While I’ve been committed to public service for most of my life, I had to learn how to be a leader. Sadly, it’s apparent that many of the politicians in Harrisburg never learned this lesson. More so than party affiliation or personal life choices, our State House stagnates because too many politicians are voting for a partisan agenda or a corporate paycheck. Despite low wages, worker protections at risk, and our taxpayers bearing the burden of a failing education funding formula, voters have to vet their candidates for billionaire influences and I.O.U. campaign donations. I’ve watched my own representatives let me down for too long. Bucks County desperately needs a fighter in Harrisburg, and that’s why I’ve stepped up to run for state representative in the 143rd district.
My parents built a strong foundation to drive me towards public service. My father’s salary as a union sheet metal worker supported my family. Once he was forced into early retirement by a disability, my mother had to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. I quickly learned the difference between having a union’s protection and living on the federal minimum wage. Their resilience in tough times demonstrated the importance of hard work that I still carry with me today; it also taught me how fragile stability is for working families when the government fails to provide adequate employee protections. We have our unions to thank for the forty hour workweek and safe working conditions, but our elected representatives must continue to make progress for our community.
Driven by my desire to fight for my community, I joined the Pennsylvania Army National Guard at only seventeen. I served alongside all walks of life, and encountered, befriended, and worked shoulder to shoulder with people I disagreed with. We put aside our differences to get things done. While serving, I worked directly with local law enforcement and learned firsthand what resources they were lacking and where they needed help.
I ran for Dublin Borough Council because I wanted to close those gaps: to give first responders, police, and firefighters the funding they needed, to fight for working families’ quality of life, and to improve our public schools. I ran on a platform of direct, practical solutions, and at twenty one, I was elected to Dublin Borough Council to make good on my promises.
After years of service, I’m proud to say I’m president of a bipartisan council with a track record of delivering. Dublin Borough Council has made record investments in our first responders, improved our environmental sustainability, and made water and sewer infrastructure upgrades–all without raising taxes. With a focus on reducing wasteful spending, I led efforts to improve our home without placing the burden onto our tax payers.
We achieved this by not taking the easy way out. Never abandoning hard tasks to petty partisan arguments, we rolled up our sleeves, listened to members of the community, and worked across the aisle to pass quality legislation. When I needed to understand agriculture, I began volunteering on a farm. When I needed to help our first responders, I began donating the entirety of my Dublin Borough Council check every year. When I joined a Republican-led council at twenty one, I sat down, had the hard conversations, and got to work.
I began writing my own policy and advocating when I saw issues that needed to be solved on the state level. As State Policy Manager for Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, I work with Republican and Democratic state representatives to pass legislation through Harrisburg. I used my experience brokering bipartisan solutions on Borough Council to pass major legislation like the Solar for Schools grant program. We used smart policy to upgrade our schools, bring down their utility bills, and make our state a little greener while offering net savings to taxpayers.
Our current representative Shelby Labs has proven that she never learned how to lead. When given the opportunity to fight for fair wages, she voted no three separate times (1,2,3). In a cost of living crisis, she voted against Governor Shapiro’s Lightning plan to give energy rebates to working families and against regulations that would ensure data centers couldn’t jack up your electricity bill. After taking tens of thousands of dollars in utility company campaign donations, she voted to protect their profit margin.
Where a leader works across the aisle, she fights against bipartisan legislation to protect personal medical liberty.
I learned to lead by valuing collaboration and refusing to yield to corruption. Shelby Labs would rather fill her campaign bank account than make sure your children will be able to find a good job in the state they grew up in. I’m running for state representative because Bucks County needs someone to contribute to the solutions, not the problems.
