# WTF WEDNESDAY: Spokane Is Burning. Ballots in the Fire Zone. Four Independent Vets on the Line.

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/wtf-wednesday-spokane-is-burning-ballots-in-the-fire-zone-four-independent-vets-on-the-line
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/wtf-wednesday-spokane-is-burning-ballots-in-the-fire-zone-four-independent-vets-on-the-line.md
Podcast: [Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff](https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737)
Published: 2026-08-05T09:45:00+00:00
Episode link: https://bleav.com/shows/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff/?post_type=gp_podcast_episode&p=619
Audio file: https://pdrl.fm/c39fb6/pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/1385/injector.simplecastaudio.com/c67dcf2c-bdc6-42d2-91a1-db918b8e8626/episodes/a18626d9-d3fa-435d-a00e-17eb69a0ccf1/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=c67dcf2c-bdc6-42d2-91a1-db918b8e8626&awEpisodeId=a18626d9-d3fa-435d-a00e-17eb69a0ccf1&feed=8GTvjwcf
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Duration seconds: 1324

## Resource

Spokane is burning. Three wildfires have merged into the Spokane Complex, torching more than 8,000 acres, destroying over 700 structures with a final count that could top a thousand, and forcing 65,000 people under evacuation orders. The Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center sits inside the evacuation zone and has been shuttered, its veteran patients moved to partner hospitals. And in the middle of that inferno, an election. Four IVA-endorsed independent veterans were on the ballot — Nate Powell, Danny Tarkington, Erin Croft, and Ronald McCoy — three of them running to serve the county that is on fire right now. Paul Rieckhoff walks through what a real open primary looks like, what it means when veterans meet the moment, and why Washington state's top-two system is what right looks like.

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## Transcript

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