My faith in God through Jesus is central to who I am. It doesn't mean I'm perfect, but through all of the trials, persecution and struggles, it's my faith that I turn to and from which I draw strength during the good times and the more challenging times.
I accepted Jesus into my heart when I was in the 2nd grade. As a young teen and young adult my relationship with the Lord became more personal. I felt compelled to go on several missions trips and while in college at Virginia Tech was very involved with Campus Crusade for Christ, which is now called Cru.
It was during my college years that I began to study the Bible and my faith strengthened. I remember spending my spring break in Daytona sharing the gospel of Christ with people on the beach.
As a young adult who worked full time in management in the finance and banking field, I spent some week nights and weekends visiting people who had visited our church and led several small group Bible studies.
As a young mother, I left corporate America to raise and homeschool our 4 children under a religious exemption statue. It was then I began to volunteer for the Family Foundation and led various programs and coops for homeschool families seeking opportunities for their children. It was also then that I began to volunteer for various political campaigns for conservative Republicans.
One thing lead to another and my volunteerism lead to serving as campaign staff, political director and even campaign manager for various federal, state and local elected officials.
Ultimately, I would run and win a state senate seat, overcoming a 28 year incumbent. I served in the Virginia Senate for 8 years from 2016 to 2023, until I was "defeated" by 375 mail-in and early votes out of 22,000 votes, in which my campaign was denied overseeing of the early voting machines.
I contested the race, but was ultimately ignored by the Virginia State Board of Elections and the Republican Party of Virginia. We sought justice legally, but we were ignored. The people of Senate District 12 were disenfranchised but no one had the boldness to investigate our concern, despite our best efforts to fight the injustice. It was a frustrating experience but at the end of the day I trusted the Lord to ultimately bring justice.
Many of you have heard me say the Holy Spirit is my GPS. That is true.
Like many of you, I too get distracted and take the longer route because I wasn't paying attention. However, my heart is to put God first every morning, listen to His voice and follow the path that He has laid before me through doors that I believe He opens and closes. While I believe my loss was nefarious at best, it was a door God closed. And one I had a hard time accepting because of the appearance of cheating.
I've had former employees who had worked for me in the past and been good to literally stab me in the back. They accepted money from other elected officials who I had challenged on various policies to betray and defame my good character and reputation. They came after me politically, professionally and personally. A Richmond General District Court judge granted me a protective order against one employee who continues to follow me to this day.
Why? Because I wasn't popular with the other politicians. I wouldn't just go along to get along. I took a stand.
Life begins at conception, not 15 weeks, for starters. I refused to approve a Health and Human Resources Cabinet member because they refused to reverse Governor Northam's position regarding healthcare providers ability to prescribe ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of Covid.
I refused to rejoin the Republican Senate Caucus until the leader resigned because he had introduced bills to increase taxes and even introduced a gun control bill. I could not in good conscience sit under a leader who was introducing bills only a Democrat would introduce. Standing came at a cost.
I had my committee assignments taken away, my seniority taken away and my seat moved to the farthest side of the Virginia Senate chamber and my colleagues . All in an attempt to shame me into submission.
No matter what they did to me or said about me, I chose to stand.
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