I was 7 years old in 1968 and lived in a working class family who talked and debated intelligently and thoughtfully about the events in our nation: Civil Rights, Vietnam, and Nixon!. Even then, I knew the idea of the United States that I was learning about in school and church, and which inspired me, was not fully realized in the real world; that it is a work in progress.  Each generation, each individual, has the opportunity and duty to bring us closer to the ideals upon which our nation was founded. At 13, I knew that the Democratic Party represented the best avenue for us to become the nation we were founded to become. At 15, I volunteered on my first campaign and then accepted progressively more responsibility from the local Party. At 16, I managed my first campaign, a candidate for state legislator. I have remained active in Democratic politics ever since. Among many roles, I was on the Board of Directors for Western Pa for Kerry, and a canvass director in Allegheny County for President Obama’s reelection in 2012. Since moving to Greenville, I have worked on local campaigns, served as an organizer on two Presidential campaigns, served as the Volunteer Coordinator for the GCDP and now as the Co-coordinator of the Precinct Development Committee.

I experienced a formative moment on my first campaign. I was tasked with leading a group of students to deliver absentee applications to residents in nursing homes. We went to a home with a stellar reputation and staff, which was clean, and the residents well cared for. Still, there was a cloud of loneliness and despair that hung with suffocating heaviness in the air. It overwhelmed me, it seemed to cling to my clothes and skin. When we got back to the car, I began to weep. I had not cried in front of anyone since my parents divorced four years earlier.  It shook me to realize this was in my community, in modern America, and this was a choice. We treated these aged souls this way not because we couldn’t do better, but because we chose not to do better. Back at HQ, our campaign manager took me aside. He forcefully reminded me: “This is why we are working hard; this is why our work is important; this is why my contribution was vital—stay and fight to make a difference or whimper in the dark—but make my choice; we had important work to do and damn little time to do it.” I stayed.

I am guided by a desire to make a difference and a life view that can be summed up in the words of John F. Kennedy; “We are not here to curse the darkness but to light the candle that will lead us through the darkness to a safe and sane future”

These are the values, work ethic, perspective and judgement I will bring as your representative to the SCDP. I appreciate your trust and support.