On this episode of Hard Knock Radio, host Davey D sat down with Green Party candidate Dr. Butch Ware for a wide ranging conversation about ballot access, voter suppression, the crisis facing third party candidates, and the larger political climate heading into the California governor’s race. The discussion centered on Ware’s lawsuit against the California Secretary of State after officials attempted to remove him from the ballot over what he described as a minor clerical redaction issue in his tax documents.
Ware argued that the case against him was never really about paperwork. Instead, he framed it as a deliberate effort to sideline a growing third party campaign that is beginning to gain traction. He said both major parties play different roles in undermining democracy, with Republicans trying to challenge results after elections and Democrats working before elections to narrow the field and eliminate candidates who threaten their power. He rejected the long standing claim that Green candidates simply “spoil” elections for Democrats, saying the evidence does not support that argument and that many Green voters come from non voters, independents, and people alienated by both parties.
Davey D pressed Ware on the fear many people feel in this political moment, especially with rising authoritarianism, attacks on voting rights, repression of dissent, and the weaponization of labels like “domestic terrorist” against radicals and progressives. Ware responded by saying that neither major party can be trusted to stop fascism because both have helped create the conditions for it. He insisted that only a real left opposition rooted in organizing, anti imperialism, and working class politics can offer meaningful resistance.
The conversation also dug into Gaza, the influence of AIPAC and the Zionist lobby, media blackouts, and the pressure placed on candidates who speak openly against genocide and war. Ware said his anti war, anti corporate message is resonating precisely because so many voters are tired of being forced to choose between what he described as two compromised parties. He closed the interview by linking politics and Hip Hop culture, even delivering a fiery rap aimed at the political establishment, underscoring his belief that the fight for political change is also a fight happening through culture.
Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson.