Why are you running now? And why are you the right candidate for this moment?
I embody the failures and the potential of this country. My grandfather was a Bracero. He was brought from Mexico to help with the war effort during World War Two. My mother was able to come to the U.S. as well, work the fields. It was kind of in that environment that I was born. I was the first to attend high school, college. I was terrified and upset that we had been attacked on September 11. I changed my major to international relations. I wanted to be a career diplomat, advocate for American ideals. Because of economic inequality, I dropped out of college, became homeless, entangled in the criminal justice system, worked for a boiler room type company that was a fraud. Fast forward, I got my political science degree, got my Master's in Public Administration. We have way too many lawyers in Congress. I have the right combination of academic excellence, activism, campaign managing, but most important of all is that I get people. And it's that lived experience that I want to be able to translate into federal legislation.
What do you think is the top issue, and what is your plan to address it if elected?
All roads lead to the high cost of everything. My solution to, frankly, 50 years of economic inequality is a citizen's dividend or universal basic income. I envision a Nevada Permanent Fund through mineral wealth, Tesla and Amazon, direct payments of $1,300 once a month for every Nevadan paid for by these billionaire companies, which we have built thanks to taxpayer money. All we're asking for is our fair share.
How will you represent the entire district, from the urban areas to rural and tribal northern Nevada?
My platform is very simple but very bold. It's about universal economic policies for all, no exception, from cradle to grave. So I'm talking about universal baby bonds, universal child care, parental leave, universal health care. And these are policies that regardless of where you live, urban, suburban, rural, regardless of your politics, it's about human freedom, and so that is how I intend to represent them.
