Olivia Wilde Is Hitting the Campaign Trail for Her Mom
*By Max Godnick*
Actress Olivia Wilde is hitting the campaign trail ー but she's not running for office or portraying a politician in a new movie.
Instead, she's playing the real-life role of devoted daughter. The star's mother, Leslie Cockburn, is the Democratic nominee for Congress in Virginia's fifth district. A veteran journalist who spent her career working at "60 Minutes," ABC News, and "PBS FRONTLINE," among other prominent shows, Cockburn will face Republican distillery owner Denver Riggleman in November's midterm elections.
"The fifth district is kind of this intense microcosm," Wilde said in an interview with Cheddar's Baker Machado.
Larger in size than New Jersey, Virginia's fifth includes both rural areas and the city of Charlottesville. Wilde observed that the region's constituents "have all different needs" that represent a variety of issues that "the nation is facing as a whole."
"Obviously, Charlottesville is a hotbed of really intense emotion and controversy," she said.
Wilde is set to join the campaign for the first time on Oct. 14, when she and long-time fiancé, fellow actor Jason Sudeikis, will host a rally at the University of Virginia.
She said that up until now, her mother hasn't needed a celebrity daughter with her on the stump.
"She has been really focusing on just the issues of the fifth district," Wilde said.
But the star said she is excited to get out the vote with under 35 days to go before election day.
"There's a bunch of people who will be voting for the first time in this midterm election, and I think it's incredible what a difference they could make," Wilde said.
The actress is not a total stranger to politics. Sudeikis played Mitt Romney on "Saturday Night Live" during the now-Senate candidate's 2008 and 2012 White House runs. It might not be long before the comedian returns to the NBC sketch show to reprise the role ー former Trump adviser Steve Bannon [recently predicted](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/409071-bannon-predicts-three-way-race-in-2020) that the president will face a centrist challenge from Romney or Michael Bloomberg in 2020.
Wilde said she's ready for her partner to "put on the old wig" ー with one caveat.
"I think he would be happy to be Mitt again for a day," she said. "As long as it doesn't mean Mitt as president."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/olivia-wilde-is-ready-to-join-her-moms-congressional-campaign).
Florida lawmakers have introduced a controversial bill restricting some discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms with young students. Supporters say the move empowers parents to have more of a say in what their children learn. Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones joins Cheddar News to discuss more.
Congress this week passed a bill that would end forced arbitration for workplace sexual assault and harassment, one of the most significant changes to employment law in years. Cheddar News speaks with Marjorie Mesidor, Sexual Harassment Attorney, who explains that arbitrators are often retired judges or attorneys who "tends to have a more conservative view both to law and rewards."
As the situation with Russia has grown more precarious, the White House urged Americans remaining in Ukraine to leave immediately. The Biden administration that it sees continuing signs of escalation but did not have specific information detailing a timetable for a potential invasion. Kristine Berzina, senior fellow and head of the geopolitics team at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, joined Cheddar News to provide her analysis. "There's talk of an impending phone call between President Putin, President Biden," Berzina said. "That is certainly a good sign to indicate that there would be significant cost."
Terrell Starr, host of 'Black Diplomats' podcast and senior nonresident fellow at the Eurasia Center for Atlantic Council, joins Cheddar News from Kyiv, Ukraine to discuss the mounting tension there.
The White House laid out plans for a $5 billion investment into a national network of charging stations to ease EV driving anxiety. Bruce Brimacombe, CEO of EV infrastructure GOe3 joined Cheddar News to discuss how much needs to be done for drivers to get over the fear of running out of energy. "People need to be able to do what they're doing now," he said. "But that is the way that if you're going to buy an electric car, you got to feel like you're not changing your world." Brimacombe noted that building out the infrastructure between cities was GOe3's own focus.
U.S. automakers are saying that the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge, a crucial border crossing between the U.S. and Canada, is affecting their production lines. Michelle Krebs of Cox Automotive warns that the disruption "couldn't come at a worst time," amid chip and labor shortages in Detroit.
AND DETROIT-BASED AUTO MAKERS SAY THEY ARE SHUTTING DOWN PLANTS OR SCALING BACK PRODUCTION BECAUSE OF PARTS SHORTAGES.
Plans to add affordable housing to a development in Yellow Springs, Ohio, were squashed after comedian Dave Chappelle and other community members spoke out against the project. Chappelle threatened to pull the plug on his local comedy club and restaurant projects if the development had been approved.
David Tafuri, Former Obama Campaign Foreign Policy Advisor & Former State Department Official, joined Cheddar News to break down the latest geopolitical stories from Beijing, amid China's human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims and yet another Russian doping scandal.
Dr. Jennifer Haythe of Columbia University's Irving Medical Center, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss the latest with the pandemic, as the debate over child safety rages amid low vaccination rates and states easing school mask mandates.
