Thread by @TedraCobb

#Thread: This is personal. I announced my candidacy in April of 2019. Less than a month later, my extended family suffered a tragedy of addiction. I found myself trying to find a detox bed for our loved one. I drove 8 hours in the middle of the night to be there.⬇️

https://twitter.com/brianmannadk/status/1371743689907798016

I watched the sickness, the pain. We were able to find him help— after several days, & 100s of calls.

I watched as he looked at the paperwork & the cost 4 treatment. He looked at me, terrified. He couldn’t afford it. Our family couldn’t afford it. He had insurance. He was lucky.

The same week our lives were turned upside down, my opponent @EliseStefanik, voted against a bill that would help families suffering under the weight addiction. It would have helped connect families to healthcare navigators, connect them to treatment, to save lives. ⬇️

Why would she do this?

Answer: @RepStefanik was cashing campaign checks from the very corporations that were profiting from the addiction crisis, from our suffering.

I’d never been more angry. I’m still angry.

We have to overturn Citizens United.⬇️

We must pass #HR1 and get corporate money out of politics.

The irreparable harm that pharmaceutical companies have caused can’t be settled with a lawsuit. There’s no amount of money that can fix broken families, bring back loved ones, or heal wounds. ⬇️

The scourge of addiction hits families from every walk of life. Here in rural America it’s even more pervasive. In #NY21 we have 3 counties with some of the highest opioid death rates per capita. ⬇️

Yet, our Federal Rep chose her donors over our families. This is part of the reason I started @BackroadsPac. Rural America needs a voice. We need MOCs who have the courage to fight for what’s right. To promote legislation to end the era of play to play politics.⬇️

I’m not running—but I’ll be damned if I don’t continue to fight for families like mine. This story isn’t the exception. It’s become an American reality.

We will work to defeat every rural Republican playing footsie with big pharma allowing them to get away with this. ⬇️

My family member has been clean for nearly two years. We are lucky. But it didn’t have to be this way.