It will be an honor and a privilege to represent the people of the Great State of Ohio, in Washington DC.

If elected, I will follow in the footsteps of 6 other African Americans who have enriched the history of the US Senate.

In 1870, Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first African American senator. Five years later, Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi took the oath of office, and became the first African American to preside over the Senate in 1879.

It would be nearly another century, until 1967, before Edward Brooke of Massachusetts followed in their historic footsteps. In 1993, Carol Moseley-Braun broke another barrier, becoming the first African American woman senator. In January of 2005, Barack Obama of Illinois brought the number to five. When Senator Obama resigned from office to become the 44th President of the United States in 2009, the Illinois governor appointed Roland Burris to fill the vacant seat.

These distinguished individuals have enriched the history of the United States Senate.