Hey y’all, it’s #NationalRunforOfficeDay! To celebrate, I want to tell my story about running for office. Thanks to @runforsomething for helping folks like me stand up and take a chance. We need all sorts of folks in elected office, and maybe *you* should run for something. 1/x

I’ve always loved politics, but by the time I was 30 had moved a different direction and didn’t think I’d ever run. But I got involved with @IndvsbleTXLege and started asking my then state rep about his position on two bad bills. SB4, which attacked our immigrant community & 2/x

SB6, which attacked transgender kids.

Instead of answering my questions, he was rude to me and blocked me on FB. (Spoiler: He ended up supporting both.)

I started looking for his Democratic opponent from 2016, so I could help them beat him in 2018. Y’all, he was unopposed. 3/x

Trump had won this district by less the 5 points. He *needed* an opponent. I poked around to see if someone who already held a local office might run and didn’t find anyone. I started to realized that maybe it was going to be me.

I didn’t know what I was doing but was determined to figure it out. I started showing up at everything. (It’s true y’all, the world is run by people who show up.) I built relationships, helped blockwalk for local elections, and slowly built my own campaign. 5/x

Then two surprises near the end of 2017! 1. The current state rep was running for Congress instead of reelection—open seat! 2. Baby, oh baby, I was pregnant.

Suddenly all the stakes were high. The seat suddenly seemed more winnable, but, wow, my plate was going to be full. 6/x

I decided that whatever came with pregnancy and having a newborn, we could figure it out and kept running. Because the seat was seen as more competitive now, I had two folks jump in to run against me in the primary. My strategy was to blockwalk, blockwalk, blockwalk. 7/x

The primary was March 2018. I came in second by 15 points, but the leader didn’t break 50%. In Texas, that means runoff, but being down 15 points generally means you don’t have a snowball’s chance in Texas of winning.

I took my shot anyways, and kept blockwalking. 8/x

Apartments weren’t super fun in the third trimester of pregnancy, but it paid off. I was 8 months pregnant when I pulled out a surprise win and became the Democratic nominee for Texas House District 45. 9/x

A month in June later this little nugget joined us. I want all the moms or moms-to-be out there to know that yes, you can raise a family AND run for office. (And c’mon, no one even stops to think if dads can do both.) 10/x

After a few weeks, we got back on the campaign trail, blockwalking, blockwalking, blockwalking.

There’s always a lot of talk about campaign strategy and fundraising and whatnot, but often the best thing you can do is just talk to voters.

Lark also liked blockwalking. 11/x

My race was considered a long shot, so we didn’t get a lot of outside help (shout out to @ChrisGTurner @CeliaIsrael @DonnaHowardTX @GinaForAustin @TMFtx & @texasdemocrats for being exceptions), but we built an awesome volunteer base that helped us talk to voters. 12/x

And WE DID IT. On election night, I was, again, a surprise winner and am now a Texas State Representative.

Last session I even brought Lark to the Capitol with me often.

So to all the moms out there who have a desire to serve, RUN FOR SOMETHING. 13/13