Every American has a right to quality healthcare. I will fight for practical solutions that put the needs of our families first, and not those of pharmaceutical and insurance company lobbyists. The opioid and mental health crises point out how important it is to restore a public health system and to cover every American for basic preventive and chronic disease management. In Congress, I would immediately champion lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 50 and creating a public option to cover Americans in order to stabilize the existing private marketplaces. In the richest country in the world, no one should suffer because they can’t afford proper medical care.

Champion quality, universal healthcare coverage for ALL Americans
Fight for prescription affordability
Fully fund and expand Medicare and Medicaid
Stabilize long-term funding for CHIP
Protect mental healthcare as an essential health benefit
Recognize addiction as a public health issue (not a moral failing or a crime) and invest in prevention, treatment, and recovery programs

We must preserve our democratic heritage by upholding the checks and balances built into the constitution by our forefathers. The independence of the judiciary and the press must be maintained if we are to continue to act as a free and fair democracy. Our politicians should be guided by their constituents’ needs, not by simple party loyalty or the demands of their donors. Big money in politics, attacks on the courts and press, voter suppression, and partisan gerrymandering all threaten our democracy. I promise to champion voter rights and campaign finance reform in order to uphold the sanctity of our democratic institutions.

Return North Carolina to its status as a free and fair democracy from its current ranking alongside “pseudo-democracies like Cuba, Indonesia, and Sierra Leone,” according to The Electoral Integrity Project’s 2016 report
Pass a new Voting Rights Act to stop voter suppression and protect all Americans’ fundamental voting rights
Champion independent, non-partisan redistricting which ensures voters are able to pick their politicians and not the other way around
Support comprehensive campaign finance reform to get dark money out of politics
Close the revolving door that enables former congressional representatives and staff to obtain lucrative lobbying jobs and influence their former colleagues immediately upon leaving office
Protect the freedom of the press by reinforcing constitutional tenets that ensure the safety of journalists and their right to report the truth at home and abroad