Running! is a Teen Vogue series on getting involved in the government.

Cathy Myers, a 55-year-old teacher from Janesville, Wisconsin, says she’s running for Congress because she believes in young people. More than that, she’s seen the damage that 1st District congressman Paul Ryan, who she would be replacing if elected, has done by willfully ignoring his constituents’ needs.

Myers tells Teen Vogue that her choice to run for office was ultimately a simple one. She describes herself as a public servant by nature, first as a child raised in a family rooted in public service, and now as an adult who has spent most of her life teaching in hopes of preparing new generations to make the world a better place.

Myers says that her campaign is about creating opportunity, getting more people involved in politics, and serving her community, which is her exact definition of what government is supposed to be.

“My parents were incredibly active in their community. My dad was our city councilman, our mayor, and went on to be on the board of supervisors,” Myers says. “This was expected. And not only that — honest representation and accountability were drilled into our heads as kids and we feel as though public service is a privilege that you’re given — a chance to do something good for your community.”

So what else could she do but transition from one form of public good — teaching — to becoming a representative for her community? After witnessing politicians in Wisconsin fail to properly represent the community or be accountable to their communities, Myers knew it was time for a change.

Politicians like Ryan, who will retire at the end of the current term, have made government and politics in Wisconsin into the antithesis of what Myers believes it should be. She sees the government as an agency and the work it does as a service for its people, with the responsibility to listen to and provide for those people. However, Myers feels that politicians have been abusing their power and failing to listen — as evidenced by the blows her community has faced in recent years, she says.

After Janesville's GM plant, a factory that kept much of the city employed, closed in 2008, the community was devastated. In 2017, a power plant in Pleasant Prairie, another town in the state's 1st District, also announced it would be closing, officially going offline earlier this year, as reported by Kenosha News.

Myers explained that both events left many people in the community unemployed, bankrupt, and without health care. She realized in this time that politicians like Ryan were not doing the necessary work to keep the community thriving. Paul Ryan's continued attacks on the health care system just motivated her more.

“Everyone here is one serious illness away from bankruptcy, so people who don’t have access to health care are economically and financially at risk,” Myers says. “There are a lot of people who would love to have [their own] small businesses, but the problem is that they’re tied to a job that gives them health care and can’t afford to leave and not have it.”

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate has hit a record low, according to the Wisconsin Budget Project, and the unemployment rate for black workers is approximately three and a half times as high as the rate for white workers, with black workers facing a rate of 9.6% in 2017, compared to white workers’ 2.6%.

During her time as a teacher, Myers says she’s seen the immense barriers to education that young people face, which in turn makes it difficult for students to secure jobs. Her policy platform prioritizes students and young people, with a strong emphasis on free college as well as providing resources like trade classes to students who may want to graduate and immediately enter the workforce.