Supporting President Trump From The Very Beginning

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In 2016, while living in Ohio, I took a chance and ran for an open state representative position.  I had no political connections, but wanted to bring a new perspective to the Republican Party - someone from outside the political establishment.

I ended up running against a long time local politician.  He was a large fundraiser for the party.  No one wanted to see me win.  This was a very different Ohio Republican party from the one of today.  It was anti-Trump and firmly controlled by then Governor, John Kasich.

They went so far as to say maybe I was too young to run, and should wait until after my kids grew up.  The story made national headlines.

I quickly heard back from the state director - we would mutually endorse.  I would be only the 2nd candidate in the state to support President Trump's candidacy.  This was truly "Big League".  I was grateful and honored.

The week after we heard from the campaign, my husband received a strange call.  It was from someone named "Neil".  He warned we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, and he'd hate to see something happen to us.  He advised we take a step back from the campaign.

It felt like a call from a mafia member.  It wasn't a direct threat, but it was enough to give us pause.  I made the difficult decision to stop campaigning - this was a world we were unaccustomed to, and nothing was worth even remotely putting our family at risk.

Years later, it all clicked.  Neil - was Neil Clark, an Ohio political operative.  My opponent was a supporter of the man who would go on to lead the Ohio House of Representatives-and later be convicted of racketeering. My candidacy was a threat to a plan which eventually lead to the largest political scandal in Ohio history.