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This coming November marks the two year anniversary of the Trump presidency. Many of us feel tired. But we won’t just resign ourselves to a future that has yet to be written.

We have 200 volunteers working on our campaign, and the list is growing. It’s not just a list of names — all of these people have given their time and talent in specific ways to help out. And we’ve met 10% of our goal of having 500 donors each contribute $100 before the June 30th Finance Report deadline.

We are working to win. And we are going to win in this election and the next, because we are building an organization of really engaged voters who are ready and able to mobilize and make their voices heard.

School shootings can be prevented. Healthcare can be more affordable and available for all.

Cleaner air is possible. Raising the minimum wage won’t hurt our economy and we can’t let our politicians keep spreading this myth and preventing so many people in our community from the chance to achieve greater financial stability.

Will you join us? Are you ready to find strength in numbers and a shared purpose?

We need volunteers for outreach and we need money for direct mail. Sign up on our volunteer page and let us know how you want to help. And donate if you can – every bit helps! Better yet, join our effort to get 500 people to give $100. Talk a friend or family member into giving too.

Winning this district is within reach, and will lessen the reach of Georgia’s far-right.

No matter what, don’t get tired.

Don’t lose faith. Don’t give up.

Sally

Are you ready to tell the Gold Dome that big change is coming?

I’m ready too.  I’ll tell you why.

Our community is diverse and thrives on embracing diversity. And yet, our legislators put forward legislation that threatens immigrants and makes it harder for minorities to vote.

Our community values the freedom to live our lives without discrimination. And yet, our State Senate voted to legalize discrimination against LGBTQ families who foster and adopt children in Georgia.

We cherish our children. And yet, our legislators have made it clear that they consider the murder of our children an acceptable sacrifice for their freedom to carry AR-15s — weapons of war — into schools, bars, churches, and businesses.

How has our leadership become so out-of-touch with humanity? Why do they ignore our voices when we say we want change?

Extreme partisan gerrymandering has pushed our democracy into dysfunction.

We need to take redistricting out of the hands of the legislature and into the hands of a non-partisan commission. We need to restore integrity to our elections by demanding a paper trail of our votes and making voting easier, not harder, for working people.

We must address our country’s wealth inequality by ensuring affordable housing and childcare, jobs that pay a living wage, and debt-free higher education that can be paid for with a minimum wage job.

Every single K – 12 school needs the resources to provide a safe, quality education no matter the neighborhood it serves.

We need to expand Medicaid to include more families, and create a public option buy-in that allows anyone to purchase government healthcare when the cost of their private policy jeopardizes their financial well-being.

We need to end the War on Drugs, decriminalize marijuana, and stop the gravy train for for-profit prisons by rolling back mass incarceration.

We need leaders who will call out systemic racism, and work to address inequalities.

We need leaders who will say that Black Lives Matter!

Mine is not the only candidacy seeking to repair the extraordinary damage that Sen. Fran Millar and other pro-Trump politicians are causing. Candidates all over the state have stepped up to win this fight.

Why? Because we refuse to let our leaders drag our laws back in time to the pre-civil rights era. We don’t all come from the same backgrounds or share the same challenges. We don’t all start life on the same playing field. If elected to represent you in the Georgia Senate, I promise you this:

I will work for you. I will ask hard questions to keep the promise of equality and progress that our people value. I will demand that your representatives treat you with respect, and address your fears.

Above all else, I will stand up and fight systemic oppression – including the lack of action in the face of the massacre of our schoolchildren. I will not stand for miscarriages of justice, where poor citizens are treated like the enemy. I will fight the denial of basic rights, like those of our citizens to vote. I will not accept the inattention and lack of compassion for the needs of women, children, and the elderly.

Together, we can achieve healthcare for all. We can raise the minimum wage. We can end the War on Drugs. We can provide affordable education. We can prevent school shootings.

We say “no more” to the far-right and to Fran Millar. We say it’s time for a change. We are ready to help Fran Millar box up his office at the Capitol.

We have some work ahead of us. If you can, make a donation and/or sign up to volunteer today to help us hit the ground running.

Sally

Have you heard the news today? Fran Millar and other GOP legislators are considering voting down a tax break for Delta because Delta doesn’t want to offer discounted fares to NRA members. Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, chief among the conservatives in national news today, made his position very clear: if you “attack conservatives,” you should expect them to “fight back.”

When I read that, I thought of the children in Parkland, Florida who were returning to school this week. I got angry. Georgia’s GOP isn’t fighting to protect our children from gun violence. Republican legislators here are fighting to protect the NRA.

And at what cost?

Here, in Georgia, you can carry a gun almost anywhere – onto a college campus, at a public concert, at a nightclub, into a school. We know from Virginia Tech, Las Vegas, Orlando, and Sandy Hook, that more guns in more places result in more loss of life.

Last week, I rallied with Moms Demand Action at the Gold Dome (video). Few Republican legislators would listen to our calls for common sense gun laws.

Instead, these same representatives are now seeking to punish one of our state’s largest corporations for terminating a relationship with the NRA.

What does that mean for other international companies, including Amazon, who are considering establishing headquarters offices here or bringing more jobs to our state? Will the Gold Dome next require CEOs to get NRA approval before companies can relocate to Georgia?

Our state government should be in the business of creating infrastructure, boosting our economy, and helping Georgians build more secure futures – not fighting for the rights to carry weapons of war. We shouldn’t be worrying about whether our children will return home from school alive each day.

Our representatives are so focused on the interests of one organization, the NRA, that they have forgotten their sworn duty to support the interests and priorities of their own constituents. It’s time for new leadership.

Sally

Last week, I asked you to march with me to the Georgia Capitol for the Moms Demand Action Advocacy Day. You would think protecting our children from gun violence and mass shootings would be something we all can agree on. But our state government refused to turn on our microphones. We refused to be silenced as we chanted, “Never again!”

It was a powerful day — I have never seen so many people pour into the Capitol. Many of you got to speak personally with your representatives. Unfortunately, I heard some were told, “Don’t expect anything to happen this session.”

There were several bills brought forward tightening up background checks and banning assault weapon and bump stock sales, but they languished with no action.

Yet, I am still hopeful that we have finally reached a tipping point for common sense gun reform. It’s quite possible that reform will come at the state level, as Congress continues to listen to the NRA instead of the people.

A federal court in Maryland just upheld an assault weapons ban originally enacted by the Maryland State Senate following the Sandy Hook tragedy. It is so important that we, in 2018, support and elect progressive candidates at the state level whose values are aligned with the common sense policies we need to protect our families and communities.

Today, I picked up my mail at my post office. There I found a donation with a note, “Thank you for your support against gun violence. My grandchildren’s lives are at stake.”

We are scared. We are hurting. I have a responsibility to keep fighting for change by running an effective campaign and inspiring people to vote.  And each and every one of you has the power to take the NRA down. Get involved. Help a progressive candidate. Volunteer. Make phone calls. Put up a yard sign. Make a donation. Take a friend to the polls. Make a difference.

Sally

It has happened again. I heard audio clips of the shots being fired — they were fast, they were constant, and they kept going. I’m even more outraged. This should not be possible.

So, I’m marching. Will you join me? Moms Demand Action, Wednesday, February 21, 2018, Georgia State Capitol, 10am – 1pm. Wear red. Let’s fill the Capitol. Page your legislators from the floor. Make them dedicate a day of work to listening to us. Our kids need to see adults in charge speak up for them.

Register here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1734006126656969/

Parents across the country are scared to send their children to school. Our kids and teachers now use precious learning time to practice “run, hide, fight” in active shooter drills.

And why have our politicians done nothing to stop this? Because they say, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” That’s true, but the murderers who have committed mass shootings didn’t use pistols, they used semi-automatic weapons typically reserved as weapons of war.

Our politicians say if we “outlaw guns, only outlaws will have them.” Well, so far as I have heard, most the guns used for mass shootings have been legally acquired.

And finally, NRA spokespeople will say that gun control isn’t the answer because what if one day, a “well-regulated militia” is all that stands between us and government-backed terror?

Well, for the thousands of survivors and the thousands more family members who have lost loved ones to mass shootings these last few years, I would argue that they are already living in terror, horror, and grief.

I pray that we won’t see a crime like Las Vegas, or Sandy Hook, or Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School here in Georgia. But prayers for victims are too late. We need action NOW from our representatives.

We need politicians to pass legislation for common sense gun control.

If they won’t act, we will vote them out. And until Election Day, we can keep them busy listening to us instead of the NRA.

Sally

This has been a hard week. It seems too much to bear to hear the news of another mass shooting. Many people I’ve spoken with are overwhelmed and discouraged. It’s tempting to crawl into a hole and tune it all out. But we can’t stop trying to make a safer future.

So much is still unfolding about the tragedy in Las Vegas, and it’s unsettling to not be able to answer the question, “What makes a mind want to kill?” We may never be able to answer that question.

Many political experts said that if we couldn’t get common sense gun legislation after Sandy Hook, that we’d never get it. I don’t believe that’s true.

Because when Sandy Hook happened, we did not have the organized activism that we have today. We did not have the resistance. Now we do. And that’s why we can’t give up working to prevent another Las Vegas or Sandy Hook.

We don’t need elected officials who pass legislation making it easier for people to kill. We need politicians who have a vision for an America where ordinary citizens can live safe, healthy and fulfilled lives. We need living wages, health care and mental health care for all. We need criminal justice reform. We need a fully funded public education system. We need a government that respects the dignity of every single person.

We can achieve these goals if we keeping picking ourselves back up when we feel loss. Use your voice to overwhelm your representatives – make it hard for them to ignore our voices and our values. We can survive bad policy decisions – and overturn them, if we don’t give up.

2018 is not far away. Democratic candidates are stepping up all over the state.  We will not give up, and we need your support — whatever you can give. If you can walk, we need you to knock on doors. If you can talk, we need you to make phone calls. If you have some extra dollars, we need your donations.

Don’t give up on what we can achieve. Together, we are the hope. Together, we CAN shape our future, even during our darkest hours.

Sally