00:00Hi, everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis, a breaking news reporter here at Forbes. Joining me now
00:07is Eric Conroy, a candidate for Congress in Ohio's First District. Eric, thank you so much for
00:12joining me. Brittany, thanks for having me. Good morning. Good morning to you. Eric, you are an
00:18Air Force veteran. You also are a former CIA case officer, and now you're running for Congress as
00:24a Republican to unseat Democrat Congressman Greg Lansman in Ohio's First District. So to start
00:31off the conversation, what propelled you to dive into politics? Sure. Well, for me, it's a couple
00:37different reasons, but mainly from my ping-ponging between the Cincinnati area and wherever I was
00:43serving at the ends of the earth, I gained a lot of different perspectives, and through those
00:47perspectives, I became very concerned and passionate about the future of Southwest Ohio, especially from
00:53a social and economic perspective. And I believe that this region deserves a common-sense
00:58representative to take it into the future. And my opponent, Greg Lansman, unfortunately has been
01:02anything but, and he votes more along the lines of an AOC or a Nancy Pelosi. In fact, he sided with
01:08the Biden administration about 98% of the time. So back here, I think there's a need to get back to
01:14the basics and have some common-sense governing, which I hope to bring. Greg Lansman, he flipped the
01:20seat back in 2022 from red to blue. He then won pretty handily in 2024 by over nine points.
01:28Why do you think you can flip it back from blue to red and win against Greg Lansman? What's the
01:33differences here? Well, I think there's quite a few differences. And one, I think first is a sense
01:38of leadership. And we've seen both recently with the brawl here in Cincinnati and some of our economic
01:44and social issues that Greg Lansman does not fit the lead. He does not have the traits or the
01:48characteristics to be that leader that this city and this region needs. I think that's first and
01:53foremost. And secondly, we've seen a wave across this country of people wanting to get back to the
02:01basics for what they care about, the kitchen table issues like jobs and the economy, and putting money
02:07back into the pockets of those working-class families. And that's really what people care about.
02:11And unfortunately, Greg Lansman is too wrapped up in leftist social issues and towing the line with the
02:17Democratic Party that he's failed the constituents of this district in that way.
02:21So before this, I want to get back to your past a little bit. You're an Air Force veteran. You worked
02:27in the CIA. Now you want to run for Congress. So what, from those different roles in life, what are you
02:33bringing to this seat that's different from Lansman and different from the Republican primary in general?
02:38Yeah, I think the two traits that I hope to bring from my past work into my future work is leadership
02:45and perspective, both at my time at the Air Force, which included the Air Force Academy, and then
02:50about seven years active duty, and then my time at the CIA as well. I gain some incredible leadership
02:57traits, and I know how to solve complex problems to very difficult situations. And first and foremost,
03:02that means bringing people around the table to solve issues. And in my last roles, if you didn't
03:07listen to other people's opinions and perspectives, people often got hurt. So it's very important from my
03:13perspective to drop your ego at the door and listen to others for solutions. And then secondly,
03:18is perspective. I think I am likely to be the only candidate in this race, primary or general,
03:24that has both the local roots and the local knowledge, but also a national and even international
03:28perspective. And to be able to combine those mindsets and talk to constituents and businesses
03:33here in the district to come up with creative solutions is what I hope to do.
03:38I said this before you and I started this interview, but I actually was in Cincinnati
03:42last year. Forbes hosted the Under 30 Summit there, and it's a beautiful city. And I'm curious,
03:49when you're looking at the city, when you're looking at Ohio's first congressional district,
03:53what are some of those top issues facing voters now and heading into the midterms?
03:58The two main pillars that we are looking to solve are the economics and public safety, right?
04:04As you saw here on your visit, this is a gem of a city. This is a gem of a region. We have a beautiful
04:09downtown. We have a beautiful culture here, and we really need to capitalize on it and reach our full
04:15potential. But we can't do that when we don't have safe streets, right? If we cannot have someone walk
04:20from our stadium district to uptown and not feel safe, we're never going to realize our potential
04:27from an economic perspective. And that means attracting the right businesses and young professionals
04:31here, but also from a safety perspective as well. So safe streets are really a core tenet of this
04:40campaign because it's a public safety issue, but also an economic issue as well.
04:44President Trump, he has a tough on crime approach. He has touted he wants safe streets as well. He
04:51recently federalized D.C.'s police force, and he deployed the National Guard to the nation's capital.
04:57He also threatened to deploy the National Guard to other cities like Chicago. What do you make of
05:01that move? So we have a crime epidemic in this country, right? And Democratic mayors across
05:07this country, including here in Cincinnati, have not focused enough on public safety. And the
05:11president is within his right to help solve that issue. We've seen crime drop specifically in D.C.,
05:17which I previously called home in my past careers, quite significantly with the deterrence of the
05:24National Guard on the streets. So crime in this country is an issue. We need to find creative ways to
05:30solve it. And this is a step in the right direction, especially when local governments,
05:34Democratic governments, don't want to properly fund and train their police forces and leave them
05:39shorthanded. And unfortunately, that's what we've seen across the country.
05:43And it seems like this is a real partisan issue now, because I've talked to Democrat lawmakers,
05:48and they've said, hey, crime is trending downward. One crime is too many, but it is trending downward.
05:53And President Trump is trampling on states' rights by coming in, sending the National Guard against
05:59the local leaders' wishes. What do you say to that?
06:03Well, I think I would talk to the Democrats in terms of, well, what I would say the Democrats is
06:09solve the problem yourselves, right? We've had this crime epidemic, and we've seen them
06:13continuously not take crime seriously. And the president is a man of action. He's trying to take
06:18it seriously and find creative solutions to do that. And one of the ways to do that is to have
06:23the National Guard as a deterrent on the streets. So I think this is one of the more creative solutions
06:28we've seen to the issue. And I applaud the president for attempting to solve it, which has gone ignored
06:33mostly by local Democratic governments in the past. And that includes my opponent, Greg Landsman, who
06:39did vote to defund the police in the past and has not had a common sense approach to public safety.
06:45And this is not, this should really be a bipartisan issue to solve it. But unfortunately,
06:51the other party has not taken the appropriate steps at the local level to do so.
06:55The DOJ previously, in D.C. specifically, said crime, violent crime hit a 30-year low.
07:02There's also data saying that violent crime is going down in this country. But according to recent
07:08reporting from CBS, for the first close to three weeks that the National Guard has been in D.C.,
07:13violent crime in the nation's capital is down year over year, close to 50%. But I do want to read
07:19some reporting from CNN on the National Guard in D.C. Quote, while domestic missions typically have
07:24National Guard troops responding to crises like hurricanes or wildfires in D.C., much of their
07:29work has involved more mundane tasks, patrolling popular tourist destinations and assisting with
07:34beautification projects, including picking up trash, raking leaves and laying mulch. And this is a
07:39mission that's reportedly costing a million dollars a day. Do you think that's the best use of our
07:43troops?
07:44I think it is. And what you're describing is a very civic-oriented deployment, which is what it is,
07:51right? It's a deployment of presence to make sure that crime is on the decline. But, you know,
07:57while they're on the streets, being a deterrent presence, they're absolutely capable and happy to
08:02do other tasks, as you've mentioned. And I think that's actually a very good thing and a very positive
08:07thing about these deployments of National Guard troops to the cities.
08:10And then aside from crime, you're also focused on the economy in your run. How would you attract
08:17these types of businesses to Cincinnati, to Ohio's Congressional First District? How would you make
08:24the economy start working for them?
08:27Of course. I think there's a couple things we can do, Brittany. I think first is to make sure that
08:31we are cutting taxes and putting money back into working-class families and businesses. And I think
08:37the big, beautiful bill was a great start in that direction. We have lower taxes all around the board
08:43from the corporate side, then also elimination of taxes on tips as well. So putting money back
08:49into the pockets of consumers who can spend is a way to create growth. And here, specifically in
08:54Cincinnati, it's about having less mandates and less regulation to be able to attract the right
08:59businesses to come here, as well as the right young professionals as well, but also to encourage
09:05entrepreneurship. We want people to be able to feel comfortable taking the chance to start businesses
09:10here. And they do not feel comfortable doing that with high energy prices, high regulation, and too
09:15many mandates. So deregulating most of our economic agenda is critical to encouraging people to start
09:23businesses in the region and attracting the right ones.
09:26I do not want to totally switch gears and look abroad for a moment. I want to get your perspective
09:31here as both a veteran of the Air Force as well as a former CIA officer. This week, China hosted their
09:38largest ever military parade, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. And I think
09:44one of the most striking moments and images from this event were three leaders together. And they were
09:52Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un.
09:59And I'm curious, what are your takeaways from this event? And what do you make of those three together?
10:05Yeah, this is definitely a, well, a foundational moment in, I think, recent world affairs. And
10:13to me, what it demonstrates is that while we might not have wars that are shooting wars that we are
10:20involved in as of late, that doesn't mean that we don't have unconventional warfare. And I had a
10:24really good friend of mine ask me, and he said, Eric, when is World War III going to start? And I
10:30said, well, we've been in it. We've been in it for some time. And I think the way that we've seen
10:34countries kind of do conflict with one another in recent decades is through a very unconventional
10:40and subtle approach. That can mean economic warfare. It can mean espionage. It can mean sabotaging
10:45other countries' economic initiatives and businesses. It can mean the theft of intellectual
10:51property. So when we need to confront our adversaries, we need to confront them very strongly.
10:56And we're seeing a world order that wants to challenge us, and that is including Russia and
11:02China. So I think we need to take these threats very seriously at all aspects of our society. And
11:06we've even seen in recent years, the Chinese government buying up farmland around U.S. military
11:12bases. We've seen them try to poison our crops as well. And we really need to take this concept
11:19of countries in conflict a little bit more liberally. And just because it's not a shooting
11:25war doesn't mean we don't have differences with other countries, and we should combat those
11:31differences.
11:32That's a really interesting way to look at it. When you're looking at it and telling to your
11:37friends, hey, we're actually in World War III right now. Who are the players and where does
11:43the United States stand here?
11:46Well, I think you have to take a step back and look at the world history since the end of World
11:50War II, right? And with the end of World War II from about 1945 onward, this has been an American-led
11:57world order, which is something that we've benefited from here from an economic perspective, and
12:02so has the rest of the world for the most part. And there have been challenges to that world order
12:06as of late. And that's mostly with the rise of China and the effects of that. So I think we need
12:13to acknowledge that our great lead that we had from an economic perspective after the end of World
12:19War II is probably no longer the case. We need to create national security and economic policies
12:25to make sure that we're going to stay in the lead from an economic and national security point of view.
12:31And I think in the past, we've maybe gotten a tad complacent in those areas. So I really do commend
12:38the president for taking a fresh look at a lot of our policies that really have been more or less
12:43at a status quo for much of the last 70 years. So take a fresh look at national defense, foreign policy,
12:49and economic mechanics is a great way to do it because we are kind of moving into a bit of a
12:56different world than we've had the last 80 years. I do. Before I let you go, I want to know what's
13:02next for your campaign, because we've seen throughout this country a redistricting fight
13:07start in Texas, move its way to California. Ohio is redrawing the maps as well. This district could
13:14be impacted by that. A, what do you think about that? And B, how is that impacting your campaigning,
13:20if at all? Sure. Well, Ohio is legally required to redistrict this year. So this has been
13:25a plan redistricting for some time. And I have really no idea how it's going to pan out. But
13:30what I can tell you is that we are a full speed campaign. Everything I've done in my life has been
13:36at full speed. And this campaign is no different. So I intend to win wherever the lines are and defeat
13:43Greg Landsman, because we need a common sense representative and that leadership for change in
13:48this region. So I've been very excited to do this campaign and also honored to do it as well and
13:54hopefully represent the people of Southwest Ohio, because they dearly need an advocate in DC that
13:59works for them. Though, as we mentioned, the world is changing very fast and we don't have time to
14:04waste, especially when we're making sure that the Midwest is on the right trajectory for the future.
14:09Eric, I appreciate your time today. Best of luck to you and your campaign and you're welcome back
14:14anytime. Eric Convoy, thanks for joining me.
14:17Brittany, thanks for your time. I appreciate it.
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