Guest Post by Ryan Sawyers, Prince William County School Board Chairman (editor’s note: other Democratic candidates in the 1st CD are welcome to submit “Why I’m Running for Congress” pieces as well)
When I think about my family, my neighborhood, my state, my country, it’s a two-part thing. I suspect it’s the same for many of you. On one hand, there’s the part of me that soars, or wants to, the part that longs for the days when we could talk about fair pay for hard work, about treating everybody with respect, a healthier Chesapeake Bay, and free college for those who need it. There’s a part of me, in other words, that wants to get back to the America that makes me proud to be an American. There’s the part of me that wants to help, rather than hurt, my neighbors. That’s one reason I’m running for Congress in the Virginia 1st District (currently a red seat and, you should know, a seat I can win).
And, like you, I suspect, there’s another part of me. There’s the part of me that despises Donald Trump, despises everything about him, his patent greed, his obvious cynicism, his selfishness, his personal, well, grossness. And, most of all, his willingness to lie whenever it suits him and to lie not even particularly well. There’s the part of me that longs to serve in a Congress that finally gets to the bottom of whatever happened between this charlatan’s campaign and Russia. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and the Trump White House is all smoke. One hundred days in and I’m sick of it. I’m guessing you are, too.
I have two kids, a son and a daughter. Of course, at one time or another, they’ve both come home from school in tears for one reason or another. And each time, it’s the same. If they need a hug, I give them a hug. And if someone’s done them wrong, there’s a part of me that wants fight for them. I’m a dad. I can’t help it.
There are two sides to you. There are two sides to me. I’m a hugger but I’m also a fighter. America, I’m running for Congress. For my wife, for my kids, for you. Hug with me. Fight with me, so that we can get back to what matters.
(P.S. I aim to turn a red seat blue. I’ve done it before. I’m currently the lone county-wide Democratic elected official, as the Chairman of the School Board, in Prince William County, Virginia’s second-largest county and the country’s 35th-largest school system, the first Democrat to ever win that seat.)
I’m a fighter. Help me fight. If you can help, anything would be great, from $5 to $500:
To donate: http://www.RyanSawyers.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RyanSawyersVA
Twitter: @RyanSawyersVA
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