Think back to that specific moment in time when you knew America was about to change. Some of you will draw on memories from the past. For others, memory lane will be much shorter. I recognized it the moment I realized President Donald J. Trump was willing to do anything to save our Republic. The 2016 presidential election was nothing short of miraculous. Why? Because the establishment was shaken, common sense leadership was prevailing, and the new president was declaring to break the status quo of American politics.

I am that kind of candidate. That is why I am choosing to run for the 7th Congressional District in Georgia.

No Republican candidate will tell you they are going to stray away from the Republican platform: a platform of conservative values, a stand for religious freedom, a freedom to bear arms, and of course, a stand for life. But I submit to you that there is a difference between candidates who run on a Republican platform and a leader who fights for those same conservative principles.

Let’s face it. As voters, we cast a ballot for the person we like the best out of a pack of people who “say” they will do this or that. So I want to tell you not about my many professional or personal accomplishments, I want to prove to you that I am the only candidate in the Seventh District of Georgia that is able to fight for conservative principles even in the face of House Democrats like Nancy Pelosi.

My grandfather came to America through legal immigration as a pastor who wanted to fight for the rights of African-Americans with Dr. King. My parents, who both wear a scar on their foreheads from dangerous encounters with angry bigots they received when they integrated Lake Allatoona, the Cathedral of St. Philip, and other Georgia landmarks. In an Atlanta housing project in the shadow of the State Capitol where I grew up, I was taught to fight for racial equality based on a principle of self determination and accountability. In our community, we were the only Republicans among hundreds of families. I understand what it means to face overwhelming odds to fight to conservative values because for me, it is a family principle.

When I became pregnant my freshman year of college, I faced the opportunity to defend my stand for life. Even though I began working in the pro-life movement when I was 17, it wasn’t until I experienced an unplanned pregnancy myself that I truly tested my resolve to standing up for the most vulnerable in our community. Since then, I have written books, blogs, developed and presented talks on Pro Life, an issue I am completely committed to.

When it comes to our national security, I am unapologetically for securing our borders. I grew up in American poverty and I know what it is like to have people invading your home for economic gain. While my heart goes out to the thousands across the globe who struggle economically in their home countries, never would I sacrifice the safety of millions of American citizens of every ethnicity who call this nation home. I will support the President and will vote to build the wall on our southern border.

National security also means keeping its citizens armed. Our service men and women work tirelessly to protect our nation for foreign invasion and domestic terrorism. The right to bear arms protects American citizens from all other threats. Legal gun ownership is an American principle and I support our second amendment.

Since President Trump introduced the urban revitalization initiative of using tax incentives to drive investiture back into our impoverished communities, I have worked tirelessly to inform citizens, develop partnerships, and strengthen Georgia. I am committed to continue to work for all of the 7th district from Norcross to Forsyth and every town in between.

I moved to Gwinnett County in the late 1990’s after divorce and began raising my children in the community where I still live as a single mother, and now, grandmother. While I put myself through school by working two jobs and attending college part time for nearly twenty years, I never strayed from the American ideology of small government, reduced spending, and personal accountability. Eventually, I became a teacher and have worked in education for two decades. Unlike so many who have sought this same office, I am the only one who knows what it is like to piece ends together to make them meet.

Those in our community living paycheck to paycheck have a struggle that has become commonplace in our country - that is not right and legislators have to do something about American poverty through strategic government like opportunity zones tax initiatives that drive public funds into impoverished communities. Welfare is not a paycheck and is not a permanent solution to our urban economic crisis. Yet socialist dogma would have us believe a hand out is the only way to help America’s middle class and struggling citizens. But I know that the hard working people in the 7th district just want an opportunity to work and raise their children, take a vacation and have the life America advertises to the rest of the world without worrying that a medical bill or stock market swing will wipe out their life savings.

I am a God-fearing woman, actively involved in my faith community, Free Chapel. My pastor serves on President Trump’s Evangelical Advisory Board. We stand for Israel and the protection of the Jewish State. As a child, we attended services at the synagogue and I still do - the roots of my faith are steeped in an irrevocable partnership with Israel.

As an author, teacher, doctoral student, mentor, mother, leader, and as a member of the Gwinnett County Republican Party I will continue to fight for the needs of 7th district every single day. This is my country, this is my county, and this is my district - and we must keep it RED. I am the only candidate that has a chance against the Democrats who will flood our district with rhetoric that is damaging to our nation. We saw how close the last election came and we cannot allow ourselves to end up there again.

A vote for me is a vote for Freedom. My name is Lisa Noel Babbage and I would be proud to be the next representative from Georgia’s 7th.