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Candidate for U.S. Congress, Illinois’ 9th District
Father. Union organizer. Public health professional. Neighbor.
I’m running for Congress because working people deserve more than broken promises and performative politics. They deserve dignity, safety, time with their families — and a government that finally works for them. I’ve worked every kind of shift — overnights, weekends, early mornings — in group homes, classrooms, and labs. I raised two sons while fighting for better pay and working conditions. And I helped organize a union at the University of Illinois at Chicago, chairing the first grievance committee we ever won. That experience taught me something too many in Washington seem to have forgotten: real leadership doesn’t come from power — it comes from people. From the U.P. to the Union Hall — and Back to Chicago
I was born in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, in a working-class community where my father was a judge and my mother was a teacher. I grew up knowing that public service means showing up — not just when it’s easy, but when it’s needed. Chicago is where I first put those values to work. I moved here for graduate school, worked in disability care, organized with grad student unions, and built a life rooted in service and equity. Since 2009, I’ve worked as an Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) professional, helping factories, hospitals, and labs protect workers and meet high environmental standards. I know how systems work — and what happens when they don’t. Over the years, I moved with my family — from Chicago to Iowa to California and back — working to support my kids and build a better life. After years of trying, I made it back to Chicago in 2023, ready to finish the fight I started here. A Campaign Built on Dignity and Real Life
This campaign is about working families — the ones juggling two jobs, caring for kids or elders, and trying to build a future in a system that too often ignores them. We’re going to knock every door, listen hard, and fight for real solutions — from Rogers Park to Skokie, Evanston to Andersonville and beyond. Because real life is lived on CTA trains, in school parking lots, in late-night shifts and early morning childcare drop-offs. That’s where our policy should start. That’s who our politics should serve. Let’s get to work. Together, we can build a country that respects our time, rewards our work, and gives our kids more to hope for.
