Candidate Q&A
Why are you running?
After a successful career in both business and science, I succumbed to my family’s recessive gene of late-onset political activism, and thinking about how I could best serve my fellow citizens became very important to me. Answering that question is why I decided to leave my job at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory to run for office, and it keeps me motivated to serve in public office.
I am the only PhD physicist in Congress, and I bring with me a wealth of experience gained from a career that required prioritizing research and scientific evidence to draw conclusions and make recommendations—something we need much more of in Washington.
The American people are facing a lot of challenges right now: from a right-wing assault on reproductive freedom to gun violence to the challenges posed by advances in AI and the need to better protect our climate for future generations—or simply making the monthly budget work. To tackle these issues, we need serious leaders who lead with science and a deep understanding of the policies that are debated in Washington. I’m proud of how I’ve approached my responsibilities to my constituents and how I’ve always fought to make sure science is prioritized in Congress.
What do you think is the most pressing issue facing your constituents and how do you plan on addressing it?
The most pressing issue facing families and businesses in our community is the rising cost of living. Too many Americans cannot afford to make ends meet under Trump’s economy. The war in Iran is sending gas prices skyrocketing, and Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs are making everyday necessities more expensive—and making it impossible for local businesses to plan. According to a Joint Economic Committee report, these tariffs have cost families over $1700 per year.
I have voted multiple times to end the President’s tariffs, as well as joined amicus briefs arguing the tariffs, many of which were imposed without the consent of Congress, are unconstitutional. I have also consistently voted for War Powers Resolutions to rein in Trump’s war in Iran so we can ease prices here at home.
We also need to bring down healthcare costs and expand access to quality, affordable care. We must restore the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits that expired at the end of 2025, as well as reverse the cuts to Medicaid from Republicans’ so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
What is one unique challenge your district faces and how do you plan to address it?
Illinois’ 11th district is known for having some of the highest quality special education programs across the country. I am very proud to represent these schools and educators, but this reputation also means that parents of children with special needs across the Midwest have flocked to our area to get their child the best education possible, increasing the burden on our system. To ensure our special education system continues to operate as one of the nation’s best, I’ve been a strong supporter of the IDEA, the federal law that outlines schools’ obligations toward students with special needs, as well as gives them the needed funds to fulfill those obligations. The IDEA is currently woefully underfunded compared to what was originally promised to schools. To fix this, I’ve been a strong supporter of the IDEA Full Funding Act, and have advocated for increased funding for the program in each appropriations cycle. As both Republican and Democrat areas have children facing educational challenges, I believe we can continue making bipartisan progress toward this goal despite a divided government.
What do you think federal immigration reform should look like?
President Trump’s draconian immigration policies have gone after children in schools and families at their places of worship. ICE has forced peaceful immigrants into unsafe, overpacked detention centers to await their hearings, where dozens have died. And ICE has put their poorly-trained, barely-screened officers on the streets, resulting in four wholly unnecessary deaths this year, including those of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti. ICE is absolutely out of control. I have and will continue to oppose additional funding for ICE until major reforms are made, making them at least as accountable for their actions as our local police forces are.
With regard to our broader immigration system, it is broken and Congress needs to pass comprehensive immigration reform. We had an opportunity to do this back in 2013, but then-Speaker John Boehner refused to allow a vote on a bipartisan bill that passed the Senate and would have passed in the House if brought up. That 2013 bill provided tens of billions of dollars for border security, a strict but fair pathway to citizenship for long-time undocumented residents who were able to pay a modest fine, pay back-taxes, and pass a criminal background check; and going forward it provided workable adjustments to immigration quotas and strong enforcement of e-verify and to ensure that we to return to a just and humane immigration system based on the rule of law. It’s been disheartening to see far-right Republicans, including Donald Trump, call for Congress to do nothing because they’d rather score political points. I hope that serious Republicans will reject this cynicism and work with Democrats to finally get this done.
How should Congress address the rising costs of health care?
Today in America, our health care system is great—if you’re rich. Far too many families are crushed by the expenses imposed on them by our health care system, being forced to choose between filling their lifesaving prescriptions and putting food on the table. To begin tackling this problem, I was proud to vote for the Affordable Care Act back in 2010, even though that vote cost me my reelection. The ACA was very successful in reducing how many Americans are uninsured and getting the worst junk insurance plans off the market, but we still have a long way to go. Especially with AI poised to cause massive job losses, we must move away from a health care system where someone’s ability to access care is tied to their employer. Additionally, we must continue to strengthen the ACA by restoring the enhanced premium tax credits that expired at the end of 2025. Finally, we must continue to build on the successes of the Inflation Reduction Act, which I voted for, by negotiating drug prices to bring costs down for all Americans.
What approach would you take on tax policy and what is your top priority?
My top priority on tax policy is to reverse Republicans’ massive tax cuts for the wealthy and big businesses so our government can continue to afford the programs that are so essential to everyday Americans’ lives, like access to health care and education. An independent analysis of these policy changes found that people in the top 1% received a tax cut 67 times larger than the average American received. By making the wealthy pay their fair share—and giving the IRS the funding it needs to go after wealthy tax cheats—we can easily afford to support programs like Social Security that Republicans continually claim are on the brink of collapse.
Is the House currently using its oversight powers in the way it should be? What areas of government need more or less oversight?
In the last few years, we have seen Congress essentially yield all of its power to the President, with the Republican leadership in both chambers being too afraid of his wrath to stand up for what is right and stop his self-serving corruption. If Democrats take control of the House chamber, we will hold the President accountable across the board. This includes both his corruption, such as giving large government contracts to his friends in non-competitive bidding processes and accepting huge personal gifts from foreign governments, and also his disastrous policies, like refusing to spend Congressionally appropriated money on critical government programs.
What is the most pressing foreign policy issue facing the country and what role should the House play in dealing with it?
The House must rein in President Trump’s reckless attacks against Iran, which he is undertaking without any regard for the wisdom of our nuclear experts and diplomats. It is critical we prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but the way to do that is not to put our troops in harm’s way and trigger a blockade costing Americans at the pumps. We need to reinstate the JCPOA, also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal. As the only PhD physicist in Congress, I thoroughly reviewed the deal’s technical enforceability and believe it would have effectively halted Iran’s nuclear weapons program. President Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA, and failure to negotiate a better alternative, has directly led to Iran’s acquisition of a large inventory of 60% enriched, weapons-usable High-Enriched Uranium (HEU). By moving forward with Iran diplomatically instead of with military force, we could end the blockade at the Strait of Hormuz and bring gas prices back down. Accordingly, I have voted in favor of War Powers Resolutions several times that would prevent President Trump from taking further action in Iran.
How do you view AI and the role the government should play in its regulation?
AI has the potential to hugely disrupt the global economy and threaten our national security, but it also presents opportunities to level the playing field for people against big businesses and improve aspects of our everyday lives. To begin with the threats, our government must control how AI models can be used for nefarious purposes like weapons development. As part of this, I introduced the bipartisan Chip Security Act, which would prevent companies from sending their most advanced AI chips to China, Iran, North Korea, and other adversarial states. We also must ensure that, as our economy reshapes itself and some people’s jobs disappear, losing one’s job doesn’t mean financial ruin. We must have a substantial safety net to ensure they can keep their health care, put food on the table, and retrain for a new job needed in the AI economy. With regard to the potential benefits of AI, we will see AIs that are able to seamlessly move people’s savings to the accounts with the best interest rates, fight with their health insurer over denied claims, and push their landlord to make legally required repairs. To harness these benefits, the government must ensure that AIs that purport to be working on the consumer’s behalf are actually doing so, rather than pushing them toward one product or another for a kickback. Transparency requirements like this will be key.
How would you describe the current state of your party and what changes or new approaches would you like to see your party adopt?
Democrats are united in our priorities to bring down everyday costs for American families, rein in President Trump’s corruption, end his reckless war in Iran, force his ICE officers to follow the law and respect immigrants’ rights, and make the very wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. We Democrats may differ on the details, but these divisions are quite small in comparison to our shared goals to improve peoples’ lives in our country and the justice of our government.