Dear Neighbor,

More than three decades ago, I came to Rome to attend Berry College. It was my first time living here, but it was also a homecoming of sorts. My family’s roots in Northwest Georgia run back five generations, and I instantly felt this was the place I was meant to be. Growing up in different parts of the country and working in more states than I can count, Rome was the one place that always felt like home.

Since my first day of Freshman year, I’ve built a life here with all of you — volunteering in our community, building friendships across generational lines and proudly serving as a problem solver on the Rome City Commission, always asking the tough questions and pushing for innovative solutions.

Along the way, I’ve learned many lessons, and a few ideas stand out as critical for these times. There’s more that unites us than divides us. We all do better when we all have the opportunity to succeed. And creating a stronger community today and a brighter tomorrow for our children are goals all of us can get behind. All we need to do is set aside the pettiness of politics and focus on results.

While Washington is deciding how to spend our money to jump start our economy, re-open our schools, and repair our roads we don’t have a seat at the table because our Representative is more interested in being a spectacle on cable news and a social media star than in getting results for us. We deserve better!

Having worked in federal, state and local offices, I know how government does and should work. As I have proven here in Rome, I know how to make meaningful things happen. My love for our part of Georgia won’t let me stay on the sidelines.

That’s why I’m excited to share some big news. I’m running for Congress to represent Northwest Georgians who for too long have been ignored and disrespected. But we don’t have to holler to make our voices heard. We are neighbors, Georgians and Americans not enemies, and we deserve to have an experienced and determined woman of action who will bring resources back to our region.

We have significant challenges in every corner of our district: small businesses owners are burdened by rising costs, our health care system has been strained and broken in too many places, and we are facing a housing crisis of not enough homes for sale or rent and a massive wave of evictions pending when the courts reopen.

Together we can find solutions to these complex problems. But we’ll have to leave behind the politics of division and distraction.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be visiting each county and city in the 14th Congressional District – not to yell and lecture, cajole and threaten, but to listen. To hear from you directly how we can best overcome the challenges we face – because good ideas don’t come FROM Washington; they come from US.

I hope you’ll join me in bringing people together to build thriving communities across northwest Georgia.

Sincerely,

Wendy Davis