Mikal sits down with Jackson Franklin, Jackson Franklin is a Democratic candidate running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District (IN-5) in the 2026 election. He’s a 25-year-old progressive, a Staff Sergeant and combat medic in the Indiana Army National Guard, and a nationally registered paramedic who has served since 2019, including a deployment to Kosovo in 2023. Franklin lives in Muncie, originally hailing from nearby Albany, and speaks often about his working-class roots and commitment to public service shaped by his family’s experiences. His grassroots campaign centers on the slogan “People Over Profits,” emphasizing reforming money in politics, expanding healthcare access, and advocating for working families rather than corporate interests. Franklin rejects corporate PAC money, draws inspiration from movements like Bernie Sanders’s campaigns and the Money Out of Politics movement, and focuses on issues such as economic justice, healthcare reform, and democratic accountability as part of his bid to represent IN-5 in Congress.
