Improve Health Care

Health care is a right. Everyone should have access to treatment, affordable medication, and mental health care. I will work to protect and enhance Healthy Michigan, which allowed more than 500,000 Michiganders to access health coverage under the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion. 

I am the only candidate in this race with direct health care expertise. As a physical therapist at our local hospital, I have always advocated for my patients. I have seen firsthand the unnecessary suffering and pain caused when patients are forced to forego or stop care due to a lack of adequate insurance or to an arbitrary limit to their Medicare coverage enacted by Congress. I have also seen the damage the opioid epidemic has caused in Michigan. We must hold opioid manufacturers accountable and provide treatment for those who are suffering from addiction. We can and should do better when it comes to taking care of each other.

Protect Our Environment

I am a lifelong conservationist and have a proven track record of environmental protection. When I was 9 years old, I convinced my family to start recycling even though that meant hauling everything to the local recycling center ourselves. Later in life, I took it upon myself to grab some friends and clean up a two mile stretch of I-94. While serving on the Kalamazoo County Commission I championed the county’s first sustainability policy and saw it implemented as a permanent part of our annual budget. For over a decade I’ve helped clean up and rehabilitate contaminated properties in ways that create jobs and foster economic growth as part of the Kalamazoo County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority.

I also know that the right to clean water is non-negotiable. This is something citizens in this district know firsthand due to Parchment being the first community where a high level of PFAS contamination was discovered. When you elect me as your State Representative, I will continue to hold polluters accountable, champion renewable energy, promote policies that keep our drinking water safe, and fight to protect Michigan’s waterways, parks, and public lands.