John,
I ran for Commissioner of Labor in 2020, and I lost.
Born and raised in rural eastern North Carolina, I’m no stranger to uphill battles. In many ways, my life has been a series of them—I was raised by a single mom and my grandmother, I spent some of my early childhood in and out of shelters and I was the first member of my immediate family to go to college.
It's difficult to be what you can't see, so running for political office wasn't something I’d imagined for myself. But when the need arose, I stepped up and said yes—accepting the possibility that I could do my very best in a battleground state and still lose—publicly, in front of everyone I love, all of my supporters and the entire state.
That experience was like falling off of a horse, which I have done several times as I love riding horses. One minute you're enjoying the breeze at full gallop and the next minute you’re on the ground, wind knocked out of you and wondering what the heck just happened.
I had laid everything on the line despite the challenges of campaigning during a worldwide pandemic. My race received more votes than any other Democratic non-incumbent Council of State candidate. We were so close and it stung.
It's easier said than done to fall and then get back into the saddle but here I am. When Governor Cooper asked me to step up to serve as State Auditor, I said yes.
I dusted myself off and got back on the horse.
The campaign trail is never easy and data shows that Black women are statistically underfunded, giving us fewer opportunities to engage potential voters and an increased reliance upon small donor contributions, so every single contribution matters.
I’m all in, will you get back on the horse with me?
