Candidate Statement
I’m a foster parent, an attorney and a lifelong Hoosier who can’t sit back and watch as our state legislators put personal beliefs ahead of the will of the people. I am a pro-choice candidate. I’m pro women having the choice to get the healthcare that is right for them. I’m pro people loving who they want to love. And, I’m pro people choosing to use marijuana responsibly. The data speaks for itself: these issues are important to our community and these are the issues I will advocate for as your representative.
Education
Indiana University (bachelors, masters, law school)
Occupational background
Trial attorney
The cost of living is growing faster than wages and salaries. This impacts people at every income level and stage of life. As your representative, I’ll invest in working and middle-class Hoosiers because they are the engine of our local economy.
We need to put the buying power back in the hands of Hoosiers, and here’s how. We’ll invest in pre-K programs to give parents the choice to re-enter the workforce if they choose. We’ll prepare young Hoosiers to be economic contributors by investing in high school trade pathways. And we’ll continue to invest in high-skilled jobs that attract homegrown talent so Hoosiers can grow, learn, and work right here at home.
It will be my honor to serve Hoosiers for as long as they elect me.
Racial and social justice starts with empowering and amplifying all voices. That is why I want to protect and expand voting rights. We must move to an independent redistricting commission to help reverse decades of race-based gerrymandering that limits the voting power of Hoosiers. We must expand education and access to early voting opportunities while having population-based polling locations to ensure equitable access to the ballot box.
Indiana must create a ballot initiative process that empowers Hoosiers. Polling shows that the majority of Hoosiers are in favor of abortion and modern marijuana legislation, so putting these issues on the ballot will allow Hoosiers to truly let their voices be heard.
5
The Republican supermajority has relaxed standards for businesses so much that we have the worst air and water in the country, and that’s before we discuss the dangerous impacts of climate change. The Hoosier state is experiencing increasing temperatures, increasing precipitation, and decreasing water quality.
We can’t halt or reverse these effects, but we can slow them down by investing in renewable energy, increasing wetlands protections, and holding large corporations to strict emissions and pollution standards. As your representative, I will fight for the programs and initiatives that offset carbon emissions, invest in energy efficiency, and more. I’ll also help amplify the voices of those who care about our environment and our futur
In addition to Indiana’s strong agbioscience and manufacturing roots, we are one of the country’s tech hubs and a destination for innovation. We can continue to recruit innovative companies that attract top talent.
We need to invest in Hoosier businesses and create an economic environment that keeps their needs at its core. Small and medium-sized businesses have their fingers on the pulse of the community and truly know how to serve their needs.
4
Access to quality healthcare outcomes should be a right and not a privilege. Whether that right is afforded by the state or the federal government, every citizen deserves to be healthy.
Indiana ranked 16th in the nation for access to healthcare, but we ranked 10th WORST for healthcare outcomes, 12th WORST in quality of care, 47th in maternal mortality, and have the 12th HIGHEST cost of care. Let’s remove profit from the medical decision-making process and allow our high quality providers to give high quality care.
Access to abortion, contraception and other reproductive care need to be available for those who choose it.
5
Every child deserves access to a great education, and Central Indiana is home to some of the best public school systems in the country. However, this Republican supermajority is trying to defund our public schools by using the voucher system to allow taxpayer dollars to fund the private school tuition of wealthy families. Private schools are private institutions and should not take public funding from the more than 90% of Hoosier students who attend our great public schools.
Our most recent elections have been the most secure elections in our nation’s history, but the fallacy of election integrity is used to suppress turnout. Indiana’s voter turnout rate is second to last in the country, allowing the Republican supermajority to make the rules and draw unfair district boundaries. We need to increase access to the ballot box by allowing same-day registration, increasing early voting hours, putting more polling locations in densely populated areas, getting rid of assigned polling places, and increasing education around the fact that Indiana is one of 16 states where felons have their voting rights automatically restored when released.
If legislators can save a single life by mandating better accountability of guns, then they have the obligation to do so. Mandating gun owners to carry permits will ensure proper accountability for all law-abiding gun owners. We can also institute red flag laws, increase holds on gun purchases, and pass legislation closing the gun show loophole like the one State Senator Andrea Hunley tried to pass.
