Beto O’Rourke stands for the values that I believe in that I want to see translated in the U.S. Senate.

I live with an autoimmune disease that attacks my lungs, kidneys, ears, nose, throat and skin. I have to take medicine every single day to keep my immune system from killing me. I don’t have health insurance and would like to have it one day without going broke.

As a woman I would also like control of my body and easy access to birth control and cancer screenings as well as safe and legal abortion services.

I would like women to feel comfortable and without worry of being sexually harassed or assaulted or, if they are, having to agonize about who will believe them when they speak up. I want the Violence Against Women Act passed, something Sen. Ted Cruz voted against.

I want to see the state putting more funding into public education instead of into private schools. I want to see high-stakes testing eliminated because I know first-hand how students will be making As and Bs in the classroom and then fail on tests that set them up to do so.

I want to see that 20 veterans a day are NOT committing suicide because of inadequate mental health services. I want this issue addressed by more elected officials, as O’Rourke did. I want the VA to be held accountable when they fail our veterans.

I want a senator who works to end police brutality focused on people of color and finds value in the protests against it but does so while supporting the police officers who put their lives on the line.

I want to put an end to mass incarceration in Texas. I no longer want to see people serving sentences for non-violent drug offenses.

I want a fair bail system.

I want to end for-profit prisons.

I want a senator that will decriminalize marijuana and allow more doctors who can prescribe medical marijuana to those who need it, especially in the face of the opioid epidemic.

The issue that is closest to my heart is immigration.

My friends are Dreamers and I would like to see a clean DREAM Act passed. I would like them granted citizenship here and not get deported to a country they don’t know.

I want an easier pathway to citizenship for the immigrants who are here and coming to the United States that contribute and asylum for those coming here, running from extreme poverty and violence.

I demand every single human being, no matter their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or immigration status feel equal in this country.

Texas needs to start reflecting the values of people in 2018 and move forward instead of staying stuck in the ways of the past because the faces of this state have changed.

O’Rourke has taken the time to visit every single county in Texas to listen to people and get to know the faces he would be representing as senator. He has reached out to communities that past candidates have ignored.

I voted for Beto O’Rourke because he is standing up and speaking out for the values I believe as well as those around me.

See you again next year ballot box.