Hello Fellow Democrats,

Today, I am dropping out of the race for Vice-Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party.

I jumped into the race for Vice-Chair because I wanted to grow, heal, and strengthen the Democratic Party. I wanted to give back to the party that has fought for my civil rights and fights for health care for all.

This doesn’t mean that I am going to end my work within the party to help build it and heal it. It just means that I am going to focus on other areas.

For instance, we must heal the wounds within our party from the 2016 primary; otherwise, we won’t be able to fight the Republicans in 2018.

Yes, we are a diverse party with people on different points on the political spectrum, and we must recognize that the bottom line is that we are all Democrats. The Democratic Party is a Big Tent and that includes political ideology, from being progressive to moderate. Let’s recognize that and move on.

Nevertheless, to move forward and come together we must listen to everyone and hear their concerns even if we don’t agree with them. We must give everyone a seat at the table. We must acknowledge what their concerns are and act where necessary. We must work together to empower new people and especially young people.

Additionally, I only see us succeeding if we work together as a team, meaning that our leadership must work with one another to accomplish the party’s goals and they must be there for one another to lean on. We cannot expect one person to do it all alone.

An essential part of that team I think is the relationship between labor and the party. I believe that we need as a party to continue to stand up against trade policies like TPP and future NAFTA-like agreements. Free trade is not fair if it throws our workers under the bus and we need to make that clear as a party.

Moving into the next election season, we must work together to rebuild our party and remember that our county parties are vital to our successes.

Furthermore, Constituency Caucuses play a major role in the Democratic Party, and they should be given more support to fulfill their duties. They also should be our first connection to the communities that they represent. Thus, going forward, I will make it a priority of mine in whatever compacity to make sure that the Constituency Caucuses have a voice and are being heard.

I want to continue to fight for a better future, and the only way to do that is through a strong united Democratic Party. I don’t want just to talk about it; I want to do something about it.