Wes Cantrell on The Job I Never Wanted and Rick Folbaum on Georgia’s 2026 Debates
We’ve got two conversations on this episode of the Peach Pundit Podcast that probably shouldn’t fit together nearly as well as they do.
First, former Georgia State Representative Wes Cantrell joins us to talk about his new book, The Job I Never Wanted, which tells the story of how a guy who had never attended a Republican Party meeting, never dreamed of running for office, and really didn’t want the job wound up serving eight years in the Georgia House.
And yes, after all these years, we finally get confirmation of who recruited him.
Not me.
I cannot emphasize this enough.
Wes takes us back to the phone call that started it all, including the rather important misunderstanding in which he thought his actual recruiter wanted him to “pray for him” about something when he was actually asking Wes to “pray about” running for office. By the time Wes figured out what was happening, his recruiter had already started telling people he was running.
From there, Wes talks about making the decision to qualify, running a campaign as a complete political outsider, and discovering very quickly that the Georgia House did not always work the way he assumed it would.
We get into some of the stories behind the book, including his early battles over religious liberty, the origin of what became known as “the Cantrell treatment,” the lessons he learned from legislative mistakes, and how he tried to navigate politics as a man of faith without allowing politics to become his faith.
Then we take a break from Wes for a conversation with Atlanta News First anchor Rick Folbaum.
Rick will moderate the October 6 gubernatorial debate between Republican Rick Jackson and Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms. Atlanta News First will also host the October 8 U.S. Senate debate between Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and Republican Rep. Mike Collins.
We wanted to know how Atlanta News First landed the debates and, more importantly, what viewers should expect.
Rick walks us through the modified town hall format for the governor’s race, how undecided and persuadable voters are being selected and vetted, how the campaigns are involved in that process without seeing the questions, and the differences between questions coming directly from voters and those coming from journalists.
He also explains how he is preparing to moderate the debate, including advice he sought from former colleague Chris Wallace and one principle that has stuck with him: the moderator should not be the story.
After that, we return to Wes and pick up his story where we left it, with a reluctant candidate suddenly discovering that winning an election was only the beginning.
It’s part campaign story, part Georgia political history, part behind-the-scenes look at the legislative process, and part conversation about how people with strongly held beliefs can participate in politics without allowing politics to consume everything else.
Listen to the latest episode of the Peach Pundit Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe to the Peach Pundit YouTube channel to watch the full conversation.
