Married to former Ottawa County Prosecutor, Mark Mulligan, last year we celebrated our 40^th wedding anniversary, and we have a blended family with three sons and one daughter, in addition to a quirky rescue named Ripley.

My background is in education. I taught seventh grade language arts at Clyde, Ohio, before moving on to teach writing at Owens State Community College for a decade. After that, I worked for Big Brothers Big Sisters in Toledo as their Vice President of Partnership Development focusing on building coalitions, structuring new mentoring programs, and grant funding.

Now I consider my work to be organizing and activism. In that capacity, I have been working across several counties doing what I can to energize and build partnerships with others.

Working with our Ottawa County Democratic Party Chair Beth Gilman to focus and reorganize the basic structure of the party, we have been able to accommodate both people’s interests and the needs of the party. I consider communication to be a vital instrument for that purpose, so last year I created a newsletter for the Ottawa County Democratic Party; after the primary, I will be launching a podcast that will feature three generations approaching topics with their views in mind.

I started a Red Wine and Blue group in Ottawa County called Ottawa County UpRise to provide others with ways to meet like-minded, progressive people and to focus on structured campaigns of letter-writing, political education (such as the path to running for office), and mutual aid like food drives. Teaming with a friend, we startd an organizing group called We the People-Ottawa County. So far, that group has organized five protests in Ottawa County (the last No Kings had nearly 400 participants), and we are bringing Dr. Amy Acton, candidate for Ohio Governor, to Ottawa County for a Meet & Greet that so far has 200 reservations.

I have worked in conjunction with Sandusky County Democratic Party and their People for Peace and Justice; I have partnered with Lucas County people during Kamala Harris’s run to help with a group formed by State Representative Elgin Rogers Jr. called “47 for 47”; and, finally, I have worked with Erie County Democratic Party Chair Amy Grubbe, supporting candidates and helping with campaigns in Erie County.

I am proud to be a member of my county’s central committee, to have recruited two women to run for county office in Ottawa County, and to be a candidate myself for county office, in addition to State Central Committee. However. I am most proud to have been recognized this year, during Black History Month, by the Ohio House of Representatives under the sponsorship of Representative Rogers as an ally and a “Difference Maker” in the community.

Because we need to bring new energy and fresh ideas to the party to make our state and our Democratic candidates competitive again, I believe the successes and contributions I have made so far I will be able to extend to the 2^nd Senate District, the State Central Committee and the Ohio Democratic Party so we can make Ohio a stronghold for democracy. I ask for your vote so we all can make a difference within our communities.