Richard Chew is joined by Patrick Hanley, Democratic candidate for the 9th Illinois State Senate seat, co-founder of Operation Swing State, and president of New Trier Democrats.

Hanley talked about his background in community organizing and environmental activism and highlighted the importance of sustainability. 

"My wife and I now run this business," he told WCPT, "and it's given me such an insider view to how the private sector works, which I think is so fundamental. If we're going to be progressives and we're going to think about building a sustainable, fairer economy, we've really got to understand how the different economic actors work, and why they do. And the one big lesson that I drew from that is: More than taxes, even more than regulation, what businesses hate is uncertainty. They hate chaos. We hate chaos. Right now our business is dealing with the 'will they/won't they?' tariff policy. At one moment, there's this huge tariff on European goods and . . . the next moment, it's off. Now maybe it's back on again. . . . So the economic downturn we've seen over the last four or five months, it's largely been uncertainty. It's businesses not knowing how to plan and people not knowing how to spend."  

Hanley also addressed the need for authentic political leadership, urging candidates to engage with voters honestly and lead "with their values and with their story. And if they do that, and if they come to politics with humility . . . that's going to resonate with people a lot more than the way folks have been trained to act in the political space, very stilted and very on-message and very rigid. And what voters expect now are real people that they can relate to, they can resonate with, people that are going to be communicative, people that are going to drop a Reel on Instagram and answer their DMs and show up in a living room. I mean, you've got to be able to do it all. And that is just the future of political leadership in this country."

Hanley will face Rachel Ruttenberg of Evanston in the March 2026 Democratic primary.  They are vying to replace incumbent Sen. Laura Fine (D) in the state Senate. 

Listen to a previous Patrick Hanley conversation with WCPT's Joan Esposito. 

Catch "Chew's Views with Richard Chew” weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/chews-views).

And find the "Chew's Views" Full Episodes podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

Richard Chew is joined by <a href="https://www.hanleyforillinois.com/">Patrick Hanley</a>, Democratic candidate for the 9th Illinois State Senate seat, co-founder of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.operationswingstate.com/">Operation Swing State</a>, and president of&nbsp;<a href="https://newtrierdemocrats.org/">New Trier Democrats</a>.
Hanley talked about his background in community organizing and environmental activism and highlighted the importance of sustainability.&nbsp;
"My wife and I now run this business," he told WCPT, "and it's given me such an insider view to how the private sector works, which I think is so fundamental. If we're going to be progressives and we're going to think about building a sustainable, fairer economy, we've really got to understand how the different economic actors work, and why they do. And the one big lesson that I drew from that is: More than taxes, even more than regulation, what businesses hate is uncertainty. They hate chaos. We hate chaos. Right now our business is dealing with the 'will they/won't they?' tariff policy. At one moment, there's this huge tariff on European goods and . . . the next moment, it's off. Now maybe it's back on again. . . . So the economic downturn we've seen over the last four or five months, it's largely been uncertainty. It's businesses not knowing how to plan and people not knowing how to spend." &nbsp;
Hanley also addressed the need for authentic political leadership, urging candidates to engage with voters honestly and&nbsp;lead "with their values and with their story. And if they do that, and if they come to politics with humility . . . that's going to resonate with people a lot more than the way folks have been trained to act in the political space, very stilted and very on-message and very rigid. And what voters expect now are real people that they can relate to, they can resonate with, people that are going to be communicative, people that are going to drop a Reel on Instagram and answer their DMs and show up in a living room. I mean, you've got to be able to do it all. And that is just the future of political leadership in this country."
Hanley will face Rachel Ruttenberg of Evanston in the March 2026 Democratic primary.&nbsp; They are vying to replace incumbent Sen. Laura Fine (D) in the state Senate.&nbsp;
<a href="https://omny.fm/shows/joan-esposito-live-local-progressive/wcpt-820-interview-patrick-hanley-candidate-for-illinois-senate">Listen to a previous Patrick Hanley conversation</a> with WCPT's <a href="https://heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive/">Joan Esposito</a>.&nbsp;
Catch "Chew's Views with Richard Chew&rdquo; weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on WCPT (<a href="http://heartlandsignal.com/programs/chews-views">heartlandsignal.com/programs/chews-views</a>).
And find the "Chew's Views" Full Episodes podcast on<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2zkWlrghsVpgulp44Wsb53"> Spotify</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chews-views-full-episodes/id1772726742">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1300-chews-views-full-episodes-224677247/">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLquOHBYhhrLPJ4U4sG9hqPEyq8TZ6yK5B">YouTube</a>, <a href="https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/60f89bc3-9570-4cea-86e2-30049d1112f4/chew's-views-full-episodes">Amazon</a> and <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Chews-Views-(Full-Episodes)-p4553840/?topicId=433949466">TuneIn</a>.

Here are full episodes of “Chew's Views” (weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on WCPT Chicago), a pragmatic radio show that focuses on moving our political, social, economic, gender and cultural conversation forward and creating a roadmap for progressives to be more involved in their political and social destinies. With "Chew's Views" the emphasis is on positive talk and solutions – but don’t get it twisted; we may bring some smashmouth dialogue to the program just to make sure you’re awake, not just “woke.”  


Richard Chew has been a part of the WCPT family since 2017, initially as part of "The Family Meeting" and as a regular contributor to "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive."  He became WCPT's morning host in early 2024. 

A 25-plus-year wealth management and insurance veteran, Richard is well-versed in all areas of financial planning, wealth management and insurance plans designed to help clients with their financial future. Richard’s primary goal is to help consumers assess what their needs are and find the right plans and programs to protect their wealth.

Richard was born and raised in Chicago and Southwestern Michigan and is a graduate of Pepperdine University; he later pursued a master’s degree from Keller Graduate School. He is proud of the fact that he has visited all 50 of the great states of the United States of America and keeps his passport current to make sure traveling the world is always a “ready to go” item. He and his wife, Anne, love the city and suburbs of Chicago and all their greatness.  

Here are full episodes of “<a href="https://heartlandsignal.com/programs/chewviews-with-richard-chew/">Chew's Views</a>” (weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on <a href="https://heartlandsignal.com/wcpt820/">WCPT Chicago</a>), a pragmatic radio show that focuses on moving our political, social, economic, gender and cultural conversation forward and creating a roadmap for progressives to be more involved in their political and social destinies. With "Chew's Views" the emphasis is on positive talk and solutions – but don’t get it twisted; we may bring some smashmouth dialogue to the program just to make sure you’re awake, not just “woke.”  
 Richard Chew has been a part of the WCPT family since 2017, initially as part of "<a href="https://heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-family-meeting/">The Family Meeting</a>" and as a regular contributor to "<a href="https://heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive/">Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive</a>."  He became WCPT's morning host in early 2024. 
A 25-plus-year wealth management and insurance veteran, Richard is well-versed in all areas of financial planning, wealth management and insurance plans designed to help clients with their financial future. Richard’s primary goal is to help consumers assess what their needs are and find the right plans and programs to protect their wealth.
Richard was born and raised in Chicago and Southwestern Michigan and is a graduate of Pepperdine University; he later pursued a master’s degree from Keller Graduate School. He is proud of the fact that he has visited all 50 of the great states of the United States of America and keeps his passport current to make sure traveling the world is always a “ready to go” item. He and his wife, Anne, love the city and suburbs of Chicago and all their greatness.

Chew's Views (Full Episodes)

“Chew's Views” (weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on WCPT Chicago) is a pragmatic radio show that focuses on moving our political, social, economic, gender and cultural conversation forward and creating a roadmap for progressives to be more involved in their political and social destinies. With "Chew's Views" the emphasis is on positive talk and solutions – but don’t get it twisted; we may bring some smashmouth dialogue to the program just to make sure you’re awake, not just “woke.”  

Richard Chew has been a part of the WCPT family since 2017, initially as part of "The Family Meeting" and as a regular contributor to "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive." He became WCPT's morning host in early 2024.

Richard also regularly shares his views on other podcasts and radio shows, including recent appearances on Amy McGrath's "Truth in a Barrel," "The John Fugelsang Podcast," "Endless Urgency" with Mike Nellis, and "The Politics Bar."

A 25-plus-year wealth management and insurance veteran, Richard is well-versed in all areas of financial planning, wealth management and insurance plans designed to help clients with their financial future.

Richard was born and raised in Chicago and Southwestern Michigan and is a graduate of Pepperdine University; he later pursued a master’s degree from Keller Graduate School. He is proud of the fact that he has visited all 50 of the great states of the United States of America and keeps his passport current to make sure traveling the world is always a “ready to go” item. He and his wife, Anne, love the city and suburbs of Chicago and all their greatness.  

&ldquo;<a href="https://heartlandsignal.com/programs/chewviews-with-richard-chew/">Chew's Views</a>&rdquo; (weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on <a href="https://heartlandsignal.com/wcpt820/">WCPT Chicago</a>) is a pragmatic radio show that focuses on moving our political, social, economic, gender and cultural conversation forward and creating a roadmap for progressives to be more involved in their political and social destinies. With "Chew's Views" the emphasis is on positive talk and solutions &ndash; but don&rsquo;t get it twisted; we may bring some smashmouth dialogue to the program just to make sure you&rsquo;re awake, not just &ldquo;woke.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Richard Chew has been a part of the WCPT family since 2017, initially as part of "<a href="https://heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-family-meeting/">The Family Meeting</a>" and as a regular contributor to "<a href="https://heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive/">Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive</a>." He became WCPT's morning host in early 2024.
Richard also regularly shares his views on other podcasts and radio shows, including recent appearances on Amy McGrath's "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWK_o2PSptQ">Truth in a Barrel</a>," "<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/weekend-interviews-simon-and-julie-richard-chew/id1464094232?i=1000685443232">The John Fugelsang Podcast</a>," "<a href="https://endlessurgency.com/p/pardoning-ghislaine-maxwell-trump">Endless Urgency</a>" with Mike Nellis, and "<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/is/podcast/community-vs-cankles-july-22-2025/id886656768?i=1000718522141">The Politics Bar</a>."
A 25-plus-year wealth management and insurance veteran, Richard is well-versed in all areas of financial planning, wealth management and insurance plans designed to help clients with their financial future.
Richard was born and raised in Chicago and Southwestern Michigan and is a graduate of Pepperdine University; he later pursued a master&rsquo;s degree from Keller Graduate School. He is proud of the fact that he has visited all 50 of the great states of the United States of America and keeps his passport current to make sure traveling the world is always a &ldquo;ready to go&rdquo; item. He and his wife, Anne, love the city and suburbs of Chicago and all their greatness. &nbsp;