John,
Today, I am proud to announce that we’re officially running again to represent Missouri’s 1st District in Congress.
Together, we’ve already made so much progress in our first term in Congress demanding the urgent, transformative change that our communities need and saving lives — but this is just the beginning of our work.
I’m running for re-election because the people making decisions in Congress should be people who come from our communities. Who have actually lived our struggles. Who have marched in our streets.
To be honest with you, folks like me don’t usually get elected to office — or even run in the first place.
Although my story might not be common for a member of Congress, I know it’s what so many of us face every day here in St. Louis and communities like it. That's why, when I walk through the halls of Congress, I always carry with me the hopes, concerns, and struggles of my community.
Because I’m not the only one who has sat outside a payday loan office, wondering why life is so hard for people making $9 an hour.
I’m not the only mother who has had to live out of my car while caring for my babies.
It’s not just me who’s experienced and still lives the pain of surviving sexual assault.
I’m not the only person in our country who’s sick and tired of watching our neighbors being brutalized by police.
It’s not just me who’s made the difficult decision to get an abortion.
I came to Congress as a "politivist" — a politician and a Ferguson-made activist — because I know that policy change only occurs when people work on the inside and outside of our political systems. Your stories — our stories — are why I got involved in public service and why I’m officially announcing our re-election campaign today so we can continue doing the absolute most for everyone, starting with those who have the least.
From introducing the Green New Deal for Cities, to organizing a historic mobilization around the houseless crisis in our country, and securing over $1 million dollars for Headstart programs in our neighborhoods — we’ve made critical progress in re-centering our politics around the people we were elected to serve.
But the harsh reality we face is that there is still a lot of work ahead of us to save lives and rise up to the urgent crises we face.
Too many people are still being shot and killed by gun violence and by a policing system that devalues Black and Brown life. Too many Missourians are losing their lives and their livelihoods in a climate emergency that our politicians have spent decades doing nothing about. Too many folks in St. Louis are still being evicted in the midst of an ever-changing pandemic.
It’s going to be a struggle, John. Corporate special interests are going to keep coming after us. They’ll say we don’t deserve a seat at the table. Fox News will spew any racist attack to smear our movement. They’ll say we’re too radical. And they’ll say all of this simply because they can’t stand that we’re leading with love.
Thank you for all of your support.
Your Congresswoman loves you,
Cori
