Over the last few years, I’ve been a proud supporter of HCYD. I’m seeking your endorsement because young people are tired of politics as usual – and so am I. Although I’m now too old to be a HCYD, I still face the same challenges: unaffordable housing, unstable work, and an uncertain future. As a former teacher, scientist, and union leader, I’ve spent my career working alongside young people and early-career workers and fighting for real change. Young Democrats are leading the push for a better Texas, and I’m seeking HCYD’s endorsement to continue building what we started in the last campaign. I want to fight for and alongside you in growing a progressive coalition in CD21 that strengthens our democracy, protects basic rights, solves the climate crisis, and expands opportunity for working Texans.

I’m a scientist with a PhD in animal behavior and a former middle school teacher, so I’m well prepared to handle Congress! I know how to solve tough problems to deliver results for Texans from day one and have built my career around public service.

When our country is in crisis, I step up. I’ve been fighting the Trump administration for nearly a decade – first as a grassroots organizer who built a coalition of 300+ women scientists in 2017 to push back against attacks on science, immigrants, and DEI. Later as an oversight investigator for Senator Elizabeth Warren, I helped expose corruption and held powerful corporations and Trump officials accountable during the pandemic.

Before running, I served the public across both the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government. In the Senate, I helped write major federal laws to tackle the climate crisis and secured more than $20 billion for environmental and racial justice nationwide. At the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Government Accountability Office, I helped Congress use data and facts to solve real-world problems, protected your hard-earned tax dollars from waste and abuse, and stood up for workers as an elected union leader representing hundreds of early-career federal employees.

I’m also a working-class Democrat who knows what it’s like to grow up in a family living paycheck to paycheck. Rising costs aren’t theoretical to me – they’re personal. Pell Grants and National Science Foundation funding made it possible for me to earn a B.S. and a B.A. from UT-Austin and a Ph.D. from Cornell. I’m running to make sure the next generation of Texans has those same opportunities – and to build an economy and a future that works for all of us, not just billionaires and special interests.

(1) AFFORDABILITY: Lowering costs and building an economy that works for all of us Research shows higher union density leads to lower inequality and broadly shared economic growth. To address the affordability crisis facing every Texan, I will support the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which raises wages, protects workers’ rights, and gives people real power to bargain for fair pay and benefits. Young workers today face low pay, unstable schedules, gig jobs without benefits, and retaliation for speaking up. The PRO Act changes that by allowing workers to organize and secure better pay and conditions to afford rent, groceries, and health care. This is about an economy for the people who do the work – not just CEOs and shareholders.

I will also fight to make childcare and eldercare affordable, protect the Affordable Care Act, and expand Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. Fair tax policies will ensure billionaires and corporations pay their share while providing direct relief and tax credits to working families. I will use congressional oversight to crack down on corporate price-gouging and monopolies driving up costs.

(2) ACCOUNTABILITY: Fighting corruption and fixing a broken government As a former federal scientist, I know government can and should be a force for good – not a weapon of oppression. As a Congresswoman, I will fight to strengthen democracy and hold those in power accountable, including impeaching DHS officials and preventing masked ICE agents from militarizing and terrorizing our streets. I support the Protecting Our Democracy Act to stop presidential abuses, the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act to ban conflicts of interest and reform campaign finance, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to protect and expand voting rights.

In Congress, I will use my oversight experience to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly and government works for people, not special interests. I know how to turn science, facts, and evidence into action – and that is exactly what I will do for our district.

(3) OPPORTUNITY: Protecting our rights, health, education, and environment This past year, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress and Texas have trampled on our rights and closed doors of opportunity for everyday Texans. I’m committed to repairing what they’ve broken so everyone – no matter their background or zip code – has a fair shot to thrive. That means investing in strong public schools, affordable education and training programs without crushing debt, making ACA subsidies permanent, codifying reproductive rights, and ensuring LGBTQIA+ communities can live openly and safely nationwide.

As a scientist, I will also fight for a livable, healthy planet and support legislation that advances evidence-based climate solutions to protect frontline communities and those long ignored or overburdened by polluting industries – including recently proposed AI data centers.

“Get Up” by Young Fathers. It's energetic, motivating, and action-oriented to mobilize voters! A common refrain is "Come here and do the right thing, Get up and have a party, Get up!", but my favorite line is "When I get down to this, I'm the catalyst, For a revolution." If you haven't heard this song - go listen now! I dare you not to dance!

I support dismantling and overhauling ICE and holding Trump and DHS accountable for this rogue agency that is militarizing and terrorizing communities and killing people on our streets! In 2018, I protested ICE and family separations at the "Families Belong Together" protest in DC. Between 2019 and 2022 I volunteered as an adult advocate for immigrant children detained within the U.S. system – including in San Antonio – to advocate for immigrant rights. I have publicly addressed this problem by attending and speaking at protests in San Antonio and Hays County (Kyle). Most recently, I attended the San Antonio City Council hearing and spoke out against potential collaboration between the SAPD and ICE. You can find my testimony on my social media.

I do not support policing technologies or the misuse of tools that are being turned against our communities. As a former federal science and technology expert, I helped policymakers use data and facts to make better, evidence-based decisions on issues like this. Protecting data privacy and civil liberties is deeply important to me, and I will fight to ensure they remain a top priority. While I haven’t led efforts on this issue in Hays County yet, I am eager to engage, raise awareness, and take action locally.

I do not support the development of AI data centers and share resident concerns for proposed development here in Hays County and nationwide. I'm a new resident in San Marcos, and even if I wasn't – my scientific background has provided me with a deep understanding of how these centers can and will harm the people in CD21. On Jan 13th, I attended a local protest at the San Marcos City Council's Planning and Zoning Commission and spoke out against a proposed project off Francis Harris Lane that would reclassify 200 acres from conservation-focused use to build a data center campus. More specifically, I addressed environmental concerns such as our lack of water, extensive use of electricity that will cause our bills to go up, and the fact that AI will replace and displace millions of workers and hurt working people. If elected, I will continue to lead investigations into these centers and ensure transparency of the developers because I see these as another method for enriching billionaires and Big Tech companies and an attempt to privatize profits while publicizing costs.

I trust experts, and a growing number of experts have called for a solution to what they call is a genocide and famine in Gaza. Some scholars say that it's hard to prove that Israel's war on Gaza is motivated by "genocidal intent" and that genocide is considered the hardest crime to prove in court. Amnesty International was the first major international organization to accuse Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza, and they've since been joined by Human Rights Watch and Doctors Without Borders. Israeli government officials have said their goal is to destroy Hamas, not Palestinians. I think independent investigations are warranted and do not support funding to support war, famine, or genocide whatsoever.