This weekend at the Women’s March in L.A., I was floored by the power people have when we come together to fight for our sisters, our families, our neighbors, and our country. Seeing little girls with signs that said, “I want to run for President” and “If you build a wall, my generation will tear it down” reminded me why we do any of this — march, run for office, or volunteer.

Women’s March L.A. — 600,000+ attendees!

We do it for a better future for all our families. Being alongside dozens of our campaign’s supporters, joining more than half a million of our community members proved to me that a perfect storm is brewing in California: We will flip the 25th and take back the House in November.

But I’ll be blunt: this is going to take hard work. From the start, our campaign has been a grassroots movement powered by people — not big corporations, the D.C. establishment, or super PACs.

A little contingent of Team Phoenix ready to march!

By now, most of you probably know how much I love my job as a volcano scientist and working with my non-profit. And you know I didn’t get into this race because I thought it would be easy, or because I was bored, or looking to become a career politician.

I got into this race because I believe in evidence-based policy making and know when I’m elected, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that facts and compassion — not money and influence — guide our decision-making.

This weekend we saw that we are not powerless in the face of our challenges. My Republican opponent, the man in the White House, and the corporations that write big checks to get their way in Congress are in the dark about something that’s lit a fire inside each of us: we are more resilient, more capable, and more determined than they could ever dream. And now we’re going to organize, we’re going to mobilize, and we’re going to win.

Join us. Jess 2018 is not my campaign — it’s our campaign.

I am so excited and thankful to share this journey with all of you. #RiseUp #Jess2018