| I was born a dreamer, raised near the rainy forests of the Pacific Northwest. My father, a Vietnam veteran and truck driver, and my mother, a student loan default prevention officer, encouraged me and taught me and my three brothers the importance of hard work, family and patriotism.
I have always been a dreamer. Some of those dreams - like traveling to Mars as an astronaut - have fallen by the wayside. Others have come true, like marrying the girl I fell in love with in high school. Crystal and I married at 19, despite some people telling us that our dream of a solid marriage was near-impossible. We have now been Mr. and Mrs. Kupper longer than we haven't and have four beautiful children who call us Mom and Dad.
One of our children came to us, through adoption, at age five from Armenia. She was also a crazy dream of ours, because why would a military family with several young children at home spend tens of thousands of dollars to adopt a daughter who cannot stand or walk? The answer- because her life is precious and worth fighting for.
Another dream of mine was to fight for my country. I joined United States Air Force just two months after high school graduation and for the next 20 years, my family and I moved around the U.S. and even to Europe. What we learned during those two decades are that some things - including the values this country was founded upon - are worth risking everything for. I still believe that. I have spent most of my life fighting for our county. I've fought for my career and the careers of thousands of others when the military tried to kick us out for not taking an illegally-mandated shot. And I've even fought my way through obstacles as a contestant on American Ninja Warrior. I'm not afraid of a fight.
I plan to keep fighting against those who attempt to shred the economic, constitutional and moral fabric that makes up our country and state. We need a return to basic constitutional principles - not those of special interests. We need lawmakers the way they used to be - servants from outside the world of politics who fulfill their civic duties, then return to their families and first careers. I still dream that such things are possible and I still fight for a day when that dream is a reality. As your state representative in Arizona's 25th legislative district I will fight for you every day. |