Dear Friend,

I am running for the Virginia Senate (SD-26) this coming November.

As you may remember, I ran for this seat back in 2015.  I challenged the Republican incumbent Mark Obenshain because I could see that it was not the people of this district he was serving.

That is still true:  So I will challenge him again on issues like corruption in Virginia’s government, where he is an instrument of the Koch Brothers; and on climate change, in which he is in the pocket of Dominion Energy; and on health care, where, until the bitter end, he put the ambitions of his party above the well-being of the citizens of Virginia.

But this year I will challenge Mr. Obenshain in a whole new way because of the unthinkable and dangerous thing his Republican Party has become–the Party of Trump.  I will challenge him to tell us which side he’s on, in this battle for our American democracy and our national security.

In a conservative district like ours, any candidate who wants to win must earn the support of a good many Republicans. I know there are Republicans in our area who are unhappy with what their party has become–people who are like my life-long Republican parents, who could never have supported a Republican party like this one, one that tramples on the conservative values they held dear.

It is such principled Republicans that I will work to pry away from Sen. Obenshain by challenging him to declare where he stands on all the ugly things the Trump Party is doing.

This is the heart of my strategy to win this seat.

And, in addition, I will use my platform, as the major party nominee I hope to be, to speak the urgently important truth that all of my Trump-supporting neighbors need to hear.

So please join me as I officially launch my campaign for state senate with a press conference.  Show the press and the public that you support my campaign’s efforts to:

• protect our climate;

• build a state government that puts people before Big Money;

• make all our public schools truly excellent;

• solve the opioid crisis.

When and Where?

When:   Tuesday, January 29

               11:00 am

Where: Rockingham County Government Building

               Board Room

               20 E. Gay Street

               Harrisonburg, Virginia

Hope to see you there!

-April