I am a lifelong Democrat from within a union family. I moved to Arizona in 2010 after spending 20 years in Northern California where I was part of the dominant paridigm and less politically engaged. Here in AZ, I immediately became aware of the situation where it was easier to be gay than to be a Democrat and that wasn’t saying much! I became engaged with LD18 and took the Emerge AZ training program for women who wanted to run for office. I was on the HRC steering committee and helped fund-raise. I became a member of the Emerge AZ board after completing the training course. My wife and I moved to NC in 2017 where I quickly became an NC State Committeeperson and the chair of the LGBTQ+ Democrats of Wake County. Upon returning to AZ in 2020, I re-engaged with the Democratic Party and was disappointed by the lack of LGBTQ focus upon Ray Bradford’s passing. I took up the torch and am now the co-chair of the LGBTQ+ Democrats of Maricopa County along with being a PC in LD12.