We all know why this is the most critical election we face. Our rights are being stripped away at the national level, showing no signs of stopping. Make no mistake, while we have protections here in Washington for reproductive healthcare, if the GOP gains control, they will try to take those away. I am 100% pro-choice and will do everything I can to protect that right. We have seen the all too vivid reality that our rights are not secure. They can be chipped away little by little or stripped away instantly. The trigger laws taking place across our country are terrifying. Abortion is a matter of a woman’s health and should not be regulated. We must provide funding for Planned Parenthood and its vital work in all reproductive health care areas. The scariest thing is, they aren’t stopping there. They are already trying to come after LGBTQ and voting rights. We all know this is why putting more Democrats in offices at all levels is so important this election. However, I want to talk about issues that matter here in the 19^th LD and why I am the voice you need to represent us here in the 19th District.

We need someone who believes we can get back to working together again and come back to the table. This red vs blue mentality will get us nowhere. We have to start reaching across the isle and start working on issues that we can all agree on and stop this polarized insanity. I am old enough to remember when we could all work together to create and support policies that matter. We have to work our way back.

We need someone who will protect our jobs and create policies that promote our rural district. We need a Democrat willing to fight for jobs like the ones being lost at the Naselle Youth Camp. We need someone who has some leverage with the Democratic majority and has a seat at the table where these decisions are made.

We need someone to push companies to utilize the funds available to bring broadband and power projects to our rural areas. This will create more job opportunities.

We need someone to address the housing affordability problem. We must stop large corporations and investors from buying up large swaths of neighborhoods and raising rents. We need to innovate to build faster and lower costs and cut down on some of the regulatory barriers. Landowners should be able to build additional ADUs if they have the space without restrictions of one per property. We also need programs to help new buyers qualify for and obtain mortgages.

We need someone to work on our housing inequity and homelessness issues. Persons with disabilities, People of color, especially Black and Native American people, are overrepresented among people experiencing homelessness, housing insecurity, and evictions. We need assistance for those who need better education to access stable work opportunities.  We need to increase opportunities for minority home ownership and invest in affordable rental housing.  We need to take a real look at what they are doing in Vancouver’s Stay Safe program with pallet homes, which give people a safe place to park or sleep while seeking or maintaining current employment and work towards permanent housing. The site has 24/7 staffing by a nonprofit, which helps enforce the site rules and connects residents with support services and has been very successful.

We need someone to push for a change in how we fund our schools. We owe every child an equal education and it is criminal that we have crumbling schools and schools with nurses because the school is in a poorer district. We need better access to mental health care in schools.  Most schools in the 19th District have only 1 counselor per 300-500 or more students. Depression, bullying, and anxiety are at peak, dangerous levels for our children. This makes it practically impossible for them to properly manage these issues. Teachers are one of our most important resources and their pay does not reflect that. One of my daughters is a 4th-grade teacher and every year she puts up a wish list of school supplies for people to donate to her class. Our teachers should be paid more than just a living wage and should never have to beg for school supplies for their students.  We also need more teachers so that important things like safety and bullying can be properly addressed.

We need someone who will fight to protect our children and our communities from this epidemic of mass shootings. We need someone who will fight to keep weapons out of the hands of dangerous people with gun safety measures that are well defined and have measurable effects without infringing on 2^nd amendment rights. 

We need someone that will support our logging, agriculture, and fishing industries and small farmers by expanding fair access to foreign markets, supporting Washington crops, and investing in agriculture innovation and research. We need to support our small farmers too and need to reduce the burdensome regulations to allow small farmers to sell their own products. We need to encourage more crop co-ops, particularly those that can be used as biofuels. Almost 350,000 jobs and 120 billion of our economy come from our coastal economy, forest products, and our agriculture industry. We must fight to preserve our forests, pristine waters, and fisheries, but we have to have smart planning that does not hurt our employment opportunities and industries in the 19th.

We need someone who will support efforts to ensure that Washingtonians have access to low-cost, high-quality health care. We also have to work to increase access to that care for rural and underserved areas in the 19th. When someone in the 19th needs specialty care, they should not have to travel for hours to get it. We need to support policies that encourage more medical providers to come to the 19th to provide better access to health care and bring in more job opportunities.

We need someone that can work with the Democrats in office and amplify our voices to ensure that the issues here in the LD19 are prioritized instead of being dismissed.

I am that voice we need.

Who am I?

I am not a politician. I’m a mom, a grandmother, a wife, a small farmer, and a business professional that is fed up with polarized politics and the degradation of rights from the current Supreme Court that is undermining decades of precedent and rights of all citizens.

I am a registered Democrat who believes we must all return to the table and start working together again on the issues that matter to us here in the 19^th LD.  here. My entire life, I have been the peacemaker, negotiator, and calm in the storm; that is what I want to be for you.

I am currently the Director of Production for Aspiritech, a non-profit technology company that hires and trains neurodiverse individuals on the autism spectrum. For more than 25 years, I have been a program manager in the Information Technology field. A big part of my success is listening to the needs of my workers, the teams, and clients, negotiating solutions that work for everyone, and then implementing and following a plan of action to accomplish those goals. These are the skills I will rely on to make me a successful Representative for the people of the 19th District and all of Washington.

My promise to you:

I will vote on EVERY bill, so you know how I represent you.

I will always be willing to speak to you, whether you voted for me or not.

I will always be open to hearing your opinion on a bill before I vote.

I will represent everyone in the 19th LD, not just the ones who voted for me.

I humbly ask for your vote for Legislative Representative Position 2 in the 19^th LD.