Thread by @BigElad

I decided to run for Attorney General over a year ago.

On October 4, 2018, I sat in a courtroom in Jefferson City. I had sued powerful people. They hired a powerful law firm. I was there trying to hold dark money operatives accountable for the corruption they brought to my home.

I had a couple of good friends with me, friends who helped me print thousands of pages of old legislation, put them into binders, and bring them to court. The whole process cost me hundreds of dollars and a ton of hours.

But it was worth it to me.

I dedicated my entire career to public service. I taught in classrooms in St. Louis City, represented the people of Missouri in courts throughout our state as an Assistant Attorney General, fought for justice system reform as a Special Public Defender and as a private attorney.

So when I first encountered dark money – the practice of hiding the names of big-money donors so we can’t see them – I knew it was wrong. I didn’t see it just as an accounting trick.

I saw it as a way to break our democracy, to make sure those in power stay in power, to entice our government to ignore the kids I taught every year.

I stood up. I said enough.

In that courtroom in Jefferson City, when my opposing attorney said I was trying to do the Attorney General’s job, that I was just a member of the public and had no power at all, I disagreed. I said the public certainly had a right to transparency and accountability.

But as I sat there when the argument was over and looked at the state seal on my folder – the same folder I was given as an Assistant Attorney General – I thought about all the people I’d met all over the state who want government to work.

I thought about the people I had convinced to run for state representative. I thought about my kids, the ones I would train every year to be our country’s leaders...

...the kids who, at the end of their summer program, would unflinchingly ask their elected representatives to fix their neighborhoods and their schools.

And I knew I had to keep standing.

I refused to back down to those in power. I took more of them to court. Even when the odds were very much against me and I was beaten down, I kept up.

I decided to run for Attorney General.

This last year has been phenomenal. Close to 29,000 miles and almost 250 meetings later, we have given a voice to so many folks in our state. We have put real energy behind reforming our government.

Our ideas have been adopted by candidates, elected officials, and so many others throughout Missouri, even by folks you wouldn’t expect given how divisive our country has become. We have reengaged people who had given up.

And, most importantly, we have built real community in Missouri, from Cape Girardeau to Clinton, from Hyde Park to Joplin, from Marshall to Mountain View.

We have a lot more work to do. But we’re getting it done. Not with big money. Not with dark money or corporate money. Not by sacrificing our values or abusing trust or leaving Missourians out.

With you. We’re doing it with you.

We can have a Missouri that works for us. We can have an Attorney General who cares, who shows up, who we all know, who holds crooks accountable regardless of party, and who is always there for us.

We can do this the right way, with each other, with real relationships that leave no one behind.

We can take back Missouri.
And we will.

I can’t wait to spend this next year with you. And I can't wait to show the world what Missouri is all about.

Donate: EladGross.org/donate

Volunteer: EladGross.org/volunteer