Why I am running for Office

The question I am typically asked is “Why in the world would you want to run for office?” and that is a good question because I am not your typical politician, but I am an advocate. Soon after my son was diagnosed with a severe form of Autism I realized I needed to not only be his advocate but I also I also needed to be an advocate for others. I started educating myself about the systems that were supposed to be there to help us. I read everything I could find, I attended classes, went to conferences, and joined committees so I could be effective, helpful and make positive changes in his life, in our school and in our county. For many years now I have been working to help people and I continue to help individuals and families. I have worked to fix current systems that at times seem to be set up to work against people. I know the frustration of having to work within the system, but I have taken that frustration and created solutions. I then worked to get those solutions implemented, so that now those systems really do serve the community better.

I did not come out of school saying, I want to be a legislator. I am a farmer, a small business owner, a mom and a volunteer, and that is a great life, but life takes us down paths we may never have thought we would be on. I know my life is not what I envisioned, in some ways it is much harder and in other ways it is far better than I could have ever imagined. I have lived long enough to know how truly blessed my life is and I have dedicated myself to helping others.

Because of my advocacy and volunteer work in local, county and state committees, I have been asked to review and even help write legislation intended to help improve the education system for all children and protect disabled adults in Pennsylvania. This has allowed me to see some of the ways in which Harrisburg works. What I’ve seen is that while there are many good people working there, the overall system is not focused on the needs or desires of the majority of the residents of Pennsylvania—the focus frequently is on other motives. In working on legislation, I have collaborated with researchers and staff from all four caucuses and attorneys in advocacy organizations. I have seen some very good Bills die in committee for reasons that are not in any way related to the value or need for a particular law. Time and money is wasted by partisan politics and backroom tradeoffs. This needs to change. Please read my proposals for some common sense solutions on this website.

While the bulk of my advocacy work has been done on behalf of individuals with disabilities, I am not running solely on disability issues. My advocacy work has given me insight into the ways Pennsylvania State Government works and doesn’t work. I know there are good people in Harrisburg but the system favors those who are not. The system needs fixed and the current ways of doing business needs to be challenged. I intend to do just that. If elected I will work every day for people who I represent. I do it now as an advocate; I know I can do even more at the state level.