I was born and raised in Iowa City, my parents moved here from Venezuela in order for my dad to train at the University of Iowa with the plan of leaving Iowa after three years. That plan changed when they fell in love with Iowa and decided that the strong community and world-class public schools made it the best place to raise kids. I received a wonderful public education at City High and went to college at the University of Chicago. In middle and high school I volunteered for the Obama and Clinton campaigns and in college I organized my classmates to make calls for the 2018 midterms in Iowa.
The urgency of the 2020 elections inspired me to become more involved in politics. I took time off of school to work as an organizer for the Pete Buttigieg campaign, then as the regional organizing director for the Iowa Democratic Party in northwest Iowa during the general. I knocked on tens of thousands of doors and met people all over the state who are working to make Iowa stronger. Working for Heidi Heitkamp’s One Country Project I helped put together a playbook for how Democrats can be effective in rural America, and working for Jon Ossoff’s campaign for US Senate I saw the end result of what decades of hard work and organizing can achieve. My work in organizing has prepared me to work tirelessly to move this state forward, and the incredible volunteers and activists I’ve met are the reason I won’t give up.
We can preserve our close-knit communities while also making Iowa more affordable, more prosperous, and more inclusive. Here’s my plan:
-Make public universities and community colleges tuition-free for students who commit to staying in Iowa after graduation.
-Connect Iowa City to Chicago via Amtrak to spur economic growth.
-Restore bargaining rights to strengthen Unions and raise the minimum wage.
-Welcome immigrants with open arms.
-Properly fund our public schools, increase teacher salaries, and respect our educators.
