Local Issues

Economic Development

By revitalizing our neighborhoods, establishing new zoning laws, and investing in infrastructure, we have the ability to attract and retain new residents and business. These investments will allow us to expand our community tax base and ensure it is more cost effective for our existing residents to receive improved government services.

Sustainability

Our community must continue our commitment to renewable energy, and improve alternative transportation options for our residents. Investing in our environment is not only necessary, it provides a fantastic opportunity for our local economy. We must build bike lanes, establish new green spaces, expand our recycling program, and commit to net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

National Issues

Expanding Our Healthcare

Healthcare is a right and not a privilege. The Affordable Care Act improved the lives of my family and millions of Americans, but we can’t stop there.

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No one in this country should go bankrupt because they can’t afford basic care. Medicare for All will allow us to offer full vision, dental, and mental health benefits to every American. We can ensure that we are investing in preventative care without having the burden of skyrocketing co-pays, premiums, and deductibles. It is time we join almost every other developed nation in the world, and value patients over profits.

Improving Our
Economy

Instead of providing billion dollar tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, I would invest in early childhood care & education.

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I would support Unions with job training and apprenticeship programs, and I would expand rural broadband to keep farmers connected to the markets. I would increase the earned income tax credit, ensure equal pay for equal work, and invest in environmentally friendly infrastructure to make certain anyone with a full time job is able to live a healthy, productive life.

Protecting Our Environment

The Climate Crisis is real. This is a global issue that will affect millions of people world-wide, and we need to ensure that we are leading the charge for environmental justice.

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The United States must transition to a carbon-free, 100% renewable energy system. This will not only help to save the planet, but it will offer outstanding economic opportunities for OH-05 and the nation. While some politicians have spent their careers denying the existence of Climate Change, I will spend my time in Congress taking a proactive approach and support legislation that will create high-paying green jobs and help protect the planet for generations to come.

Tax Reform

The Republican tax scam cost our Country 1 trillion dollars. Instead of helping hard working Americans, our representative handed tax cuts to corporations and the super rich.

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I would rollback this legislation and implement an increase to the top marginal tax rate. Income over 10 million dollars would be taxed at a rate of 70%. People have called this plan radical, but simply look to the 1950’s. At this time, the top marginal tax rate was around 90%. A perfect example of increased taxes on the super rich, which lead to a high growth period in American history.

Higher Education

I have grown up in the era of crippling college debt. I myself struggle with college debt payments, and I have seen how hard it is for individuals to work their way out of this stranglehold.

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In 1965, the average in-state tuition at a four-year public university was just $243, adjusted for inflation, students now pay 9 times that amount to attend those very same schools.​ I believe in debt-free College, Community College and Trade Schools, an expansion of the College debt forgiveness program, and an increase in need-based grants at the state and federal level.

Agriculture

Our district has the largest agricultural presence of any district in the state of Ohio. However, our leaders have not done enough to support farms that are struggling across the country.

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For too long the federal government has either been ignoring or actively working to undermine farm policy with unwise tariffs and major agribusiness mergers that threaten family farms. I plan to expand interest free loan programs for farmers to invest in the latest technology to reduce runoff and expand crop yields. I will work with the EPA to go after large scale factory farms and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) ensuring that we conduct the proper research regarding factory farm runoff, and implement regulations, citations, or fines for violations.

Campaign Finance Reform

As a first time candidate, I am stunned by the oversized role money plays in our politics. This system of allowing the wealthiest Americans to purchase our political leadership must change.

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I would make it illegal for our representatives to take political donations from companies that they are tasked to regulate. I support overturning, through a constitutional amendment, the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections. This drowns out the concerns of everyday Americans in favor of corporate interests. I support moving towards proportional representation, ending gerrymandering and publicly funded elections.

Immigration

“If we ever close the door to new Americans, our leadership role in the world will soon be lost.” Ronald Reagan said those words, and they ring true today more than ever.

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We need to re-establish the Dream Act, have a clear path to citizenship, and protect the rights of families to remain together. We need to invest in our immigration court system, reform the Immigration and Custom Enforcement Agency, and treat all people with dignity and respect, regardless of citizenship.

Trade Wars & Tariffs

While it is important to protect the interests of the American citizen in every single trade negotiation that is being considered, the current trade war we have waged is destroying our middle class.

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No matter what Donald Trump says, the American people are paying for the tariffs that he has imposed, and the Ohio farmers right here in OH-05 are bearing the burden of retaliatory measures put in place by Chinese Government.

Veteran’s Issues

Our Veterans were essential to protecting our nation’s freedom and ARE essential to the success of our country. It is time that we started treating them that way.

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We must do more to help heal the wounds of returning service members, by investing in mental health programs to treat instances such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and traumatic brain injuries. Quality health care is critical as veterans return to their communities, and we must put forth every effort to ease that transition back into civilian life.

Reproductive Freedom

My Catholic education taught me that a just society provides access to health care for all. This is why it is so important to protect access to safe, legal, affordable abortion, birth control, and family planning services, as well as, access to adequate, affordable pre- and post-natal care, for all people, regardless of income, location or education.

Supporting LGBTQIA+

Now more than ever, it is so essential to stand shoulder to shoulder with our LGBTQIA+ community. In 2019, the House passed the historic Equality Act, which would expand the existing civil rights law to make discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity illegal.

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I will fight to ensure that this bill becomes law. We must do more to end the intolerance and bigotry throughout our nation.

Gun Control

Common-sense gun legislation is necessary and essential for any politician who claims to care about the lives of their constituents.

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It seems every other time you turn on the news there is a story about gun violence. Shootings at our schools, work places, places of worship and in our neighborhoods. In fact in America, gun violence is occurring at a rate 10 times higher than in any other high-income country. This has to stop. Common-sense gun legislation is necessary and essential for any politician who claims to care about the lives of their constituents. I believe in Universal and Improved Background Checks for firearm purchases. Currently, our federal background check system has a dangerous loophole in which felons and domestic abusers can purchase firearms off of the internet or at gun shows without going through a proper process. I also believe in the banning of Assault Weapons and High-Capacity Magazines. These are weapons of war, designed to cause maximum harm, and have no place on our streets or in our hunting grounds.

Prison Reform

We need to end the practice of mass incarceration, funding towards for-profit prisons and detention centers, and ensure the release of individuals incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses.

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While the United States is home to nearly 5% of the world’s population, we sadly contain nearly 25% of all incarcerated individuals worldwide. This statistic is made even more staggering when you look at the breakdown of our prison population based on race. Though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately 32% of the US population, they comprise 56% of all incarcerated people. We need to end the practice of mass incarceration, funding towards for-profit prisons and detention centers, and ensure the release of individuals incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses.

Paid Family Leave

We must mandate all employers to offer employees, regardless of gender, time off from work to care for a seriously ill family member or to bond with a new child entering the family through birth, adoption, or foster care placement.

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This needs to be expanded to hourly wage workers who are working hard to support their families. They deserve the ability to stay home and bond with their children or care for ailing family members.

Opioid Epidemic

The State of Ohio ranks top-5 in opioid related deaths, yet our district’s representative continuously takes hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from big pharmaceutical companies.

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I will stand up to the opioid manufacturers and make certain they pay for their crimes against our communities. I will work with States’ Attorneys General to form a national legislative settlement agreement against the most egregious contributors to the opioid crisis, ensuring the payouts from this action would go right back into the neighborhoods most affected.

Social Security

The social security program is one of the most successful examples of an economically just support system put into place to respect the dignity of hard working Americans. We must ensure that we are actively seeking to extend the solvency of Social Security and to protect its existence

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I support raising the cap on taxable income so that everyone who makes over $250,000 a year pays the same percentage of their income into Social Security as middle class and working families.

Make a Donation

This campaign is entirely funded by individual donors like you. I do not accept money from corporate PACs because I believe Congress should be held accountable by the constituents they represent, not corporate donors or lobbyists.