Why I’m Running

Here in Portland and across Casco Bay, the threats of climate change, unaffordable housing, and growing inequality are already at our doorstep.

Residents wonder how long they’ll be able to keep living here, though they don’t know where else they would go.

Essential workers worry about paying their bills, even as they power our economy and keep us safe.

And in the face of a climate crisis, our youngest citizens ask why it’s taking so long for the adults to act.  

But I believe we still have time to fight for our future. We still have a window of opportunity—in our city and up in Augusta—to come together and create a future for all of us. 

I know a new future is possible because I belong to a generation that has seen the world change.

We grew up learning cursive and playing outside, and then transitioned to the internet age where high speed broadband is a must-have for education, work, and social life. 

We graduated high school right as the housing market crashed in the 2008 financial crisis, and then witnessed the housing crunch continue to squeeze us out in rental prices and home-owning prospects.

We grew increasingly alarmed as the scientific community issued clear warnings about the coming devastation of climate change, and are still waiting for our world to take it seriously enough.

I’ve also seen big changes in my own life. From growing up in a Republican Maine household, I became a progressive Democrat who worked on the campaign to elect President Biden and Vice President Harris. From being taught that everyone has a chance under meritocracy, I learned to see how inequality distorts our society and to join calls for racial justice. From working in a religiously conservative ministry, to discovering how to live out my truth as an openly gay man. 

I’ve seen that change is possible, and I know it’s needed now more than ever. I believe that if we want to change our future, we must be willing to be the change, ourselves.

That’s why I joined advocacy groups like the Portland Climate Action Team, that’s why I stepped up to serve as Chair of the Portland Democrats, and that’s why I’m running for State Representative. 

We still have time to change our future, and I believe that’s worth fighting for—together.