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This is part of the Meet the Candidate series for the upcoming elections.

The candidate featured here is Brittany Gondolfi who is running for State Senate, District 12.

Why did you decide to run?
I decided to run because our incumbent takes whatever bill comes down the pipe from DC think tanks who enjoy stoking culture wars for political gain. Our incumbent voted against raising the minimum wage and claims to be pro-life. People need a living wage to live a life of dignity. If you have never been poor or never struggled, you do not know how crucial social programs are to support women and families. The incumbent thinks that politicians should decide the fate of every pregnant woman and she thinks that doctors should go to jail for fifteen years if they provide an abortion. Most people think that these laws are invasive and unconstitutional. This election is not about pro-life versus pro-choice. These are false choices. This is about how much government people want in their family’s private medical decisions. 

 

What is your occupation/current employer?
I am a thirty-five-year-old single mother who just graduated from law school at Loyola University New Orleans. I work as a consultant, project manager, and researcher for an environmental non-profit. Prior to law school, I taught pre-k and high school. Prior to teaching, I worked in the service industry as a waitress and bartender. I also have the unique experience of being an emotional support person for women on the day of their abortions at a women’s health clinic in Atlanta. 

 

What makes you the right choice?
I am not a career politician and I am not the wealthy widow of a landowner. I am a working class mother who knows what it is like to struggle to make my American Dream possible. My opponent claims to be guided by the bible and the “free market”, but if the free market was going to care for the poor as Jesus instructed us to, it would have done it by now.

 

What do you want to accomplish if elected?
I want to address poverty by raising the minimum wage. I want to work for affordable housing and reduce insurance costs. I want to work with Republicans on infrastructure plans that provide jobs and beautify our Louisiana. I want to support communities fighting against undesirable developments such as carbon capture projects or another petrochemical factory. And more than anything, I want to get politicians out of people’s private decisions and call out those that use their power for DC culture war games that do nothing to help everyday Americans. If bullying gay people increased people’s quality of life’s our current Senator would be a Saint, but she sadly just passes whatever the lobbyists tell her is good for her polls.