About this response & our editorial approach
About this candidate response
DutyStation contacts candidates to ask whether and how they support service members, military families and veterans, and invites them to share their thoughts and priorities. We share their replies here in the candidate’s or campaign’s own words, with minor formatting for readability and correction of obvious spelling mistakes.
No endorsement in either direction. Publishing a reply does not mean DutyStation endorses the candidate. Replying does not mean the candidate or campaign endorses DutyStation.
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Organized by topic. Email greetings and sign-offs are omitted; campaign contact details appear alongside.
Government shutdown and cooperation
- I oppose government shutdowns. I lived in Washington D.C. during the 2018–2019 shutdown and saw families scrambling to cover rent, food, medication, and child care when paychecks stopped. Congress should not make military families, veterans, or federal workers pay the price for Washington’s failure to do its job.
- Congress has tools to prevent a shutdown. Appropriations bills need to be passed on time, or use a continuing resolution to keep the government open while negotiations continue. I will work with anyone acting in good faith to avoid a shutdown.
- If a shutdown occurs, I will push immediately to protect military and Coast Guard pay and prevent disruptions to VA care, claims processing, mental-health services, and other earned veterans’ benefits.
Quality of life
- I support giving service members, military families, and veterans fair pay, reliable child care, support for spouses trying to keep careers, and health care they can count on.
- I support universal health care, but I would not support any plan that takes away or weakens TRICARE. Military treatment facilities, VA care, and TRICARE are earned benefits. Any reform must preserve them or provide coverage that is clearly equal or better, without new costs or disruption in care.
Veterans’ care
- My brother is a U.S Navy Veteran and my father is a U.S. Air Force Veteran. I’ve helped my father navigate VA care several times. Veterans deserve timely, quality care from people who understand military service. I will protect VA staffing, expand access to mental-health care, and make sure veterans can get help for PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, military sexual trauma, and substance use without being lost in a long waitlist.
- I will also work to make disability claims and appeals fairer and faster, while making sure complex claims get the attention they require. Transition support should begin before someone leaves service, with real help enrolling in VA care, filing claims, finding work, and navigating housing and education.
- Veterans have earned these benefits and, no matter what their age, they should not have to fight the system to receive them.
Family housing
- Military families shouldn’t have to live with mold, leaks, pests, or unsafe conditions because they fear retaliation or cannot afford to move.
- I support fully funding maintenance, holding private housing companies accountable, and protecting families who report unsafe homes. Service members and spouses should have clear renter and homeowner resources, help documenting problems, and access to an advocate when repairs are ignored.
- If a home is unsafe, the family should have a safe place to go, and the company responsible should face real consequences rather than keep collecting public money.
First priorities and experience
- One priority would be timely, quality VA care, especially mental health care and care for veterans who live far from a VA facility. We need enough VA staff, better scheduling, telehealth when it works, and community care when the VA cannot provide timely local appointments.
- I would also make the move to civilian life easier by connecting service members to VA care, benefits, work, and housing support before they leave the military. These priorities come from listening to veterans and families, including my own, and from years of evidence that veterans still face barriers to timely appointments and community care.