Why I’m Running
I was 12 years old when I learned what politics was really for.
My mother was supporting a woman named Mrs. Knowlton, who was running for Mayor. And men in the community, men who should have known better, were telling her she couldn’t do it. That she didn’t belong. That she should step aside and let someone else take the lead.
My mother refused. And I stood right beside her.
I didn’t have a title. I didn’t have a strategy. I was a 12-year-old kid who understood one simple thing: this was wrong, and somebody had to fight back. That moment gave me my calling, fight for the underdog, fight for the people the system tries to push aside, and never stop fighting just because someone tells you it can’t be done.
I’ve been fighting ever since. And I’m not done yet.
Because the Work Is Not Finished.
Over the past six years on the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee, I’ve shown up, every meeting, every committee, every training, every fight that mattered for Northampton County and for Pennsylvania Democrats. I’ve served on the Rules Committee to protect the integrity of our party’s processes. I’ve led the Budget Committee and the Technology Committee here at home. I’ve been your photographer, your videographer, and your digital storyteller for 16 years, making sure the Lehigh Valley is seen and heard in the story of our party.
I’ve trained hundreds of Democrats, candidates, volunteers, organizers, in VoteBuilder, petition strategy, win number calculations, advanced voter targeting, TikTok, social media, and now ethical AI for politics. I’ve organized comprehensive trainings because I believe our people deserve the tools to win, not just the inspiration to try.
I’ve built websites and provided pro bono digital support for grassroots candidates, Tatianna Tooley, Rosie Davis, Frank Pintabone, Ce-Ce Gerlach, and many others, because I refuse to accept that a modern, professional campaign should only be available to candidates with deep pockets. Democracy shouldn’t have a cover charge.
And I’ve used cybersecurity skills developed over decades, gray-hat defense work, enterprise security tools, machine learning expertise dating back to 2012, to help protect Northampton County’s digital infrastructure from foreign cyberattacks with Matt Munsey defeating Russians attempting to attack and lay backdoors in our network. Because defending our democracy isn’t just about elections. It’s about making sure our systems are secure enough to hold them.
Because Representation Still Has to Be Fought For.
I made history as the first person from the Lehigh Valley ever elected to the Pennsylvania Democratic Black Caucus. I’ve served as its statewide Chair for three years. I’ve built coalitions with the LGBTQ+, Latino, Rural, Progressive, Teachers, and Disability caucuses, not because it was politically convenient, but because I genuinely believe our party is only as strong as the breadth of people we fight for.
I think about Mrs. Knowlton a lot. I think about every candidate I’ve supported who was told they couldn’t win. Every young organizer who needed someone to believe in them before they believed in themselves. Every community that’s been told to wait their turn a little longer.
The Democratic Party I believe in doesn’t make people wait. It opens the door, hands them the tools, and says: get to work. That’s the party I’ve been building my entire life. That’s the party I’ll keep building if you give me a second term.
Because Infrastructure Is What Creates Leaders.
Winning elections matters. But what I’ve learned in 200+ campaigns, from managing Lori Dumas’ historic 2021 Commonwealth Court victory, the only statewide Democratic win in the nation that year, to advising candidates like Jack Stollsteimer, Debbie Kunselman, and Erin McClelland, is that campaigns don’t win in a vacuum. They win because of the infrastructure that was built before the first door was knocked.
State Committee is that infrastructure. It’s where the rules get set, the coalitions get built, the training programs get funded, and the future of the party gets shaped. Most people never see this work. But without it, none of the work they do see is possible.
I’m running for re-election because I understand what State Committee is actually for. And I’m running alongside THE PROVEN SIX, Sandi O’Brien, April Niver, Leslie Altieri, and our full Northampton County slate, because I know that the Lehigh Valley is stronger when we stand together.
If April Niver wins the Chair of the Pennsylvania Progressive Caucus, Northampton County will hold the largest combination of Democratic chairmanships of any county delegation in all 67 counties of Pennsylvania. That’s not just a milestone. That’s leverage. That’s power in the service of the people we represent.
Because This Is Personal.
I’ve organized in these precincts, knocked on these doors, and sat in these community meetings my entire adult life. Been chased while knocking doors with Joe Cap in Bangor and other location in the north and eaten all the Fair Food even being accosted while wondering into the Demolition Derbie in the Plainfied Fair and witnessing the The people of Northampton County aren’t a voter universe to me. They’re my neighbors. They’re the people I stood beside when my mother showed me what it meant to fight for someone who deserved a chance.
I’m asking for your support, your signature on my petition, your vote, your voice, not because I need a title. I’m asking because the work we started together is not finished. Because there are still people being told they can’t. Because there are still communities waiting for their seat at the table. Because the Democratic Party that 12-year-old kid believed in is worth fighting for.
I’ve been fighting since I was 12.
I’m not stopping now.
Michael Laws