
Show Notes
Former high school principal, Apple alum, and White House Fellow Pia Dandiya is running to flip Florida's 22nd Congressional District—a seat Donald Trump won by 10 points—on a central motto: "Make Common Sense Great Again."
In this episode of The MiddleGround Mic, Pia breaks down why voters across party lines are hungry for outcome-based education, practical housing expansion, healthcare accountability, and an immediate ban on congressional stock trading.
KEY TAKEAWAYS: • Outcome-Based Education: Shifting focus from funding inputs to measuring 4th-grade literacy and 8th-grade math results. • Housing & Cost of Living: Expanding supply through office building conversions rather than artificial price caps. • Healthcare & AI Denials: Curbing middleman PBM markups and stopping automated insurance claim rejections. • D.C. Integrity: Banning individual stock trading for members of Congress.
CONNECT & LEARN MORE: Campaign Website: https://piaforcongress.com
TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Managing High Schoolers vs. Managing D.C. 0:29 - Flipping a +10 Trump District in Florida 02:40 - Gerrymandering and Political "Seed Chopping" 04:21 - How to Turn 86% Poverty into 100% College Acceptance 07:42 - Fixing Public Schools: Measuring Outcomes Over Inputs 12:59 - Rent Caps vs. Housing Supply: Real Economic Solutions 17:53 - "Make Common Sense Great Again": Bipartisan Appeal 20:56 - Fixing Healthcare: PBM Abuse & AI Claim Denials 34:43 - Why Congress Must Ban Individual Stock Trading
More from The MiddleGround Mic
Are we raising our children to succeed, or are we simply hoping they survive?
What happens when partisan politics become more important than your own family? Right now, parents and children are literally stopping speaking to one another over differences of opinion—but it doesn't have to be this way.
What actually happens behind the scenes of Michigan's election system?
What do China, Greenland, Iran, artificial intelligence and the price of gasoline have to do with each other?
Can an Independent candidate realistically win a seat in Congress? Former firefighter Mike Thurow joins host Joseph Steagall on The MiddleGround Mic to share why he bypassed party politics to run in Wisconsin's 6th District. Thurow breaks down the corrupting power of corporate money, the challenges of third-party ballot access, and how direct public service shapes his approach to representation.