We deserve better. Republicans have not shown leadership, they have turned Missouri into a sinking ship. I can see it in small communities all across our state, and I can hear it in the voices of people I meet and talk with. When my wife and I returned home to Missouri, it was heartbreaking to see what was (and still is) happening..

Our representatives have not been fighting for average working families here. They are sitting back on mountains of cash for helping corporate agriculture operations, vulture capitalists, and for-profit educational organizations come in and pick our communities apart one piece at a time.

I am a dad and a husband who grew up here in Missouri playing soccer, being active in Scouting, and spending most weekends and part of every summer on my grandparents’ farm.

I attended both Truman State University and Mizzou, then while living in Milwaukee, earned an MBA and a graduate teaching certification. I’ve worked in corporate finance and marketing as well as small business consulting, but most of my career has been spent as a teacher—in grades from kindergarten to college and in a wide range of subjects.

I loved teaching and the challenges and joys of helping people unfold their potential, but I left for the same reason I got involved in politics: because the damage being done to our schools and our communities from outside the classroom could not be solved from inside it.

Since my wife and I returned to our roots in rural Missouri, I am now actively engaged in small-town economic development, leading local political organizations and consulting for election campaigns.

I see the hurt, anger, and hopelessness of Missourians, but I also see how much more we are capable of. My background has given me the knowledge, skills, and tireless determination to help.

• Family farms imploded.
• Rural hospitals closed.
• School districts chopped down to shorter weeks to stretch the few dollars still left in their budgets.
• 70% of our state is classified as a child care desert, which means too many working families—especially women—trapped in a cycle of poverty.
• Infrastructure like roads, bridges, and water systems rated as failing and dangerously broken.
• Small town businesses boarded up.

The people we have been sending to Washington D.C. for the last 20 years are not helping solve any of these. They don’t need to, because small towns and struggling families are not the big campaign donors that keep writing fat checks to support their lavish lifestyles.

We deserve a state where everyday families can afford to put food on the table AND save for the future. Where women can work AND raise a family. Where our kids can have a complete education AND access to healthcare.

I didn’t give up my corporate paycheck and go into teaching for me, and I’m not giving up my quiet, small-town life and going to Congress for me. (I mean, let’s be honest: I hated living in big cities.) In teaching and in politics, it is about fighting for other people. Creating the opportunities for a better future that they deserve—that YOU deserve.

Look, I come from a family of farmers and plumbers and pioneers. One of my grandfathers drove a mule team to help build Bagnell Dam, so stubbornness and determination are deep in my bones. With my background and your help, we will keep fighting until a new day dawns for Missouri.