I'm running for NC District 11's seat in Congress. I’ve spent a decade working in direct care and as an advocate. I’ve helped people who were taking the first steps into recovery, people facing some of their hardest moments, with people who were determined to do what they had to to change their lives. Now, I'm going to take that experience to fight for WNC.
• The people of Western North Carolina have taught me what true strength is, true resilience, and what it means to fight back when our back’s against the wall. That’s the reason I’m running for Congress—for you. Not for a party, not for out-of-touch billionaires, and most certainly not for company interests.
• This campaign focuses first and foremost on the people. I believe in public service over political theater. I believe in standing up instead of staying silent.
• Everyone is entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
• Medicare and Social Security aren’t handouts—they’re promises that we made to our seniors. Promises that must be kept and a promise that says—no matter what, we’ll take care of you.
• No one should be forced to choose between a roof over their head and their health.
• Our students and teachers need fully funded, restored schools that support the growth of everyone.
• You shouldn’t have to work two jobs just to barely make ends meet.
• The people of WNC continue to inspire me every day to fight for all of us. We don’t hesitate to help each other. We face hard times together. We’re the very definition of resilience while our representatives stand by and do nothing to help. We’re both the immovable object and the unstoppable force.
Zelda Briarwood, secretary of the Haywood County Young Dems, has been living and working in Western North Carolina since the 2010s. After studying Psychology and Outdoor Recreation at the University of South Carolina, then Adventure-based Psychotherapy and Adventure Education at Prescott College, she left college with the aspiration of becoming a wilderness therapist. Unfortunately, she succumbed to alcoholism and addiction, which nearly took her life. Today, she has over 6 years of sobriety, and has since used her recovery as a catalyst for positive change. She guided young adults in early recovery on weekend backpack expeditions at Red Oak Recovery, worked admissions at Outward Bound and CooperRiis, managed crisis services at Appalachian Community Center, and provided case management for survivors of sexual violence and human trafficking at OurVoice.When Helene struck, Zelda was doing IT work with Quality Data Systems. She spent the next 3 months working to get ATMs, vaults, and cash counters operational for banking institutions all over WNC. During that time, Zelda witnessed the mountains face disaster recovery head-on. From Banner Elk to Murphy, she saw every single county come together for the sake of others, regardless of circumstance. Zelda, with renewed conviction, decided to take her expertise as an educator and advocate and use it to represent Western North Carolina at the national level.
Zelda, as a proud member of the working class, believes in the community’s power to bring change. She vows to get the Barbaric Betrayal Bill and tariffs that raised costs for working families repealed. She will expand and protect essential federal services like Social Security and Medicare from cuts or privatization. With the knowledge gained from when she successfully unionized her previous workplace, she will fight for unions, protect the people's right to unionize, and bring more high-paying union jobs back to the Blue Ridge. She will fight to increase funding for rural healthcare, for our schools, and for programs that support our small businesses so that WNC can continue to grow. She will get the relief funding we need to rebuild from Helene and invest in climate-resilient infrastructure to protect us from future storms.Outside of working full time and campaigning, Zelda lives with her wife, Danielle, in Canton. When she’s not working or attending community events you can find her playing Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, watching Bob Ross compilations and painting along, and mixing music.
In Congress I will:
• Strengthen Social Security by closing tax loopholes for the ultra wealthy, ensuring long-term program stability.
• Increase staffing to expand our ability to support our seniors and disabled neighbors.
• Reject every attempt to privatize the vital institutions of Social Security and Medicare.
• Restore funding and expand Medicare to cover vision, dental, and hearing.
• Lower prescription drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate prices while also fighting to cap out-of-pocket expenses for seniors and working families.
• Expand Medicaid to cover more of our neighbors in need.
• Protect our community’s healthcare by expanding hospitals and clinics, including clinics for our Veterans in rural areas.
• Support our nurses by ensuring safe staffing levels so everyone has access to quality healthcare.
• Increase funding for Healthcare facilities so no one has to drive hours for basic medical care.
• Invest in our school infrastructure and increase school funding.
• Increase teacher pay so that they’re not driven out of education because they can’t afford to eat.
• Expand access to vocational and technical training to present every student with a path to whatever career they wish to pursue.
• Fully fund special education and mental health services so every child has access to every tool they need to succeed.
• Resuscitate our economy by cutting company tax breaks.
• Provide tax incentives and grants for small businesses that hire locally and offer competitive wages.
• Invest in research that creates new job opportunities.
• Hold companies accountable for price gouging.
• Expand USDA programs to prioritize our farmers, give them resources to achieve competitive pricing and bring food costs down, and get them the help they need to continue to adapt.
Whoever we send to Washington must fight for us and refuse to back down. They must unconditionally oppose bowing down to some faceless donor in a glass tower or the party line, or a wannabe dictator.
When elected, I’m gonna wake up every day and ask a simple question: how can I help the people of Western North Carolina?Subscribe to our mailing list for updates, public appearance, and more!
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