Candidate for U.S. House of Representatives - West Virginia 2nd Congressional District in 2020 West Virginia General Election.
View your personalized ballot, check your voter registration, make a plan to vote, and research every name and measure on the ballot with BallotReady.
Get StartedPassing the Corporate Executive Accountability Act and making it easier to prosecute corporate executives for white collar crime. Learn more
Reforming federal sentencing. Nearly half of federal prisoners are serving time for nonviolent drug offenses, leading to significant overcrowding of our federal prison system and wasting federal dollars that could be more productively spent. We need to build off of the bipartisan First Step Act passed in 2018. Learn more
Enacting policies that will make it easier for those coming out of prison to land on their feet and survive economically, including by eliminating barriers to accessing affordable housing. Learn more
Decriminalizing cannibis and removing it from the Drug Enforcement Agency’s list of controlled substances. Learn more
Passing the Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency (CARE) Act which would treat the addiction crisis like the public health emergency that it is and make a ten-year federal commitment to funding treatment beds and programs, harm reduction programs, and prevention services. The CARE Act would allocate billions of dollars in federal resources to states like West Virginia that are suffering the most. Learn more
Closing tax loopholes for the wealthy and corporations, taxing Wall Street speculation and fairly taxing capital gains and dividends. Learn more
Re-enacting and enforcing anti-trust laws to level the playing field for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Learn more
Oppose the Betsy DeVos agenda of privatizing schools and ban for-profit charter schools that take resources away from our public education system. Learn more
Reform the ineffective and burdensome standardized testing regime that forces teachers to “teach to the test” instead of focusing on real learning. Learn more
Secure and grow federal funding for our public schools in West Virginia, particularly to provide much-needed support services, such as mental health counseling. Learn more
Ensure that public education is truly for all students and that anti-discrimination laws are enforced to protect students of color and children with special needs. Learn more
Make higher education debt-free and forgive existing student loan debt so that our students can have greater freedom to pursue the careers they want. Learn more
I will fight for federal resources to ensure that no West Virginian worker is left behind as our country transitions to a clean energy economy. We have the resources in the richest country in the world to ensure that no one loses a day’s pay, or a dime of their pension. We can put people to work for a prevailing wage rebuilding our drinking water infrastructure, reclaiming old mine sites and growing other sectors of our economy, including tourism and agriculture that depend on clean water and clean air. Learn more
The impacts of a changing climate in West Virginia are becoming too real to ignore: deadly flooding, changing weather patterns, freak storms and more. And we know this problem is only getting worse. Scientists tell us we need to cut climate pollution 45% in the next 11 years. This problem has gotten so bad because, for decades, fossil fuel executives funded misinformation and bought off politicians to keep raking in profits. It is past time to treat climate change like the emergency it is. Learn more
Providing greater funding for prevention and early intervention with at-risk youth. Our youth are facing a crisis of mental health and trauma; more mental health and counseling services in schools are needed. Sending our children into the juvenile justice system should be the last resort. Learn more
Defending the Affordable Care Act, which has helped tens of thousands of West Virginia families by expanding Medicaid coverage. Learn more
Going beyond the Affordable Care Act to establish a universal healthcare system in this country. This would give everyone access to healthcare (including dental and vision care) and the freedom to choose a provider without the burden of private insurance companies. Specifically, I support Medicare for All (H.B. 1384). Under such a system, the federal government would be able to negotiate to bring down the price of prescription drugs, just as Canada already does. Learn more
Enforcing anti-trust laws to break up large drug monopolies and prevent companies from unfairly jacking up prices because they control the market. Pharmaceutical companies that deliberately do this should have their patents revoked so that cheaper, generic versions of the drug can be produced. Learn more
Protecting and fully funding the Veterans Health Administration. The VA system continues to perform just as well, if not better, than the rest of the U.S. healthcare system, including in key areas like mental health. Yet the VA is threatened by ideologues who want to cut its funding to drive down the quality of service, as an excuse to privatize the VA system. Congress must ensure full funding and staffing for the Veterans Health Administration, and ensure that VA funds are not diverted to pay for private healthcare providers. The Community Care Network established by the MISSION Act should be separately funded and not at the expense of existing VA services. Learn more
Greater federal funding to address the shortage of healthcare providers in rural areas of our state. Specifically, the National Health Services Corporation, which places health care providers in underserved areas and provides medical school loan repayment, should be expanded. We must ensure that the rural hospitals we have in the district receive sufficient reimbursement rates to continue serving our communities. Learn more
Defending the funding for programs that hard-working West Virginians depend on, including Social Security and Social Security Disability Insurance, cash assistance, children’s health insurance program, food stamps, and home heating assistance. Learn more
Passing policies to support working families, including: a $15/hour minimum wage, fair scheduling, universal child care, and paid family and medical leave. Learn more
Supporting workers’ right to organize and fight for better workplace conditions, wages and benefits. I support the “Protecting the Right to Organize” (PRO) Act, which imposes penalties on employers who retaliate against employees seeking to unionize, and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, which would require states to give collective bargaining rights to teachers and public employees. Learn more
View your personalized ballot, check your voter registration, make a plan to vote, and research every name and measure on the ballot with BallotReady.