Growing up in Reidsville, my first real political home was the Rockingham County Democratic Party. In a deep red county, those Democrats showed up and did the work. When I got to Appalachian State, I found that same sense of family in the Watauga County Democrats. Then later in Catawba. Forsyth. Guilford.

 

Everywhere I’ve worked, organized, or managed campaigns across North Carolina, I always knew I had to find the Democrats. They made me feel safe, seen, and gave me an outlet to become the change agent I wanted to be.

 

It was always vacant storefronts and old banks turned into campaign offices. Folding tables. Printers I don’t think ever worked. County chairs trying to keep the lights on and the rent paid one more month.

 

But those spaces became hubs of mobilization, powered by people from all walks of life.

That’s why I believe in this party so deeply.

 

I came into politics during a really transformative time for our party and our country.

I still remember my first time in a county party office. Somebody handed me a giant box of old landline phones in every color imaginable, with cords so long I’m sure they wrapped around the room twice, and asked me to carry them out to the car for Goodwill. Then I sat down to phonebank for Senator Kay Hagan using an old Obama flip phone left over from the 2012 campaign.

 

I had the best time there with people I had just met. By the end of the day, I knew my life had changed.

 

Then came the rise of Trump and MAGA, and like so many Democrats across this state, I fought it however I could and wherever I was needed.

 

And here we are today.

 

I’m running because I love organizing. I love winning. I love helping somebody knock their first doors, run for office, organize their precinct, or pull their first list in Votebuilder.

 

I’ve spent years watching ordinary people do extraordinary things with almost nothing except determination and each other. I want to keep giving back to the party that has given so much to me as our 1st Vice Chair.

 

And I’ve never been more fired up than I am right now.