Personal reflections from the last 3 months
I paused my calls today because something’s been sitting on my chest, and I needed to put it down.
This quarter, I met a 94-year-old woman who’s spent her whole life serving New Jersey. She lives on Social Security. Her rent has gone up 60% in four years. She looked at me and said, “I’ve lived here my whole life, but I’m not sure I can afford to die here.” I haven’t been able to shake that. Now, writing it down and reading it back, it still makes me sad.
I met her on my “Bring it Home Tour,” where I aim to visit all 95 towns in the district. I’ve spent time in living rooms, pizza shops, and on shop floors and train platforms. I’ve asked thousands of people across the political spectrum, “What keeps you up at night?” The answers I get aren’t the ones I see on social media. People told me a lot of different versions of the same story: jobs don’t pay enough to afford to live here, housing feels out of reach, can’t count on the trains, and health care and energy bills keep creeping up.
None of this is new. These are problems people have felt for decades and can be fixed. What’s broken isn’t our imagination – it’s delivery. The work we need to do now is simpler and harder: build a government that delivers for working families with urgency and competence.
There’s all that, and then there was the shooting of Charlie Kirk. It was a gut punch - an act of violence that affected all of us in one way or another. I wish I could say I was surprised; I wasn’t. Violence is viral. Then the Trump Administration used the murder as a way to sow more hate and division by weaponizing the federal government against people and organizations who haven’t declared loyalty to him. Again, I wish I could say I was surprised; I wasn’t. It seems so simple to say the Charlie Kirk shooting was a tragedy, AND the use of it to weaponize the government is unacceptable. It seems like a reasonable response. But online, all you hear are the loudest voices calling the other side irredeemable.
But I have hope that we are at a turning point in our country. The quiet majority is tired of being divided up into teams. I feel that the most radical thing we could do in the face of division is to come together. We have shared problems and shared dreams. And we deserve leaders who will work every day to solve those problems and enable those dreams.
I got into this race because I want to build a government that delivers with the same urgency our problems require. We all work hard, and we deserve a government that works hard on our behalf. My goal is to be on the side of humanity, where we bridge gaps instead of widening them, and humanize each other instead of demonizing one another.
Those were lessons I learned here in New Jersey growing up. I am from NJ and for NJ. That’s the standard I’m holding myself to.
In 2026, we have the choice to elect new leaders who represent our values. My race will have monumental consequences. As of now, it’s projected that only 12 races can realistically flip from Republican to Democratic hands. Democrats only need to take 6 seats to wrestle back control of the House. That makes this seat so important. If we’re going to hold Trump and his administration accountable for their corruption, we have to win here in New Jersey’s 7th District. But it’s also important to get the right Democrat in this seat. We need someone who has a vision for what our district and our communities look like and need going forward.
Throughout the campaign, I’ve asked myself two fundamental questions:
Can you win?
Can you do the job?
Today, more than ever, I believe the answer to both is “hell yeah,” but I’m biased. If you feel something even close to that, I need your support. Please consider making a contribution here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/stand-with-michael-roth?refcode=q3reflections.
I’m deeply grateful to be on this journey with you. Thank you for believing in me and in the kind of politics we’re trying to build together.
Thanks,
Michael
