Congress - 15th District Candidate

Questions & Answers

What is the importance of the US Congress to your constituents in Champaign County?

Congress is important to every constituent in Champaign County. This is most obvious with the current vacuum in leadership in Washington in both Congressional districts that cover the county. The real impacts of policy failure lead to crumbling infrastructure, children being unfed, and people dying due to lack of access to healthcare.

The decisions made and avoided in Congress by our current representatives are not providing the vital opportunities for our residents. Elected officials are our public servants. At least they are supposed to be. The lack of accessibility to these officials to their constituents allows them to avoid the consequences of their decisions and inaction.

We must hold them accountable.

Why are you a qualified to be in the US Congress?

I’m qualified because I’ve been fighting successfully for others throughout my life. From helping to push a referendum that built a new elementary school in Moultrie County, challenging the status quo at Rose-Hulman and Terre Haute, fighting to protect and strengthen healthcare access, providing prevention education in inner city schools and neighborhoods, and standing up for those who couldn’t wherever I’ve been. I have the experience and fighting spirit necessary to bring a transformational style of politics to Washington.

I was elected Vice Chair of a federal healthcare planning and advisory council that guided the Indiana State Department of Health in managing federal money and administering services across the state. This taught me how vital it was to listen to others and rally voices to the cause.

I also know what happens when bureaucrats make cavalier decisions without knowing the consequences. After I moved back to the district, Governor Pence took over Indiana and they gutted all of the programs we had fought to protect. He created an HIV outbreak and the lack of access to healthcare led to the deaths of Hoosiers.

When you know what can happen when government fails, you care enough to inform yourself, to listen to people, and do something about our struggles.

What is a key policy difference between you and your Primary Opponent[s]?

The key policy differences are in the approaches we take in tackling the district’s problems and in how we interact with voters. My approaches are community-focused, based on my interactions with voters across the 33 counties in the 15th District. For example, this is why my position on healthcare is about access and the high cost as opposed to the Medicare for All approach.

I’ve also been researching and discussing the various industries and economies of the 15th, focusing on the strengths and weaknesses and how to create more opportunities for each county and community. For example, current oil and gas regulations favor big companies that don’t care about our farmlands and waterways and squash the smaller companies that live and work here. They care deeply about maintaining our resources yet are being priced out of the marketplace.

Also, I grew up in the 15th District. I weeded soybeans as a kid when there still were weeds. I understand how agriculture connects to small town life. To me, the most important untapped resource throughout the district are the people. In many communities, I’m the first candidate they’ve seen since Jim Edgar. That’s a problem that I will fix, because I keep showing up time and again.

Finally, I’ve experienced a great deal in my 41 years of life. People I know have been murdered. People have lost their battle with disease because of lack of access to healthcare. These issues aren’t just trivial talking points to me. Failure is not an option, because failure means we lose another generation. I care, and I’m not demanding people’s support and vote, I’m asking for the opportunity to earn it.

Is there anything else you would like to say to an undecided voter in Champaign County?

The lack of leadership and direction from our representatives in Congress for the last few decades has resulted in too many missed opportunities. We should be so much further along than we are. That’s why I’m having conversations with people wherever I go. Not short conversations but extensive ones. Not single conversations but many conversations over months and years.

I don’t have all the answers. The people of this district have the answers. It’s about us coming together and working toward a future with more opportunities for everyone, with better paying jobs, more industries to put people back to work, and with an education system that prepares the next generation for a better future instead of a stagnant economy.

Champaign County has a history of rising to steep challenges. In the Great Depression, they were one of the first in the country to print their own money in the form of orange bills to keep the county afloat in desperate times. This is an inspiration to anyone that is dedicated to public service. Where there is a determined will, wherever there is coordinated actions, we can come together and move forward.

Both Democrat candidates for IL-15th answered a questionnaire by The News-Gazette

You can find their answers: here.