Growing up as a gay man in small town Indiana, it was never easy to exist. I was born in LaPorte, but lived in Walkerton, which, as you may remember, was the location of the pizza place that refused to serve gay weddings after Vice President (then Governor) Mike Pence passed the Religious Freedom Law. To my knowledge I was the only openly gay male in Walkerton.
The point is, I had to learn real quick to have thick skin. I’ve been called every name in the book. I’ve been threatened, harassed, bullied and physically harmed. Due to this, every morning, the fire burning in me grew stronger to do more to fight back. I started becoming more politically involved around that time, planning rallies against the laws Mike Pence passed, volunteering for candidates, and eventually becoming president of a not for profit which fundraised money to fund rehab for those with opioid addictions.
I moved to Florida in 2012, (Minus 2016, which my husband and I spent living in Indiana) and unfortunately this community is very much like my previous one and faces many of the same issues. Food insecurity, lack of affordable housing, a crippling drug epidemic, and openly racist and hateful elected officials like Grady Judd, who use a national platform to only speak hate.
Stepping up to run as a first time candidate, for me, was a no brainer. I’m use to being out of my comfort zone and fighting for my community. I’ve spent my entire life fighting.
My opponent ran unopposed in 2018. The great thing about this district though, is that because of the great work of the Polk County DEC and the Florida Democratic Party, my district now has 6030 more registered Democrats than Republicans, and 28 of my 35 precincts have more registered Democrats than Republicans.
With a little help and a lot of hard work, I really can flip this district and make a huge difference here. The first thing I’m going to address is that nearly 25% of Polk County children are food insecure.
I find it sad that so many of our residents are struggling, and yet our Republican controlled government refuses to do anything about it. There is NO EXCUSE for ignoring your constituents for multiple terms, and doing absolutely NOTHING to help them and actually actively work against them by doing things like stripping away municipal ability to require developers to set aside a portion for affordable housing, taking away sanitary laws, continuing a systemic dismantling of our public school system, and refusing to hold a special session to fix our EXTREMELY BROKEN unemployment system.
We need to hold these people accountable NOW, and you can do so this November by voting for candidates like me, fighters, who will listen to the needs of constituents and actually do something about it. I’m tired of sitting back and watching my friends, family, and neighbors struggle while these Republican Representatives continue to do as they please.
If you’d like to contribute to my campaign and help me flip this seat, you can do so at my act blue. I’d also love to have you follow along with my campaign and visit JaredWestForFlorida.com or click the links below.