We began this month the same way last month ended. Rallying against a Supreme Court which would rather be paid off by the pseudo-libertarian oligarchs’ fancy jets, dinners, and vacations; than they would serve the legal interests of the citizens protected under the constitution they swore an oath to serve. The Court, has once again been captured by those who wish to colloquially boil the frog in a pot of water. To slowly but surely dismantle what little of our great Republic that we have left. All in the aim of short term profit and long term control. 

They want us to have apathy. To turn a blind eye when witnessing the injustice we all see in our everyday lives. We must not give them what they want. We must stay informed, engaged, and willing to put ourselves in the firing line for those who should not stand alone. I hope through the campaign of all the different people from places in society not often represented in the Capitol; that people start to feel that apathy breaking. 

Much of the rest of this month was spent doing the logistical minutia required to successfully run a campaign. After signing up for the ballot at your town’s clerk. You get a letter of declaration from the Secretary of the State, and information on how to properly report campaign donations and your own personal financial disclosures.

For the personal disclosure, you must disclose if you made more than ten thousand dollars from one source. Since May, I have been employed by Rights and Democracy, a bi-state non-profit issue based organization. Supported by it’s members, and grants from national advocacy organizations such as People’s Action Network. Brandon Lemay runs the housing and tenant rights team. He is also a candidate for the State House in Manchester this cycle. Heather Stockwell runs the Healthcare justice teams, Jodi Newell runs the opioid crisis team, and I am the Education Justice Organizer. Only being in the job for roughly seven weeks, I have not made more than a few thousand dollars working at twenty three dollars an hour for forty hours a week. I did declare it as an interest because it is a political advocacy group, and despite not crossing the threshold of ten thousand yet - it is important to be fully transparent about your economic standing when running for office. 

If a candidate for the State House receives or spends more than one thousand dollars, filing a statement of receipt and/or expenditure is legally required. A statement of receipt is a document outlining who has donated to you, and at what amount. If Joe Bob donates $1000 dollars to me, I must fill out a receipt form including his name, address, occupation (marking retired or unemployed if not applicable), and the amount donated. If I spend $1000 dollars to purchase campaign signs and material, then I must file an expenditure form which outlines where and what the money was spent on. Address, business name, and the amount spent. 

I am running a people powered campaign. I’m not looking to raise thousands dollars from wealthy donors just so I can afford to run advertisements online. I will refuse any donation from a source which I feel even broaches an unethical line. I don’t want the money of the elite business interests. To keep up with each candidates financial disclosures, including my own, you can go to the NH Secretary of State’s website. 

Running for the State House in New Hampshire is not an expensive endeavor. Generally, you need only raise roughly $2500 dollars. That should cover all the expenses you need to make in order to run a successful campaign. A few hundred campaign signs, a couple thousand colored campaign fliers, buying a website domain, and a website builder; and most importantly - food for your volunteers.

To raise money, I am building myself a website which will be a place to put these monthly letters I am writing, updates about the campaign, and any videos or other media I make along the way. I will also utilize social media, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I have serious problems with those platforms and the impacts they have on society, but I cannot write off the importance of meeting people where they are - unfortunately a lot of people get their information from those platforms. I would be remiss if I didn’t at least somewhat put information on those platforms. Despite my own personal gripes with those that run them. 

Dave Kirtpatrick, who runs a local YouTube program called November and Beyond, generously offered to donate his time to help film my announcement video. On the 8th of this month that’s what we did. I’ve given plenty of speeches before but standing on the lawn outside of his studio with a camera in front of my face was a totally different ball game. After a few takes, I finally got the handle of it. I want to profusely thank him for donating his time and energy to help me launch this campaign. This is exactly what I mean’t last month when I wrote about building connections through the candidacy. Connecting like minded individuals and utilizing each of our own special skills in order to build a team that elects strong legislators in districts all across the State. 

Robin Vogt, another candidate out of Portsmouth, offered to help build the campaign graphics for my yard signs, post cards, and buttons. I did pay him for that work using campaign donations but it still meant a lot to me that he would take time out of running his own campaign to help others win their’s. Working people will only find themselves in the State House by working together, and this month has only solidified my belief in that vision. 

Using the raw footage from Dave, the graphics from Robin, some stock music, and an editing app on my iPhone called Splice; I edited my campaign announcement video. Wrote up my announcement post, and made my campaign ‘social media official’. The response from my friends, neighbors, and strangers across the State has been incredible. People are ready for a new generation of leadership. Not in age, but mindset. A new generation of leadership which aims to end the paradigm of hate, exploitation, and greed - and bring about the a new paradigm based on the fundamental love for humanity, compassion, and justice for all.

Again, we ended the month rallying at the roundabout they call the square in Keene. This time it was a rally organized by the Cheshire Democrats. They showcased a group of candidates running and it was a great opportunity to meet different people. Rallying the base for the election. I went to support my colleagues running for office. 

This was one busy month, but I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Putting the vision into action.  and jumpstarting my campaign to be elected to the State legislature. I have no other words other than to say this is a privilege.