In 2014, I took a bus trip to Washington, DC with members of the Latino and undocumented American communities. We traveled so that we could put a face with the political rhetoric surrounding our broken immigration policy that our do nothing congress still fails to address.
When we got there, we met with staff members of the North Carolina Congressional Delegation about passing immigration reform. On this trip was a mother of four and her eldest was born with a disability that has required the lifelong use of a wheelchair. I was amazed at the number of times this mother would have to lift her daughter over her shoulder to place her in the wheelchair each time we stopped during the trip. It was impossible to ignore the sacrifices this mother was making daily for her family. Knowing that each time we stopped for a bathroom or food break we had to make sure we could find facilities that were handicap accessible I could see the challenges that many of our family, friends, and neighbors go through just in their daily lives to provide for their own loved ones under challenging and circumstances.
On the way back, we made a stop in Virginia during a bad snowstorm. Many of the people on our trip had never seen snow before in their lives. As everyone jumped out to enjoy the snow, the mother prepared to carry her daughter out, and she said, “No, Mommy, you go play in the snow.” This is when I knew that I had to stand up and run for a public office, any office, because the status quo could not be continued and I had a moral obligation to be the change I wanted to see.
Flash forward to 2017. I was the NC 9th congressional district democratic nominee in 2016 against incumbent Robert Pittenger and we came up 8 points shorts of making history. The history of being the first democrat to win that seat in 50 years, after it was unopposed in 2014 and the history that I would have been the first Latino to ever be elected at the federal level in North Carolina and much of our southeastern states. Also, I would have proudly carried the rich diversity of being the very first Latino, gay representative ever elected. And it’s still possible for me to do this.
For the past two years I have been active every day, campaigning and knocking on doors and meeting people that each have a different story. We have solid support and the ability to get votes throughout the eight counties of the 9th district. Because of what we did in 2016, our district is now targeted to be flipped for 2018. It’s now on the map.
I am proud to be a part of the Indivisible groups and everything they are doing to resist and am working with them as much as possible. We are continuing to fight for single payer health care, a woman’s right to choose, the climate battle, raising the minimum wage and so much more. Really, the message hasn’t changed much. But there is something else-NC has no gubernatorial or senate race in 2018, meaning congressional races are at the top of the ticket. North Carolina has been severely gerrymandered and I am personally committed to making sure that no republican state house or state senate seat is unopposed in 2018 with our county and state democratic party.
We just saw in Virginia that there was so much attention and turnout for an off year- yet 12 state seats were unopposed for republicans. That is unacceptable for a seat to be uncontested (this is part of why I ran in 2016) and why I am working to recruit candidates and knock doors for as many state and local races in my district and North Carolina as possible. There was an article I read recently saying there are 24 states where democrats have no political influence whatsoever and this was a rebuke on our party. But republicans have drawn districts where they are untouchable. Just for the 2016 congressional races in NC, republicans got about 2.4 million votes and democrats got about 2.1 million votes. Yet republicans won 10 of the 13 seats. This creates a viscous cycle were democrats fear their votes don’t count-hence why we are knocking doors, working with Indivisible, and trying to recruit and endorse as many candidates as possible for local, state, and other districts here in North Carolina and around America. We are here. And we’re not going away. We must be a team and that is why I am running again. I know it can be daunting to run but it is necessary and it takes courage. I walked into that storm in 2016 and proved that we can win. We just need that final push over the finish line.
I am running because the people in our district deserve someone who has been fighting for them for the right reasons and not when it is convenient. We want to bring hospitality, service, and courage back to the people’s house. We want to fight for those who feel they can only whisper and make sure that anyone who is running against a republican doesn’t feels alone or has no support. Republicans took 64 seats in 2010. We need just 24 in 2018 (hopefully 23 after next week).
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