I want to tell you about the story of the little girl in the picture above — my story.

I’ll be completely honest, this email is on the longer side. But it’s important, because it gets to the heart of what I’m fighting for in Congress. But if I already have your support and you don’t have the time to read this, I hope I can count on you to pitch in to help me continue my work in Congress →

And if you have a minute, I hope you’ll keep reading.

The truth is, there aren’t a lot of people with backgrounds like mine in Washington.

I was born into a working-class family here in Colorado. My mom was a hairdresser and my dad worked in construction. And after my mom became addicted to opioids, we struggled for a long time to make ends meet.

So when I was 12, I started cleaning houses while juggling the responsibilities of school. I later worked at a grocery store, a bagel shop, and waited tables — whatever I could do to help support myself.

I knew that the only way I was going to overcome my circumstances was by getting a high-quality education. I became the first in my family to graduate from high school and college, and later went on to serve in the Colorado legislature for 10 years — fighting to make sure other kids in Colorado had access to the same opportunities I did to build a better life.

And today, I’m deeply grateful to serve the people of Colorado in the halls of Congress, where I’m working every single day for regular families — families just like my own.

So yes. I’m grateful for the hardships I’ve faced because it gives me a much-needed perspective in Congress. I only wish that there were more of us here. More of us who weren’t handed generational wealth on a silver platter. More of us who understand what it’s like to struggle. More of us who will fight for what is right, because we know what it’s like when the odds are stacked against us.

Because right now, the Republican majority doesn’t know a damn thing about what it’s like to struggle. That’s why they just voted to gut health care for millions of Americans, raise costs for all of us, and throw working families under the bus for more tax breaks for billionaires.

It’s devastating. They voted deliberately to make life harder for the people they are supposed to be fighting for. Just to please the millionaires and billionaires in the hopes that they’ll fund their next campaign.

For far too long, the ultra-wealthy and well-connected have called the shots in DC and lined their own pockets at the expense of working families. But with your help, we can change that next year.

If you believe that Congress needs more voices like mine — a voice who actually understands what regular families are going through — will you chip in to help me defend this seat and take back control of the House next year? Unlike so many of my Republican colleagues, I can’t rely on generational wealth or far-right billionaires to power this team, so I’m counting on the grassroots support from people like you →

With gratitude,

Brittany