Why I’m Running

As a fifth generation Minnesotan, I have spent more than a decade working to defend and serve the people of this state and this country as a soldier, as a teacher, and as a national security professional at the Pentagon.

Now, I am eager to serve again, this time as a Democrat representing Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, where I will apply all that I’ve learned to the pressing issues we’re facing in southern Minnesota, in Washington, and around the world.

As a soldier in war, I learned the burden of being directly responsible for the lives of others. As a middle school teacher, I learned what it means to empower children through education. As an acting Assistant Secretary of Defense, I learned the awesome responsibility of making policy for millions of our nation’s service members. Each experience was humbling as well as enlightening, and each showed me how significantly federal policy impacts the lives of our citizens. I will carry these experiences with me to Congress.