Congress Has Never Heard a Voice Like Mine

Over 10,000 people have been elected to Congress, but never a Native American woman. Congress has never heard a voice like mine.

This year, I aim to change that. I’m running for Congress in New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District. If I win, New Mexico, rich in Pueblo culture and traditions, will have the distinction of changing that embarrassing page in our history books.

I’m not just a progressive, I’m an activist. Last year, I traveled to Standing Rock to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline and stand with the water protectors. When I returned, I led the New Mexico Democratic Party to divest from Wells Fargo due to their investments in the pipeline. When the DCCC tried to remove support for abortion access as a litmus test for Democratic candidates, I was the only candidate in this race to speak out against the decision. I’ve knocked thousands of doors, been to hundreds of community meetings, registered thousands of voters, and I’ve taken to the streets when it counts for climate justice, indigenous rights, women, and DREAMers.

In these troubled times, we need a member of Congress who will do more than vote for the right thing; we need an effective leader who will use this seat as a platform to fight for social justice.

I’m not afraid to stand up to the White House. When Donald Trump slandered Navajo Code Talkers, I condemned him. I want to go to Washington and call out his racism and bigotry every single day. I’m also not afraid to stand up to special interests: I’ll stand up to the NRA to ban assault rifles, to the toxic fossil fuel industry in order to keep fossil fuels in the ground, and to Wall Street to ensure that billionaires and mega-corporations pay their fair share.

I know what it’s like to struggle, something that Donald Trump and far too many of the billionaires in his administration just don’t get. As a single mom, I was once denied food stamps the week before Thanksgiving. I lived, barely, for years on minimum wage. I didn’t go to college until my late 20’s because no one ever told me it was a possibility. I worked my way through college, and then law school, and even though my tribe helped with a scholarship, I took on lots of student loan debt. I’m a 35th generation New Mexican, and I’m fighting fracking in my ancestral homelands of Chaco Canyon.

For all these reasons, I want to go to Washington and fight for working families in New Mexico and across America. I want to fight for debt free college, Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage, justice and citizenship for DREAMers and undocumented Americans, more respect for Indigenous sovereignty and rights, to stop all new fossil fuel infrastructure, to expand access to reproductive health care and abortion, to expand social security, and against islamophobia, white supremacy, and anti-semitism.

We have an incredible opportunity in New Mexico this year, because I won’t just stand up for the issues that matter, I’ll fight for them right alongside activists across the country.

Join me on this historic journey. Even $5 could make the difference.

You can donate today at secure.actblue.com/….