to find out.

This promises to be more than just an interview — it’s a live showdown packed with wit, honesty, and the kind of energy you can only feel if you are in the room. Tickets are selling fast, so don’t miss your chance to see Glenn like you’ve never seen him before.

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