Candidate for Minnesota House of Representatives - District 54B in 2022 Minnesota General Election.
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Get StartedGetting an abortion is never the ideal choice, regardless of your views. The decision to raise a child is a difficult one. It requires forethought, planning, stability, and commitment. Unfortunately, pregnancy can happen without any of these. I believe that the decision to follow through with the pregnancy cannot be decided by anyone who isn’t the parent. There are many reasons why people may feel that getting an abortion is necessary. They may be in an abusive relationship or have been sexually assaulted. The pregnancy could be dangerous to the mother’s health or the fetus may not survive after birth. It could just not be the right time in their life to have a baby: they may be focusing on their school or work so that they can gain the stability necessary to raise a child later on. These factors will always be at play regardless of what the law says about abortion. When the right to abort an unwanted pregnancy is taken away, all that’s really been taken away is the ability to have an abortion safely. The factors that make the pregnancy untenable could very well outweigh the risk to the mother’s health posed by getting a black market abortion. I believe the priority should be to protect the freedom and safety of the mother, and the rights of the parents to be able to make the decision that is best for their families. Instead of focusing on preventing abortions by making them illegal, we should focus on contraception as the best alternative to abortion. We must educate young people on how to practice safe sex, and we must ensure that pregnancy tests, birth control and other contraceptives are available without being subject to discrimination.
Investing in education is the most effective way to ensure a brighter future for our communities, and for our country. College today is far too expensive when the benefit for most graduates is far too little. Many of my personal friends have been buried under mountains of debt in exchange for a degree that is still underqualified or is unnecessary for the job that they are pursuing after graduation. They have no competitive edge when applying for the “entry level” positions that require several years of experience, or the unskilled labor jobs which require a superfluous degree. We need to invest in alternatives to traditional four-year colleges, such as trade schools and technical colleges, which offer cheaper degrees that are faster to earn and teach the skills required to work in well-paid, middle class jobs. I believe we should be incentivising businesses to sponsor students by offering scholarships and by paying for the tuition of their employees. I will work to expand the network of technical colleges and educational boot camps that provide young adults with real-world skills that will increase their chances of finding gainful employment. Investing in more alternatives to higher education will reduce the costs of university education by providing much-needed competition among colleges, and it will better diversify the skills of the workforce, thereby increasing the employability of graduates from all institutions.
Climate Change is the single biggest issue of our time. At no other period in history has the whole of humanity been faced with such an overwhelming existential threat. The Cold War and the fear of nuclear winter was the first time humanity faced anything close to the threat we must now confront. Do not be deceived by the different natures of these two cataclysms. We narrowly avoided a nuclear holocaust because we were able to overcome our fear and our hatered, and so we did not take actions which would have resulted in the destruction of our planet. Now, in the face of a catastrophe in which the stakes are just as high, we must take action. We cannot sit still and pray that we will outlast this storm, for this is a storm without end. We must choose to do what is necessary to combat Climate Change.
I will fight to end the corrupting influence of money in politics and restore faith in good governance. Learn more
In 2020, the George Floyd protests swept across not only our nation, but across the entire globe. The largest protests in history calling for justice and accountability in police departments started right here in Minnesota. When I marched in the George Floyd protests I was fighting for a world which practices real justice and equality before the law. The fight isn’t over, and the need to hold our police accountable for their actions is ever-present. It is not the job of the police to be judge, jury, and executioner. Their job is to protect and serve the people by upholding the law, which means they cannot be above the law. It is the duty of our government at every level to ensure that the police are able to do their jobs, not abuse their power. As your representative, I will fight for legislation that requires officers to live in the communities that they’re policing, to build relationships with those communities, and to address the problems in their communities instead of simply responding to incidents. I will fight to give police the tools they need to help people, not just to keep them in line. I will fight to end qualified immunity to ensure that officers are held accountable for violating your constitutional rights. I will fight for independent committees to investigate police violence.
The most important thing about your healthcare is you. We need a health system that guarantees that you will get the care you need. A system that lets you choose which doctor is best for you. A system that doesn’t kick you off of your coverage the moment you need it most. Our current method of paying way too much money for health insurance that doesn’t cover what you need simply doesn’t work. Your health care being tied directly to your job puts an enormous burden on businesses, and too often traps people in a job they wouldn’t otherwise choose to work. We need a robust public option that lets Minnesotans get the care they need without worrying about whether or not they’ll be able to afford it. I will always vote to support patients and their doctors rather than the pointless middlemen who make money from refusing you the care you need.
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