Legislative Priorities

Public Education

Veterans Support

Affordable Healthcare & Health Autonomy

Gun Safety

Fair Elections

Worker’s Rights

Protections from Domestic Abuse

As a mom of three and a product of public education in New Orleans, LA, I know firsthand the power of a good education and caring teachers. Missouri currently ranks 49th in the nation in public school funding, yet our public education is under attack. I will endeavor to ensure Missouri public education is fully funded so our teachers can teach and our children can access the quality learning they all deserve.

I am also the proud mom of a student that needed the support of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) throughout most of her K-12 learning, so I understand the unique challenges facing families of students who require special services. Thankfully, my daughter’s story was one of success, but too many others are fraught with heartbreaking and improvable challenges. I will hold leaders accountable for providing accessible educational opportunities for students with special needs and adequate support for their advocates.

I grew up in a military family. My father and nine of my aunts and uncles are all prior or retired military, so I know from firsthand experience that Missouri’s V.A. hospitals are chronically under-supported and systemically backlogged. I have seen how long it takes for our veterans to receive the proper medical treatment, emotional support, and mental health services they deserve. With the added stressors of the COVID-19 global health crisis, these issues in our V.A. healthcare systems have only been exacerbated. I am committed to crafting and championing legislation that supports those who have pledged their service in defense of our freedoms.

Our forefathers declared that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are inalienable human rights, yet our costly healthcare system bars many Missourians from establishing the optimal health they need to live happily and freely. As a Human Resources professional, I hear from many people who can’t afford employer-subsidized health insurance, or who fear that a single sick day will leave bills unpaid. The voters of Missouri spoke up at the ballot box and chose to expand Medicaid in order to alleviate these woes, and I will defend that choice in our state legislature.

To create true liberty, individuals must have the autonomy to make healthcare choices for themselves and their families. This includes decisions about reproduction and gender expression, which should be made in private or with healthcare professionals and not in legislative sessions. I will protect our liberty by opposing legislation that seeks to override these personal health choices.

My family’s military background taught me a lot about being a dutiful, law-abiding citizen, including what it means to responsibly own and operate legal firearms pursuant to our 2nd Amendment rights. I will defend safe, lawful gun ownership while working to prevent hazardous, irresponsible, or illegal weapon possession and use. We must protect our constitutional rights while also protecting our kids from senseless gun violence or accidents.

I was 14 years old when I learned firsthand the power a single vote can have and why every voter’s voice deserves to be protected. I watched my parents work around the clock for months in support of a City Council candidate running against a powerful incumbent. We all stayed up late into election night to hear the news that our candidate had won by only 26 votes–a razor-thin margin that was challenged recounted and ultimately reconfirmed.

Even in a system that makes it hard for the most marginalized constituents to choose their representatives, a single vote can make all the difference. Every voter deserves an election process that is legal, fair, and just. I will work to break down the barriers that stand between voters and their right to participate in our democracy by supporting legislation that expands access to the polls in all communities.

The Covid-19 pandemic has put a clear spotlight on the essential workforce that we all rely on in our daily lives. Essential workers have been on the frontlines of everything these last two years—they’ve been teaching our kids, providing life-sustaining healthcare services, preparing/serving our food, manning critical supply service providers, and so much more. These tireless workers have been performing essential duties all while facing their own challenges with low wages, rising costs, and childcare worries. Too many of us have seen our essential workers endure mistreatment while working long hours, responding to staffing crises, and trying to stay healthy themselves.

On behalf of the workforce, unions have long fought for and successfully secured improvements in working conditions that protect employees and their families from harmful employer practices. These collective bargaining achievements have made work a safer place to be for everyone, regardless of their union status. I stand with unions and I will not support any bills that aim to make Missouri a Right to Work state or restrict the collective bargaining that protects us all.

I believe members of a thriving, healthy community must protect one another and safeguard our neighbors from harm–and that includes the harm some suffer at home. Domestic abuse comes in many forms. It can be physical, verbal, mental, and even financial. Nobody deserves abuse, which is why I pledge to support legislation that will protect Missourians from domestic partner, child, and senior abuse while making it easier and safer for victims of abuse to secure help and needed resources. I will also support legislation that aligns Missouri with federal gun laws closing the loophole that allows domestic violence offenders to possess firearms that could escalate already dangerous situations.