While I'm sure a large percentage of DC citizens, including myself, respect and appreciate the job Representative Elenor Holmes-Norton has done in championing the cause of DC Statehood, it appears that the current strategy of, primarily, negotiating on Capitol Hill has taken us about as far as it can, at least, in the near future. No matter when DC citizens achieve statehood, Rep. Norton will, no doubt, forever be hailed as a true champion of our cause and credited with carrying the baton for over 30 years.

I am running because I would like to take a different approach to achieve statehood and feel that now would be the perfect time to pass the baton.  

It is time to change our strategy for attaining statehood from a relatively quiet battle of persuasion on Capitol Hill to a creative, bold, and urgent effort of insistence aimed directly at voters.

I will work tirelessly to coordinate our voters, DC government, businesses, and friends to run non-stop campaigns designed to educate, unseat and boycott those who oppose our right to have representation in our government. 

DC Statehood will usher in a functioning democracy, no longer mired in the minority-manufactured gridlock that suggests that wildly popular programs and laws are unable to be enacted because of a lack of support. We’ll break the gridlock and allow our government to root out corruption, protect our planet, reduce mass shootings, secure free and fair elections, and govern ourselves like mature adults committed to democracy.