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.
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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 a government shutdown in 2027. Keeping the government funded is one of Congress’s basic responsibilities, and I do not believe Congress should leave Washington for a holiday or recess while that responsibility remains unfinished. If there is no agreement, members should stay at the table and keep working until there is one.
- As an Independent, I would work with Democrats, Republicans, and the administration. I am not going to Washington to defend a party; I am going there to solve problems. If control of Congress changes, my approach remains the same: start negotiations early, identify the areas where agreement already exists, keep unrelated political battles from derailing essential funding, and use short-term funding only when necessary to give negotiators enough time to reach a responsible agreement.
- Our service members, military families, and veterans should never become leveraged in a budget dispute. If a shutdown appeared possible, I would support legislation ensuring uninterrupted military pay and allowances, including protections for the Coast Guard and affected military families. I would also work to protect survivor benefits and other essential services.
- Veterans deserve the same certainty. Much of VA health care and many veterans’ benefits are currently protected through advance appropriations, but some services can still be disrupted during a shutdown. I would support protecting VA medical care, disability and pension payments, education benefits, mental-health and crisis services, caregiver support, and other essential veteran services from funding interruptions.
- Congress can disagree. That is part of democracy. But disagreement should not mean abandoning our responsibility to govern. If Congress has not completed its work, Congress should stay in Washington and finish the job.
Military quality of life
- My priority is simple: if we ask people to serve this country, we have a responsibility to take care of them and their families.
- First, military pay should keep pace with the real cost of living, especially housing, food, childcare, and other expenses that have risen significantly for working families. No active-duty family should be struggling to meet basic household expenses while serving our country.
- Second, I want military families to have reliable access to high-quality healthcare, including mental health care, without excessive delays or unnecessary barriers. TRICARE is an important benefit, but having coverage only works if families can actually find and see the providers they need.
- Childcare is also critical. Military families can face lengthy child care waitlists, and that affects both family finances and military readiness. I support expanding childcare capacity on and near installations, improving recruitment and retention of childcare workers, and making care more affordable and flexible for families with irregular duty schedules.
- We also need to stop treating military spouses’ careers as an afterthought. Frequent moves can force spouses to leave jobs, lose income, restart careers, or navigate new professional licensing requirements. I would support stronger license portability, remote-work opportunities, federal hiring pathways, and incentives for employers who hire and retain military spouses.
- Finally, I would look closely at whether every permanent change of station is truly necessary. Moving a family every few years affects housing, schools, childcare, healthcare, and spouse employment. When military readiness allows it, I support giving families greater geographic stability and more flexibility around assignments. DoD's own research has found that PCS moves can significantly reduce military-spouse earnings.
- Service members volunteer to serve our country, but their spouses and children serve alongside them in a very real way. Quality of life should not be considered an extra benefit, it should be part of how we recruit, retain, and respect the people who defend this country.
Veterans’ care and mentorship
- One thing I'd really like to implement is a mentorship program with Vets who have already gone through the program. When people have purpose they take pride in life.
- The goal is simple: one veteran, one clear point of contact, and no unnecessary runaround between agencies. Veterans should not have to fight the system after fighting for our country. My veterans’ care plan would focus on four concrete goals: faster access to care, immediate mental-health support, quicker disability decisions, and a smoother transition into civilian life. I would focus on reducing VA wait times, expanding timely access to mental health care, and making the disability claims process faster, simpler, and more transparent. I also support beginning the transition process before service members leave active duty, connecting them directly to healthcare, benefits, education, job training, and civilian employment resources so no veteran falls through the cracks. Existing VA programs already allow some disability claims to begin before separation and provide transition assistance, but we need to make that handoff more seamless and accountable.
Military family housing
- Military families deserve safe, affordable housing wherever they are stationed. I would prioritize adequate housing allowances in high-cost areas, expand housing supply near installations, and require faster response times for serious maintenance problems such as mold, water damage, sewage, pests, and unsafe electrical conditions. GAO has documented continuing affordability challenges and gaps in oversight of privatized military housing.
- I would also require independent inspections, transparent maintenance records, and meaningful penalties for private housing contractors that repeatedly fail military families. Families should have a clear, independent process to report unsafe conditions without fear of retaliation, and they should be temporarily relocated when a home presents a genuine health or safety risk. Most importantly, military families need an independent appeals process so they are not forced to fight the same company responsible for fixing the problem.
- The standard should be simple: if the housing is not good enough for our own families, it is not good enough for the families serving our country.