With more than forty seats flipped since the Presidential election, it seems the Democratic wave is building. But if you are a liberal candidate in a deeply red district, how do you decide if you should grab your surfboard and ride the wave? And is a wave really enough to win in a conservative area? Our co-hosts Jason Bennett and Reiny Cohen dig into the logistics of "running blue in a field of red" to bring you the critical advice you need to decide, run, and win.

Our guest this week is Maria Weeg. A longtime political operative, Maria has served as Executive Director of the Democratic State Party in deeply red Idaho and Arizona. She shares what it takes to recruit and run good candidates in districts that lean conservative. Maria lends her pragmatic advice for authentic candidacy and navigating opposing constituencies within a district.

Maria currently works at Hilltop Public Solutions, a national public affairs firm with offices in D.C., Idaho, California, and beyond. She also works at Brushfire Strategies, a telephone voter contact firm. You can learn more about Maria and her work at Hilltop Public Solutions and Brushfire here. You can also find the memoir that Maria mentions about political spouses here: …And His Lovely Wife: A Memoir from the Woman Beside the Man by Connie Schultz.

Listeners, we want to hear from you! Are you a Democrat hoping to ride the blue wave? Are you a voter or a volunteer working to continue the blue momentum? What did you think? And folks on the opposite side of the aisle—we haven’t forgotten about you! What are your tactics to combat the tidal wade of Democratic support? Have you run red in a deeply blue state? What was your experience there? Tell us your thoughts! Send your thoughts and suggestions to podcast@ElectionU.com or leave a note in the comment section below.

You can listen to the show right here on the EU website or by subscribing in iTunes, Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Spotify, Stitcher, Soundcloud, iHeartRadio, and more! If you do subscribe, please leave us a rating and review. We love the feedback and we read every one! If you'd like to hear a particular topic on our podcast, please email podcast@electionu.com. As always, thanks for listening!