Imagine trying to follow sports or entertainment if you couldn't check scores and stats or read reviews without digging through a dozen biased blogs. You'd never do it. Yet that’s exactly how we’re expected to follow the politicians making decisions that alter our daily lives.
I'm Caleb Adelman, a 23 year old solo founder from New Jersey and a 2024 graduate of Miami University. I built PILLARS because I kept watching the same thing happen around me. My friends, classmates, and I cared about politics. We really did. But every time we tried to understand a bill or a politician we ended up bouncing between government websites, biased news feeds, and social media posts that all said something different. It shouldn't be that hard to get the facts.
What bothers me most about polarization is that it isn't really about people disagreeing. It's about people not having the same basic facts. I'd watch friends argue about a bill or a politician and realize nobody actually knew what the bill said or how the politician actually voted. They were arguing based on what their favorite news source told them. I think if people had the same baseline of factual information, a lot of the noise goes away. You can still disagree on values but at least you're disagreeing on the same reality. That's exactly what drew me to AllSides when I first came across it.
The idea started at a Startup Weekend in college. We had 72 hours to go from idea to pitch. Before we built anything we surveyed around 200 people on campus asking basic questions. Do you know who your representative is? Do you know when your next election is? Do you know who's on your ballot? Most people had no idea. That validation is what made me keep going after the weekend was over.
The concept that really clicked for us was sports. We know everything about LeBron James. Points, rebounds, assists, what team he plays for, where he plays next. There are entire platforms built around giving fans that level of detail and access. But what about our politicians? The people making decisions that directly affect our daily lives? Where do you go to actually learn about them, see how they vote, and find out who funds them? Do they actually vote the way they say they will?
That became the foundation of PILLARS. As we kept building and talking to real users we realized people didn't just want information. They needed it explained in plain language, delivered quickly, and connected to tools that help them actually do something. That shaped everything from how we summarize bills to how our civic action tools work. What started as a simple idea at Startup Weekend turned into a full platform.
The number one thing I've learned building this is that you just have to do it. Nothing teaches you like sitting down and figuring it out. I taught myself full stack development, navigated the App Store submission process, and built integrations with official government sources. Every step taught me something I couldn't have learned any other way.
The other big lesson is to just reach out to anyone, about anything. Some of the best things that have happened with PILLARS came from a cold email or a random DM that I almost didn't send. Our Head of Growth Molly actually found us through a TikTok video I posted promoting the beta launch. She sent a DM saying she loved the idea and wanted to help. She had studied public policy in grad school and worked at an AI startup before joining the Department of Labor. It was exactly the kind of background that made sense for what we were building. You never know what can happen when you just put yourself out there.
PILLARS launched on the App Store and Google Play in April 2026. Enter your address and in seconds you see every candidate running in your upcoming elections, from president down to school board, with ESPN-style politician profiles, voting records, campaign finance data showing who funds them, and AI-simplified bill summaries in plain language. You can also track live legislation, follow executive orders, get election alerts, find your polling place, and contact your representatives directly with one tap, all from seven official government sources.
The 2026 midterms will have a direct impact on daily life for all Americans. Yet most people show up to vote with little to no context. PILLARS exists so that doesn't have to happen anymore.
AllSides helps people understand where their news is coming from. PILLARS helps people understand the politicians and legislation that news covers. Together we cover the full picture. From understanding the media to understanding the people the media covers.
Americans want to be informed. The problem is it's just too hard. PILLARS is fixing that.
Download PILLARS free on iOS and Android at pillarsapp.us.
And for more election resources, check out:
Caleb Adelman is the founder of PILLARS. He has a Center bias. The writer used Claude AI to assist with structuring this piece.
