My faith informs my values--but it does not dictate anyone else's beliefs. In a pluralistic democracy, faith should never be used as a weapon, a wedge, or a tool for proselytizing. Instead, faith at its best offers a moral framework that calls us toward justice, dignity, care for one another, and the valuing of all.

As a person of faith, I am guided by values rooted in fairness, compassion, and accountability — values that translate naturally into public policy without requiring religious conformity. These are not sectarian ideals; they are democratic ones. Across faith traditions--and even among those who claim no religious affiliation--there is broad agreement that:

• People should not be exploited because they are poor.

• Children deserve safe schools and real opportunities.

• Communities should not be poisoned for profit.

• Workers deserve dignity, fair wages, and security.

• Government should protect the vulnerable, not empower predatory systems.

• No one should be othered or discriminated against because of who they are and how they were created.

My faith values will fight to ensure that justice shapes politics. My sense of justice involves crafting policies that heal the harmed and close the gap between a vision of a nation characterized by liberty, possibility, and harmony, and the reality of brokenness, violence, vulnerability, a hierarchy of value, fear, and the lack of opportunity.