Barbara Willer

I love this country with all my heart. And I believe in its promise—because I’ve lived it. I grew up as a child of the Civil Rights Movement. My parents would take me to marches when I was a toddler, where crowds of people of all races, faiths, and walks of life came together for freedom and opportunity. I’ve lived the promise of America. I saw how hard my mother worked to give her daughters the same chances this country gave her. I was blessed to have family by blood and family by love who instilled in me the values of community, compassion, and faith that have always defined our nation at our best. I’ve lived the promise of America. I’ve spent my life fighting for people who have been overlooked, but who still believe that in this country, we should all be equal in the eyes of the law. I’ve lived the promise of America—and I see the promise of America in all of you. In the young people voting for the first time, who are determined to live free from gun violence, protect our planet, and shape the world they inherit. In the women who refuse to accept a future without reproductive freedom and the men who support them. In Republicans who have never voted for a Democrat before but put the Constitution of the United States over party. In Americans, different in many respects, but united by love of freedom, a belief in fairness and decency, and faith in a better future. That is why I’m in this race, America.