This is not a normal political moment—and pretending otherwise is how democracies drift.

Across the country, Americans are watching institutions strain under pressure: courts, agencies, law enforcement, and immigration systems. Decisions with profound consequences are being made quickly, often without clear public explanation, transparent legal grounding, or meaningful oversight. When that happens, democratic legitimacy erodes—not all at once, but quietly.

Immigration enforcement sits squarely at the center of this strain.

I live in a rent-controlled apartment building in Norfolk designed to address the affordable housing crisis. It’s not glamorous. It’s practical. It works. And it proves something important: when government acts with restraint, care, and accountability, it can stabilize people during moments of disruption instead of pushing them closer to the edge.

Housing is not a luxury. It is the foundation of dignity, health, and economic stability.

I am running for Congress because too many of the systems Americans rely on—especially financial systems—have stopped working for ordinary people when they need them most.

I’m challenging Rep. Bobby Scott, who has represented Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District since 1993. Experience matters, and long service deserves respect. But longevity alone is not leadership. After 32 years in Congress, Virginians deserve to ask a simple question: where are the results?

For most working and middle-class families, government isn’t something they experience through floor speeches in Congress or cable news debates. They experience it through agencies—when they apply for unemployment insurance after a layoff, file a workplace discrimination claim, appeal a denied benefit, or wait for a decision that determines whether they can stay afloat another month.

In those moments, fairness in government isn’t abstract. It’s the difference between stability and crisis.

Public safety is not sustained by force alone. It depends on legitimacy—on whether people believe authority is exercised with restraint, fairness, and accountability. When that legitimacy erodes, trust collapses, cooperation disappears, and communities become less safe for everyone, including law enforcement.

That is the reality facing too many communities across Virginia and the country today.