The City, County, State, and Federal government do not work like a ladder that elected officials climb in sequence. Each arena deals with different issues. I considered running for city council several years ago, but after some training and joining a city anti-discrimination advisory committee, I decided that it was not the space where I wanted to focus my efforts. I want to tackle the current crises at both local and national levels, and as an elected official, I can only do that in the House of Representatives. 

This is a moment of many crises: the immigrant detention crisis, the housing crisis, the affordability crisis, the healthcare crisis. If we don’t step up in the 2026 election, even fewer people might get to vote in the next one. My experience as a historian drives my choice to run: I know where crises and politics like these have led before. We might still be able to change our national trajectory. But we need to take a very different level of collective action. No one is coming to save us. We have to save ourselves.