Jonathan 4 Congress

About this campaign

Back in the 1996 election, all the kids at school were discussing who they wanted to win. Half of the kids told me that their guy needed to win because the other guy wanted to get rid of the milk in the lunchroom. That was enough for me. I wanted my milk and I was on a mission to make sure it stayed in the lunchroom.

I had the luxury of living next door to my grandparents. As soon as I got home, I knew I had to convince my Granny and Papa to vote my way. I needed my choccy milk! After school, I immediately went to their house and tried to convince my Granny to vote for the Republicrat candidates who would save my beverage from the other candidate.

She wasn’t having it.

Granny looked me dead in the eyes and told me "You won't catch me voting for either one of those shit asses."

I was very confused. “There are only two people running. You're not going to vote?”, I asked.

Granny matter-of-factly informed me that I was wrong, and that we have more than two options.

Four years later, when the kids at school were arguing about Bush and Gore, I was ready. We had a mock election that year and we were allowed to give a speech to sway our classmates to vote for the candidate we supported. That day I went in supporting a third party candidate, and in my class the third option won.

I don’t know if Granny ever knew the gravity of her words that afternoon in 1996, but they made an impact that shaped me forever.

Granny passed away a few weeks ago, and focusing on my campaign has been very difficult while my family deals with this loss. I have been quiet, but I am still here. It took some time to find the words to honor my Granny in the way she deserved.

Granny passed away the way many of the elderly have over the past year, she caught Covid-19. She passed away without her family beside her, from a virus that the Federal government actively suppressed testing for. A virus that Federal agencies stopped doctors from catching and alerting the public when it was still manageable. They lied to us and told us it wasn’t an issue, and then locked us away from our loved ones, they told us we can’t go to work, and they used our tax money to bail out corporations. The hospital called and had us pick up her things.

With her she had a handout from my 2012 campaign for state legislature. Words can never express how it made me feel to know that she held on to that all of these years.

Granny isn’t with us anymore, but her words live on. Our choices shouldn't be binary, and these “shit asses” in the Republicrat party will never care about us. I intend to continue to make her proud and do her memory justice. Granny was right.