What Vegas Taught Me About the Country

If you had told me a year ago that I’d be flying to Vegas for 48 hours during a congressional campaign to support my campaign manager in a karaoke competition, I would’ve laughed.

But I went.
Because this is a human project, not a sterile political one.

On the Spirit flight home, my friend ended up seated between two men who seemed high on fentanyl at 9 a.m. They weren’t jokes. They weren’t stereotypes. They were human beings who fell through systems that no longer work.

That flight was a snapshot of America—the pain, the loneliness, the lack of support we pretend is normal.

Campaigns force you to see the country in raw, unfiltered ways.
You meet people in moments that aren’t curated.
Sometimes it’s heartbreaking.
Sometimes it’s funny.
Sometimes it’s both.

Vegas wasn’t a vacation.
It was a reminder of why I’m doing this.

The systems that should catch people aren’t catching them.
And the people who are trying to build something new—whether it’s a volunteer group, a neighborhood circle, or a small campaign—deserve leaders who show up fully.