Tea Party Nation Founder Judson Phillips and The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy argued that Nashville could become fertile ground for an “insurgent” political campaign modeled after the AI-driven strategy used by Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt.
Speaking during Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Phillips praised Pratt’s unconventional campaign style, saying, “Pratt’s campaign, anybody who’s thinking about running as a Republican, particularly if you’re running for a significant office, you need to emulate Spencer Pratt’s campaign.”
Phillips argued that traditional Republican consulting strategies have become outdated, criticizing what he described as “stale campaigns that don’t communicate with the voters.”
He said Pratt’s use of AI-generated internet ads has changed the political landscape because “he is reaching people that he would not ordinarily reach,” adding that the campaign can “iterate quickly” with “new ads coming out multiple times a week.”
“Spencer Pratt just threw the whole rule book out the window by doing his internet ads, by doing these AI ads,” Phillips added. “The lesson that Republicans should learn here is if you wanna win, you really need to run an insurgent campaign like Spencer Pratt.”
Phillips further said the “beauty of these AI ads is that you can iterate them quickly,” contrasting them with conventional television production timelines that “can take a couple of weeks to get just one commercial in the can.”
Leahy suggested the same tactics could work in Tennessee politics, particularly in Nashville’s 2027 mayoral race.
“Nashville needs its own Spencer Pratt,” Leahy said.
Phillips agreed, responding, “Nashville is probably the perfect city for an insurgent campaign.”
“Because let’s face it. If the Republican Party of Davidson County can recruit a good candidate, you’re going up against testosterone-free Freddie [O’Connell],” he added.
Tune in now to The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk!
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– Read more at @TheTNStar https://t.co/LgO74ax30g— Michael Patrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) May 20, 2026
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.

We have a reality star President and the “hope” for LA is a reality star.
Is it too much to ask for good quality Republican candidates in high profile races to actually be people with convictions (other than fealty to Israel and Jewish donors) and are genuinely conservative people both economically and socially? Our reality star President ran off the only 2 Republican members of Congress who were true conservatives leaving a bunch of bots whose AIPAC handlers post “I Stand with Israel” on the pols official Facebook page to the delight of the FOX watching boomer constituencies and otherwise follow like lemmings their Reality Star leader. Its ridiculous.
Phillips agreed, responding, “Nashville is probably the perfect city for an insurgent campaign.”
“Because let’s face it. If the Republican Party of Davidson County can recruit a good candidate, you’re going up against testosterone-free Freddie [O’Connell],” he added.
YUP!!!!!!
GOPNashville also needs volunteers and money to help make this a reality. So if you are reading this, and aren’t already helping, get off your ass and do something!
GOPNashville.org
Yes, Nashville does need someone other than a politician to run the city, but an unfortunate realization is that most of the city is not very intelligent and vote strictly with their emotions. Even after his current mayor and counsel screwed them on their property taxes. Let alone the falling apart of infrastructure within the city