About

I never considered myself politically active. I would vote in each election, researching candidates and initiatives, and choosing who and what to support based on the information available to me. Although I considered myself an “independent” conservative, the vast majority of candidates I chose for most of my voting life were Republicans.

That all changed in 2016 when Donald Trump burst on the scene like a human WMD. I watched the primaries with horror, sure people couldn’t be taken in by this immoral con man. But by the time I had a chance to vote in Washington State primaries, he was already the nominee.

I remember looking around at my fellow Americans, fellow Latter-day Saints even, and seeing them fall in line behind him, changing their views on issues to match his, forgiving and even justifying his immorality, racism, and cruelty.

I had to do something.

So, in the fall of 2016, I went all in on a last-ditch Hail Mary plan to support Evan McMullin, a principled conservative who had close to zero chance of stopping Trump’s path to the Whitehouse. I couldn’t imagine voting for Clinton. She was too liberal.

I phone-banked and organized and knocked on doors. I waved signs on the freeway, scheduled an interview on a local news station, and rented a podium to host a rally at the Capitol Building in Olympia. 

And he didn’t win. And I have no regrets. I’m proud that I poured my heart and soul into trying to stop Trump.

Watching the horrible effect he had on our country, our public discourse, our standing in the world, our treatment of marginalized communities, the economy, and the way Republican after Republican lined up to kneel before him, I began to question many of my long-held policy positions.

If Republicans were the party of Trump, I needed to find a new home.