When you're running, when you're in elected office, you're surrounded with power. And, so every single day, you have to remind yourself why you're here, and that people put you here for a reason.

When you're running, when you're in elected office, you're surrounded with power. And, so every single day, you have to remind yourself why you're here, and that people put you here for a reason.

What happens with identity politics sometimes is there's a competition among the oppressed: You're more oppressed than me and if not, then unfortunately you may not receive as much attention. What we need to do is make sure we're focusing on what our core American values are, and ensure that everyone feels as though we are in this together.

Losing elections all across America, and the American people clearly saying the Democratic Party is no longer the party of the people, I don't know how much more objective you can get than that.

The Democratic Party says we're inclusive, but it's clear sometimes we are not as inclusive. People see hypocrisy, they don't see alignment and values, and that's why there's a lack of trust. Moving forward, I want to be part of fighting for the heart and soul of the party saying we need to redefine our values and operationalize them.

The lack of fairness that we have in the richest country in the world is something that hits my district pretty hard. Eighty-three percent free and reduced lunch. We have the fourth-highest Medicaid population per capita in Virginia. There are folks that are just making it, literally day to day. When I'm knocking on doors, I'm reminded constantly of the struggles that people have. And, sometimes, we realized there are so few people that are advocating on their behalf that we want to be a real solid voice for them, and that drives me on a regular basis.

I think the Democratic Party is firmly in the wilderness right now and doesn't know exactly what to do. We talk about trust. Fundamentally, the American people have lost a lot of trust in both parties, but in particular, my party. Growing trust is a very simple calculation: People want to know what your values are, and they watch your behaviors. If your behaviors align with your values, then they trust you. If you say I'm for the people, but we're just as bought off as the other party, or we say we're for fairness, but we gerrymander just like the other side, people see.