US Congressional District 1

A: Promoting bipartisan dialogue, careful negotiations. I would put forth and support legislation for members of Congress to not be paid during government shutdowns.

A: Yes, I would support changes to the current immigration laws. I would seek to streamline a pathway to citizenship and the work visa process to recruit talent from around the globe. I would support the abolishing of ICE and fold the duties of Immigration and Customs Enforcement back into the Department of Justice. This would save literally billions of dollars of taxpayer money, and possibly save our Social Security and Medicaid systems, as most immigrants pay into these systems but cannot benefit from them, supporting our absurd pyramid scheme that we call the “Social Safety Net.”

A: Yes, members of Congress should be able to trade individual stocks, just like any other citizen of this country. However, insider trading is a felony, and I would support congressional oversight and the prosecution of felons.

A: During a call for a welfare check, a police officer attempted to detain and/or arrest my elderly, infirm mother for being “difficult.” After making it crystal clear for his own safety that he leave and never harass my mother again, the officer complied.

A: Cojones

A: 1) Members of Congress should not be paid during government shutdowns.

2) Consider moving away from omnibus budget packages and require appropriations to move through individual committees.

3) If Congress doesn’t pass a budget in the required timeframe, funding should automatically continue at current levels.

A: We need comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform that secures our borders. Several components of that would include:

1) We need to restore and reform the asylum process. First and foremost, we need to address the backlog (of well over 1 million cases) by hiring more asylum officers and immigration judges. It is also critical that we depoliticize immigration courts. We should remove them from the DOJ’s jurisdiction and create an independent immigration court system with standardized training and case management.

2) Invest in modern technology at the border and crack down on smuggling networks that enrich criminal organizations and put people in danger.

3) Modernize the work visa system, especially for seasonal and high-need industries like nursing (J-1 program).

4) Nationwide standards for immigration enforcement with focus on due process, and humane standards for detention facilities.

A: No, members of Congress, members of the Executive Branch and their families should not be allowed to trade individual stocks. In addition, they should not be able to trade options, cryptocurrency or the relatively new prediction markets. I also support reigning in presidential pardon power (which has been abused by both parties), strengthening the Office of Congressional Ethics, restoring the Public Corruption Unit of the FBI, and holding public hearings to expose corruption, conflicts of interest, abuse of power and misuse of federal funds.

A: In the latter years of my career at CSBS, I was responsible for coordinating state enforcement efforts for large money transmitters that were licensed in 40+ states. My team of state regulators (the MMET) got an $80 million settlement from CashApp for failing to comply with state and federal consumer protection laws and failing to perform the legally required steps to investigate fraud on their platform. We also took away the ability of Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO of the world’s largest crypto-firm, Binance, to do business in the United States, when state regulators and law enforcement determined that the company was facilitating money laundering. The president then gave CZ a full and complete pardon, undermining the work of myself and my team.

A: Bipartisanship and nuance.

I spent my career working to get states like Maryland and Mississippi to agree on how to protect consumers. I know that the answers to the problems we face are never found at the extremes. It is important to get into the nuance of every issue. Answers are not necessarily found in the middle, but understanding both sides and working with those who hold opposing views are critical to finding a solution.

A: Continuing resolutions are a symptom of a Congress more interested in political theater than governing. We have a job to do. Taxpayers entrust us with their money and their lives and too many members respond by positioning themselves for cable news hits instead of sitting down and doing the work.The federal budget process exists for a reason. When it fails, real people feel it. Government contractors lose paychecks. Federal workers get furloughed. Programs that feed families, fund healthcare, and keep infrastructure moving get caught in manufactured chaos that has nothing to do with them and everything to do with someone’s ambition.As a freshman member I have to be honest that there are things I can & can’t do. I can’t strong-arm leadership alone. But, what I can do is make noise loudly and consistently, hold my colleagues accountable publicly, and refuse to vote for continuing resolutions that kick the can without a clear path to a real budget. I will push leadership to return to regular order, pass appropriations bills on time, and stop using the full faith and credit of the United States government as a bargaining chip.Governing is not complicated in concept. Fund the government and help the people. Period.

A: Yes, we need comprehensive immigration reform and we needed it 40 years ago.The specific changes I would fight for: hire significantly more immigration judges to clear the backlog, fund the courts properly, honor court dates, and build a process that actually moves. A pathway to citizenship for long-term residents and DACA recipients. Humane asylum processing that treats people with basic dignity. The paperwork is fine, the dysfunction isn’t.What we have right now is cruelty dressed in legal language, targeting people based on the color of their skin without legitimate public safety rationale. I’ll work to end that.On bipartisan support: the business community, the agricultural sector, and the military all have direct stakes in a functioning immigration system. I’m already building coalitions around shared economic interests and basic human decency, which is possible on both sides of the aisle even when leadership pretends otherwise.Immigration is broken because broken serves certain people politically. I will work every day to fix it because I understand the urgency of living inside a broken system yet deserving better.

A: No, members of Congress should not be trading individual stocks. When you have access to classified briefings, regulatory decisions, and legislative information before the public does; trading stocks is a conflict of interest at best and insider trading at worst. During the 2025 government shutdown, while constituents missed paychecks and drained SNAP benefits, lawmakers made nearly 200 trades worth millions. That’s absolutely insane and disrespectful.You can trust that I’ll never trade stocks because I don’t now and never have. I don’t have the kind of money that makes it tempting. Honestly, I think most people making decisions about other people’s lives should not be simultaneously watching their portfolio react to those decisions. That’s weird.The good news is this is genuinely bipartisan. The Restore Trust in Congress Act would prohibit members of Congress, their spouses, and dependents from owning or trading individual stocks. I’ll co-sponsor it because 86% of Americans across party lines support this ban. We, as a Congress, should probably listen to what the people want.Public service means serving the public.

A: My grandmother taught me early to ask questions and if people in power are uncomfortable, you’re on the right path. I never let that go.As a kid, I wrote letters to the editor and to Governor Glendening about Route 50 Bypass being built through my neighborhood in Salisbury. In college, I protested and published about my school’s inadequate and judgmental approach to sexual health resources. I have never waited for permission to speak up.The moments that show how I operate, happened in my career. Behind the scenes, management was creating a hostile work environment, asking employees to work for free, springing ridiculous deadlines on us, and look the other way while people in power benefited financially. My colleagues were frustrated but afraid to say anything. So I said something.I sat down with regional leadership, calm and prepared, laid out the problem, how we got there, and offered solutions. It did not move the needle immediately. So I followed up again & again until it moved.My superpower is that I will stand up for people even when I have to be persistent to the point of obnoxious about it. Which is exactly what MD-01 needs in DC.

A: Congress needs more people who understand what it actually feels like to stretch a dollar, rely on SNAP and Medicaid, and lie awake wondering how the bills get paid. That lived experience does not exist enough in those chambers and its absence shows in every policy decision that treats struggling families as a line item instead of a priority.I am coming to DC to WORK. There are members I deeply admire who show what that looks like. The relentless legislative work ethic of Lauren Underwood. The fearless truth telling of Jasmine Crockett. That combination, someone who drafts real bills, gets them passed, and refuses to sugarcoat what is happening to real people, is exactly what I intend to bring.What Congress is missing is someone solutions-oriented enough to show up with a full plan already built, humble enough to know it takes a community to execute it, and urgent enough to treat every day like the people of MD-01 are counting on it.Because they are. And I am already ready to work.