A Campaign Valentine

In my last column, . This week, in honor of Valentine’s Day, I’d like to introduce you to my wife, April. Simply, she is an inspiration to me and my closest advisor on the campaign trail. Any understanding of my campaign and my beliefs is wholly incomplete without her.

April and I met in law school, I was a year ahead of her. While I had met her a few times with friends, my first real meeting with her was in early September of 1987 when I ran into her in the office where you register for classes. I had already registered for my classes, but I sat down with her and helped her select her classes. After she registered for her classes, I went back and dropped all my classes and re-registered into the ones I helped her pick - I would do anything to spend more time with her. The rest is history - being married to her for the last 22 years has been not only the greatest thing in my life, but it has created an unimaginable level of joy and completeness for me.

I realized something very early on in this race: my favorite part of my stump speech is when I get to talk about April, and the incredible work she has done to help people. She has been successful in so many different arenas and she’s done so while being a fantastic mother to our four terrific daughters.

After working in the private sector for fifteen years, April has become a leader on children’s issues in the non-profit sector. As a lawyer her area of expertise was communications and she has applied that knowledge to bettering the lives of children. In today’s technology and media drenched world, April believes strongly in making sure that kids growing up in the 21st century aren’t bombarded with negative messages. April runs the regulatory and outreach efforts for the Washington office of Common Sense Media, a non-profit dedicating to providing families with the information they need to make informed choices and to improve media literacy for children. Common Sense Media works to give families a voice and encourages policymakers and media companies to improve the media environment for kids. She has also worked extensively with numerous charities, including the Boys and Girls Club and Catholic Charities. She has the privilege of serving as Vice-Chairman of the Georgetown Law Center Board of Visitors and also on the Board of St. Patrick’s Day School. Finally, April and I are extremely proud to support the Public Interest Law program at Georgetown, where some of the most talented advocates for the common good in the country are trained.  

As the mother of our four daughters, April is especially concerned about the messages transmitted to girls. To this end, April has been heavily involved with the Girl Scouts’ Healthy Media Commission, the Alliance for Women in Media, and Innocents at Risk.

When I was considering running for office April was the first and last person I talked to. She told me too much was at stake to sit on the sidelines, she told me that with our economy in crisis and so many people suffering, I needed to bring a new point of view and a focus on jobs to the race.  She knows I can make a difference.

I know that in Congress I’ll be faced with many tough decisions, but I couldn’t feel more confident about dealing with them, knowing that I’ll have April to lean on.  From the beginning, April pushed me to do better, to dream bigger, and to always stay true to our values.  In every respect, April has made me a better person, made our family a better family, and made our community a better community.

Happy Valentine’s Day April!