I’m a mom, a wife, and a longtime resident of Burnsville. My husband and I chose this community as the place to plant our roots and raise our family. We have two wonderful kids who attend public school, and my husband owns a small business. Prior to serving in the Minnesota Senate, I was the executive director of a non-profit organization that trained emerging leaders from across Minnesota to organize their communities and advocate for change.

I first became politically active in our district in 2012 as a volunteer in the effort to defeat the anti-marriage equality amendment. I fell in love with talking to voters, listening and hearing their stories, finding shared values, and seeing each other’s humanity. As I expanded my involvement to include advocacy at the state capitol, I soon came to appreciate the incredible power for positive change that exists when we have elected officials who care about, listen to, and engage with their constituents.

That is why I first ran for the Minnesota legislature. And, when I didn’t win the first time, I redoubled my efforts to meet and engage with the residents of my district and, in 2020, was elected to the Minnesota Senate.

I believe in a better way of leading: working alongside the people in our community. It is my honor and privilege to work hard everyday to find real, meaningful solutions to the challenges the residents of our district and our state face every day—building an economy that works for us all, protecting our rights from moneyed special interests, protecting our treasured natural resources, and ensuring the future is bright for our children.

We are living in a really uncertain world right now. My friend Melissa Hortman and her husband were murdered, my colleague John and his wife were shot that night too. There was a heinous school shooting that shocked Minneapolis and forever changed two families. This winter Federal agents terrorized  Minnesotans, killed two, detained and deported thousands of others. I don’t step up for re-election lightly, there is so much at stake and even more to fix. I hope you will join me in the work to build a better Minnesota for us all.