The Final Stretch
258 days ago, I announced my candidacy for Congress. Today, the final polls opened, and a candidate will be chosen. Here's how I'm feeling.
In November 2024, I had a choice to make: sit around and complain about the direction our country was going or do something about it. So I did something about it.
I never thought running for Congress would even be a remote possibility for me. I didn’t have a built-in donor network. I didn’t have a political background. I hadn’t been plotting this from birth. But sometimes a calling happens when you least expect it, but it just continues to feel right.
I’ve realized I am a natural in this field. Not because I am a good talker, but because I listen, am deeply empathetic, and use my ability to speak well to translate into the real concerns of regular people. I love people. I am that annoying friend who makes conversation with everyone at the bar, on the street, in line for the bathroom. Every person and every story is fascinating to me, and this campaign has let me drink deeply from that cup every single day to better understand - and hopefully serve - the people of Kentucky.
The Learning Curve
My entire career is marked by my jumping feet first into chaos and the unknown. From the Libyan Embassy to Inspiration Mobility to my run for Congress, I’ve never played it safe, stuck to what I knew. I always pushed to do more, to learn more, to push the boundaries of the possible. And not for profit, but for people. Whether I was working on improving international relations or fighting the climate crisis, people have always come first for me.
When I first entered this race, I was inundated with a bevy of consultants all saying how much I “needed” their expertise. My gut said I didn’t. That I needed a skeleton crew and I didn’t need political consultants to tell me what to say, how to speak, what to write. Because I knew what to say, how to speak, what to write. I have my lived experience and extensive knowledge of both Kentucky and the world and the problems that plague them both. I have also seen upfront and personally how ineffective our political system has become, bought and sold to the highest bidder - billionaire or corporation or special interest group. I knew that wasn’t going to me, and I stuck to it. From day one.
I made some team changes along the way, mostly because I believed in people, put my trust in them, and they failed to perform. And that’s business, but that’s also trust. I put my trust in them, and they didn’t show up and keep that trust. So I let them go. I treated my team like friends, putting the hammer down when hard decisions needed to be made, but always with dignity and respect. And that is how I will continue to live my life.
The learning curve for running for office is steep but I hit my stride and acceleration pretty quickly. As a text that came in this morning from a friend said, I ran a “scorched earth campaign” meaning I didn’t leave any part of the district untouched or unheard. And it is only beginning if I am lucky enough to win the nomination.
Today
Today, I am about to head out to a coffee shop and say hello to people. I will pop by some polling places (at least 100 feet away, of course!) and wave to folks. Thank them for their coming out to vote. Then I will come home, where my mom is throwing a watch party for us. She drives me absolutely nuts whenever she hosts, but I assured her I wouldn’t be having a wedding ever (I’m an elopement kind of gal) so she was off the hook for any big future parties. She made me promise that would be the case.
And I relish in what we have built. We have forced this district to listen to a loud and proud progressive. One who isn’t a fringe candidate but a real contender. And that is historic. Not to mention I am the youngest woman to ever run for this seat. I’ve made so many people feel heard, feel seen, feel listened to. I’ve been contacted by voters who said they have never voted in their lives but saw hope in me and proudly cast their ballot for me. I’ve had people come to me and say I am the kind of “FDR-style” candidate we need today, one who will build and push the boundaries of the possible. Because when Kentucky is on the line, I never settle.
Tonight I will be surrounded by family and friends. Friends who volunteered for the campaign. Old friends and new, all precious to me. All I’ve learned from. All I am heartened and humbled by their support and words of encouragement and advice along the way.
And Lila, of course.
Tomorrow
I don’t know what the results will bring but I am cautiously optimistic. If I win the nomination, the work starts tomorrow. I do have a short respite to Mexico scheduled for some much needed R&R (with plenty of 70 SPF) but beyond that, I am on the grind. If I don’t pull today out, there is still so much work to be done. As I have assured many folks, I am not going anywhere.
Sure we need to flip this district, but there will be plenty of folks to do that. My goals are loftier. I want to change the system. I am ready to light fires across this state to shine brightly on where we need to improve and where the system has failed the people for far too long.
Here are three main areas of focus for me moving forward, regardless of today’s outcome. This list isn’t exhaustive but it’s where the biggest and most immediate work is needed.
Demanding Data Center Accountability: I started this initiative because I saw county after county here in Kentucky fending for itself in the face of massive sums of money being thrown at its citizens in exchange for farmland for a data center. So I didn’t wait to be elected to do something about it. I just did it. I created this group to (1) be transparent about which candidates support a moratorium and are committed to regulation and (2) to collectivize Kentuckians to demand for clear and strong regulation around data centers and AI. United we stand, divided we fall. I’m putting my insider knowledge while working in the industry to fight for a fair deal for Kentucky because now, we have nothing. This work is just beginning.
Revitalizing the Kentucky Democratic Party: The KDP cannot survive on Andy Beshear alone. As I travelled both in and out of my district, I spoke with so many Democrats who felt abandoned by the party, both statewide and nationally. I want to work to pull them out of their obscurity and into the light. Every voice, every vote, every Kentuckian matters. I want to pull a giant speaker up to the voices that have been ignored, muted, silenced for too long. In the next election cycle, my goal is to have no more than 10 seats go uncontested. Because if we don’t even show up to the race, we won’t even place. Even if we are last, we still ran the race, and will only improve with each cycle. But showing up is half the battle and we aren’t even doing that.
Fighting for Voting Rights: It seems that the blows keep coming for us in America and Kentuckians have felt downtrodden by electoral politics for decades. With the current struggle for redistricting and gerrymandering, I am worried Kentucky may be next, especially when Beshear leaves office. I will fight for voting rights for all Kentuckians (and yes, only the American citizens, obviously) so that every voice is heard, rural or urban, rich or poor, black or white, naturalized immigrant or natural-born citizen, landed or not. It’s easier to buy a gun in Kentucky than it is to vote. And that is just absurd.
Until Tomorrow
Thank you for being on this journey with me. I do not take a single word you read for granted nor the time you took to take it in. Tomorrow is not promised, so we must live our today as if it is our last chance to make an impact. We must live each day with courage, boldly and unapologetically true to who we are and the world we want to see.