Political candidates Kendall Scudder and Lillian Salerno have teamed up to do a new podcast called Pod Bless Texas. Scudder was the first millennial nominated by a major party to run for the Texas Senate. His East Texas district touched parts of East Dallas. Salerno ran in the Democratic primary to unseat Pete Sessions. She came in second in the primary, but lost to Colin Allred in the runoff. We did a story about her during primary season.

Scudder and Salerno met in East Texas in 2010 while campaigning on behalf of the former mayor of Houston, Bill White, for Texas governor. Kendall was learning to shave while Lillian was commuting to East Texas from “Bougie” Northern Virginia, but they shared a kinship for Texas Politics and ice cream. Eight years later Kendall got older, Lillian stayed the same age, and both were candidates in the 2018 cycle in overlapping districts.

As former candidates, Kendall and Lillian know how hard it is for ordinary folks running for office to be heard and have authentic conversations about the most important issues affecting Texans. Through their podcast, Pod Bless Texas, the former candidates, and current losers [their description of themselves] offer a humorous, informative barstool conversation (literally from bars) about the good, the bad and the always oh-so-strange politics of their beloved Texas.

Oh, and one other fact we love about Scudder — he was raised by two moms.

State Rep.-elect Julie Johnson is Scudder and Salerno’s first guest. Find Pod Bless Texas here.

— David Taffet