The threat of political violence is keeping parents out of elected office

Barbara Rodriguez

Interim Health and Caregiving Reporter

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When Liuba Grechen Shirley ran for Congress in 2018, she began a journey that helped change federal policy to ensure parents like herself could use campaign funds to pay for child care .

The Democrat has been public about her struggles with balancing a campaign and securing child care. Less known was the harassment and threats of violence that Grechen Shirley says she experienced at the time. Her car window was smashed, and anonymous calls popped up at her daughter’s nursery school, which was listed on public records filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

“There were people who called and harassed the nursery school because they could find that that’s where I was