fighting for working families

Robert’s Story

I’m a teacher, a father, and a democratic socialist organizer who knows Kentucky can be so much more than what our political class has settled for.

I grew up in West Louisville, where I learned early that change doesn’t come from politicians handing out favors—it comes from people standing together. I walked picket lines and stuffed envelopes with my grandmother, the activist Mattie Jones, alongside legendary Louisville organizers like Anne Braden and Rev. Louis Coleman. As a teenager, I helped start an arts and activism center so young people would have a place to build community and speak out. In my twenties, I organized against racist and fascist groups across the South and Midwest because I knew silence in the face of hate is complicity.

I’ve spent decades fighting to hold police accountable, defend public education, and strengthen unions. I’ve stood with tenants demanding fair housing, workers demanding fair pay, and communities demanding to be heard. As a public school teacher and a dad, I see firsthand what it means when government budgets get cut, when housing costs explode, when families are forced to choose between bills and groceries. That’s why I’m running—not to maintain a broken status quo, but to help build a Kentucky where every family can thrive.

In Frankfort, I won’t be there to play politics as usual. I’ll be there to fight for us—and to help build something real that they can’t ignore.