Their Attack Ads

My opponent, Ben Weber, stood in front of an entire elected body of public Central Committee members last fall and pledged to run a clean, negative-free campaign.

I knew he would go back on his word, because when there is little track record to stand on, the only option left is to attack me.

As we enter the final week before the election, Ben continues to recycle the attacks from from the last primary. It is the oldest play in the political handbook: when they cannot beat you on the issues, they try to bury you in noise.

But I have made a commitment to you to be an open book. I owe you an answer regardless of whether a claim is true or even based in reality. That is a promise you can take to the bank with me. I will never hide, and I will never cower.

So, here is the full truth, once and for all.

The DUI:
Yes. One DUI when I was 21 years old, nearly 20 years ago. It was a mistake I made long before public service ever crossed my mind. But out of that moment of redemption came the greatest blessing of my life. Because of restricted driving privileges, I took a job I otherwise would not have considered, and that is exactly where I met my husband, Eddie. Our 16 year marriage and my two precious children are the beauty from ashes that God promised.

The Two DUIs claim:
False. Nearly seven years ago, I was the sober designated driver for friends after a wedding. I admitted to having a champagne toast nearly nine hours earlier, because that was the truth. The truth is an inebriated passenger attempted to grab the wheel thinking there was a wrong turn in play, causing the car to swerve. Once the facts were sorted out, I was not ultimately convicted of a DUI.

The Tax Issues:
False. We have never missed paying our taxes. A bookkeeper for a long-closed business simply missed one final closure form. We paid a $300 administrative fee the moment we learned of it. No back taxes were ever due. The government is quite slow and difficult when it comes to removing this from online records.

The Evictions:
False. Over 20 years ago, an apartment complex filed paperwork in error, then immediately withdrew it as an administrative mistake. I have never been evicted.

Pro Open Border:
False. This claim is based on a single $20 donation I made nine years ago to a one-time charity post related to the Syrian war. It had nothing to do with U.S. immigration policy or any “open border” position. I have never supported open borders, and I never will.

I think back to a moment in the last primary when my children hopped off the school bus and found a mailer in the mailbox—a photoshopped image of me in shackles. I had to sit them down and explain a mistake I made 20 years ago. It turned a vicious attack into a teachable moment about grace and forgiveness. When you stand for your convictions, you should expect resistance—and at times, persecution. And when opponents cannot win on the issues, they turn to personal attacks. That is exactly what we are seeing in this race.

There is a reason good people do not run for office anymore. Dark money groups can dig up every skeleton, exaggerate every flaw, and invent lies out of thin air to humiliate families. But I am reminded that Jesus did not choose perfect people to change the world; He chose people with a past.

My life has been unconventional, messy, and redeemed. That makes me relatable, and it makes me a fighter. I am the only candidate in this race who has lived across every socioeconomic layer of this district, including time spent in women’s community housing as a teenager.

My story is the story of second chances and hard work—the very things that make this country great.

I am not backing down. I am fueled by grace, and I am sustained by the same grace that redeems me every day, and I am ready to fight for your family with every ounce of my heart.