I am running to represent District 36 in the Arkansas State House of Representatives. I was born and raised in Piggott, Arkansas, and moved to Jonesboro to attend Arkansas State University. Afterward, I earned my doctorate in education at the University of Arkansas, then returned back to Jonesboro, where my wife, Leslie, and I have lived for nearly 15 years. I now work as a senior researcher for Digital Promise, a non-profit education research and development organization. Additionally, I have volunteered with several community organizations, working to further mutual aid, labor rights, tenant rights, and civil rights and individual liberty.

I was born into a working-class family along with my brother and sister. My dad worked in factories his entire life, while my mom worked odd jobs, eventually retiring from her job in a public school cafeteria. Even with a dwindling local manufacturing industry, my parents worked hard and provided for our family, often with the help of family and community, despite not having a lot of money. I learned the value of hard work from them, but more importantly, I learned the value of community and family. Thanks to them, my sister and I were the first in our family to graduate college.

My campaign is built on those very same values. Growing up in rural Arkansas with a working-class family taught me the value of community and the importance of taking Jesus’s command to “love your neighbor” seriously. I’m tired of the culture war that tries to get us Arkansans to hate each other instead of working together. When we work together as neighbors and as a community, we can solve important problems.

Here in Arkansas, inflation and corporate profits are on the rise while wages stay the same. It costs too much money to see a doctor or get life-saving medicine, and our public schools are underfunded and under-appreciated. We need people in the Arkansas legislature who will truly represent working families. If elected, I will work with everyone in my community to build a brighter Arkansas. I hope to earn your vote this November.