Everywhere Lisa goes, families tell her the same thing: the kitchen table math just doesn’t add up anymore. Housing and utilities keep climbing. Child care can cost more than a mortgage. Groceries and gas eat through paychecks. Raising a family has never been more expensive, and too many parents are left trying to figure out how to stretch each dollar just a little further.

Housing, utilities, groceries, child care, healthcare—everything’s gotten way too expensive. It’s getting harder for our kids to imagine building a life here and for our seniors to retire with dignity. People getting third or fourth jobs is not a reasonable solution to the affordability crisis - we need action. Lisa will fight with the urgency we need to lower the cost of living for working families because she knows firsthand what it’s like to work multiple jobs and still struggle to make ends meet. As a teenager, she had to file bankruptcy for her mom, and they were evicted from their apartment before Lisa was in grade school. Lisa will push for real solutions because she knows what it feels like to live under the stress of poverty.

It is too expensive and too difficult for too many Virginians to get the healthcare and prescriptions they need. Lisa grew up relying on Medicaid for her healthcare, while her mom had no health insurance at all. She knows firsthand how vital access to healthcare is, as well as the fear of not being able to see a doctor when you’re sick. Right now, too many politicians in Washington are using Virginians’ healthcare as a bargaining chip. And our own Representative Rob Wittman just voted for the largest Medicaid cuts in U.S. history, putting at least 260,000 Virginians at risk of losing coverage. It is wrong, and it’s immoral.

Lisa’s success is thanks in large part to her public school education. That’s where she learned English when she was six and received meals through the free lunch program. She’s a product of teachers who saw her potential. But right now, public education is under attack across the country and right here in Virginia. Politicians are underfunding our public schools and draining taxpayer dollars into voucher programs for private schools. Our schools have been neglected for too long. On top of that, the pandemic set our children’s learning back, and our kids have suffered because of it. Devastatingly, some kids don’t even feel safe on their way to or in school, as gun violence continues to rise. Every year, more and more Virginians and their families experience gun violence - on our streets, in our schools, on our college campuses, in our places of worship. Real safety means more than just knowing you’re free of violence, it also means having access to help and support when you need it most.

Lisa’s mom risked everything in search of more freedom and opportunity, so Lisa is not about to back down when it comes to fighting for the freedom to make decisions about our own bodies. She knows how personal and how fragile the right to reproductive freedom is, both nationally, and right here in Virginia. In Congress, Lisa will: Fight to protect abortion rights, including restoring Roe v. Wade as the law of the land. Protect medical professionals from politically-motivated violence or prosecution by extreme politicians in states like Texas. Ensure access to birth control and fertility treatments like IVF. Block any efforts to impose a national abortion ban or restrict abortion rights

We’re watching our democratic institutions be chipped away by politicians more focused on clinging to power than delivering for the people they represent. Lisa sees the warning signs because she grew up hearing the stories of what happens when governments become unaccountable and power goes unchecked. She’s running for Congress because we can’t afford to elect leaders who don’t understand what’s at stake - or worse, don’t care. Lisa will fight to ensure that America stays true to its promises of freedom and opportunity for everyone. In Congress, Lisa will lead on this by: Defending the Constitution and ensuring no one, including politicians and corporations, is above the law. Banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks. Passing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act to protect the right to vote here at home. Standing strong against authoritarian regimes like Russia and China. Getting dark money out of politics and overturning the disastrous Citizens United decision, because corporations should not have a bigger say than people in our elections.

This country is a nation of immigrants, filled with families like Lisa’s, who came here for a better life. As a first-generation American and proud daughter of an immigrant mom, Lisa has seen the consequences of our broken immigration system up close. It’s the result of decades of Washington politicians playing political games with our national and border security. We need to keep our border secure and reform our immigration system. In Congress, Lisa will be focused on solutions like: Securing and modernizing the border so that we can stop the flow of fentanyl, human trafficking, and illegal firearms into our country. Passing bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform with humane, long-term solutions. Providing a path to citizenship for DREAMers. Streamlining the application process for H-2B Visas.