John,

The spirit of Dr. King animated my childhood. 

My father was African American, and my mother was white. As an interracial couple, they couldn’t marry in Indiana, where my father was raised, or my mother’s home state of Texas. So, they moved to New York, where MLK’s work spurred progress to make it possible for them to start a family. 

Activism wasn’t a choice for our family. It was survival.

Before I was born, and throughout my childhood, they marched for our right to vote. In 1965, Dr. King stood behind Lyndon Johnson as he signed the Voting Rights Act.

But more than half a century later, as we mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, the vote is still under siege.

The Voting Rights Act is on the verge of being gutted in the U.S. Supreme Court. The gerrymandering war happening across the country is squeezing the life out of democracy. And dark money has flooded into our politics ever since the Citizens United decision, making this a “one dollar, one vote” system instead of the “one person, one vote” system the Constitution intended.

That’s why I’m running for Congress. To carry forward the fight to preserve our voting rights even as the Trump administration storms across the country, stamping them out. I will fight for the John R. Lewis Voting Right Advancement Act. I will demand term limits in Congress. And, I will introduce legislation to get secret corporate donations out of politics.

Nothing makes me prouder than to follow in the footsteps of Dr. King, John Lewis, my parents, and so many others who gave their lives to this struggle. Because democracy is still worth fighting for. 

Please join me in the fight,  

Jami