As much as I love campaigning I sometimes find myself making excuses not to do it. For instance, right now I should be going door to door instead im sitting here and writing. “Dont worry as soon as I am done writing this I will go door to door.” I really do love to campaign and I love the door to door part. As soon as I knock on that first house then im in the zone. Its just convincing myself to do it and deciding which neighborhood to go to thats the hard part. I love the reaction I get when people answer and I tell them im running for State Representative. “I think they were expecting me to sell popcorn or try and get them to join the mormon religion.”

I am young…

And not afraid to hide it.

I have been told by many people “You are so young what makes you a better candidate than anybody else?”

First I dont see myself as a better candidate than anybody else. I believe Jim, Jeff and I all have the same concerns and very much look forward to going down to Jefferson City and representing the 121st. But I am certainly different and I think what I bring to the table is what Democratic and middle class voters want.

-If you have not read my first post this might be a good time to do it.

I understand what it is like……

To live paycheck to paycheck.

To work and work and still not have enough money to fill up the gas tank, buy health insurance, or a weeks worth of groceries.

To go to college and pay 200+ dollars a credit hour and end up with $42,000 worth of debt.

Buying groceries with food stamps.

Be on Medicare/Medicaid

To have a bank charge a ridiculous 35 dollars for being 4 dollars over my account balance for less than one day! -“This was a recent one” and you think predatory lenders are bad? Check the interest rate out on that.

These are things that make me very different from the other candidates and I think having this understanding is a good thing. Because at the end of the day I will remember what it is like to be young and low income. And when issues come up affecting programs like Medicare/Medicaid or making college more affordable you know who I will fight for.

In addition, I bring a wide range of community service to the table. I have served on the Board of Governors at UCM which has over 1000 employees and a 125 million dollar budget.

As a board member I supported

-raises to faculty and staff

-construction of $20 million student recreation center

-investing nearly $300,000 a year for energy conservation and renewable energy (my proposal)

-expanding the university airport and golf course

I also served on the Parks and Recreation Board in Warrensburg, a volunteer for the American Red Cross, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Johnson County Fire Dept. (I also just accepted to be the Head Coach for the American Legion AA baseball team)

I think all these different experiences and my understanding of growing up in todays society make me a very qualified candidate for State Representative.

If you have any questions or concerns please let me hear them! I very much enjoy hearing your thoughts.