Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress

Melissa Chaudhry, wife of M. Zahid Chaudhry - a decorated, disabled veteran, husband, and father of two toddlers - abducted by ICE. #FreeZahid #Justice4Zahid

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

"Wait, Melissa Chaudhry was a farmer?" Yes, folks, yes indeed. I lived, studied, and worked on farms on several continents, focusing on permaculture and food production systems that would survive any kind of crisis the world could throw at us. 

Sometimes, though, all the big worries melted away, and all that needed to be done boiled down to what was in front of me: a shovel, a pickax, a broken pipe, and when I was lucky, a cute kitten keeping me company. 

I'll pull back the curtain and you can see what I've done - from farming, teaching, plumbing, building, and fixing cars, to studying cooperative economics, building resilient food systems, meeting US Military Generals, caring for moms in addiction recovery... and so much more. 

Your ballots should be arriving in your mailbox any day now. Remember, if you want Care. Courage. The Constitution. and *real* lived experience doing whatever it takes to improve people's lives...

Vote Melissa for Congress. 

https://t.co/RLAbZvLwmI

#seattle #seattlepolitics #southkingcounty #votemelissa4congress #carecourageconstitution #congress2026 #auburn #kentwa #federalway #skyway #newcastle #renton #farming

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

Bottom line:

American wealth for American communities.
American weapons used in integrity with American laws.
American politicians answerable to the American people.

At home and abroad, I believe in — and will govern towards — our shared North Star:

Liberty and Justice for ALL.
Care. Courage. The Constitution.

🗳️ Vote Melissa for Congress — Washington's 9th District
🌐 https://t.co/RLAbZvLwmI

#PeacePledge #TrackAIPAC #WA09 #LibertyAndJusticeForAll #CareCorageConstitution #FreePalestine #CeaseFireNow #AmericanSovereignty #votemelissa4congress #carecourageconstitution #moneyoutofpolitics

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

Track AIPAC's PEACE Pledge, continued. Commitments 5, 6, and 7. 

5. I will pursue accountability for those who committed war crimes with American weapons — and those at home who facilitated them. I support the International Criminal Court investigating and prosecuting crimes against humanity. I oppose every effort to sanction them.

6. I stand wholeheartedly for the First Amendment — the right to peaceably assemble, to speak freely, to criticize. Economic speech included. Criticizing a foreign government is not bigotry. It is honesty. It is integrity. And I will protect it.

7. I will fight to overturn Citizens United and get corporate and foreign money out of American politics. My campaign has always rejected foreign interests, weapons manufacturers, and corporate PACs. My opponent, Adam Smith — again — takes massive AIPAC money and fills the rest of his war chest with cash from defense contractors and the surveillance industry, including Palantir and Anduril, which makes AI-powered autonomous weapons. Killer robots. Funded by your sitting congressman.

I will protect my integrity by refusing all of it. That means I answer to We the People — and I'll work to make sure every other elected official does too.

Watch the full signing video — coming soon.

🌐 https://t.co/RLAbZvLwmI

#PeacePledge #TrackAIPAC #WA09 #Melissa4Congress #CeaseFireNow #AccountabilityNow #CitizensUnited #FirstAmendment #AmericanSovereignty #votemelissa4congress #carecourageconstitution #congress2026 #seattle #southkingcounty #kentwa #federalway #auburn #newcastlewa #southseattle

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

This time, a fresh poem, just written
infused with the recent threats of murder and rape, 
seen through the lens of all that is good.

'Prayer of the Inconvenient"

And if tomorrow
or tomorrow
or tomorrow
the target on my back becomes
suddenly real
suddenly deadly
some finger
on some trigger
or some threshold 
in some prompt
decides that I'm 
a problem
to be solved
in the simplest way

what will live of me?

what will live in my children?

what will live in my family?

what will live with roots in soil?

what will live in 
   the memories of friends?

what will live in 
  the hearts of people?

what will live in 
   the goodness of earth?

let it be
if I may hope
if I may choose
if I may strive

let it be
courage
let it be 
vision
let it be
reassurance
let it be 
solidarity
let it be 
dedication 
let it be
hope
let it be
life

and love
of life

power dislikes
   the inconvenient

those who ask
   the real questions

give 
   the real answers

name
   the real names

and will not be silent

will not give in

will not sell out

power dislikes
   inconvenience

well isn't that just
   too bad

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

The PEACE Pledge. It's a real set of policy commitments, not some vague niceties. Let me break it down in plain language — starting with commitments 1 through 4.

1. No AIPAC donations. I never have accepted them, and I never will.

2. It is a genocide. It has been a genocide. A broad international consensus of scholars and human rights organizations is unequivocal. So am I. My family was at the front of marches, rallies, and peace vigils calling it a genocide the entire time. We've been friends of Rachel Corrie's family for 20 years. Aysenur Ezgi Eygi played with my little daughter in 2024 — shortly before she was murdered in the West Bank while peacefully witnessing.

3. I will never vote for US military assistance to any country engaged in war crimes, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, genocide, or restricting humanitarian aid. Not once. Not ever.

4. I utterly oppose permanently integrating US military or intelligence functions with any foreign country. I stand for American sovereignty and integrity. My father and husband are disabled US military veterans — they swore to defend the United States, not anyone else. My opponent Adam Smith co-introduced Section 224, was personally and publicly thanked by AIPAC for it, killed Ro Khanna's amendment in committee, then flipped in public only when he knew it was too late to matter. Sickening.

Commitments 5–7 in the next clip. Full video coming tomorrow.

Care. Courage. The Constitution
https://t.co/RLAbZvLwmI

#PeacePledge #TrackAIPAC #WA09 #Melissa4Congress #CeaseFireNow #FreePalestine #AmericanSovereignty #AccountabilityNow #votemelissa4congress #congress2026 #southkingcounty #endwarprofiteering #repairamerica #repadamsmith

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

My name is Melissa Chaudhry, and I'm running for Congress in Washington's 9th District.

Today I signed Track AIPAC's PEACE Pledge.

PEACE stands for: Pledge to Enforce American law, Counter foreign influence, and End war crimes.

I've been a supporter of peace and justice for all people my entire life — including the Palestinian people.

My Norwegian ancestors lived under occupation. My grandfather fought back — and paid for it with two years of torture in a Nazi concentration camp. He came to America and later died of his wounds.

My solidarity isn't performative. It runs in my blood.

This pledge is about real policy. Real accountability. Real courage.

Watch the full video to hear all 7 commitments. Coming tomorrow.

🌐 https://t.co/RLAbZvLwmI

#PeacePledge #TrackAIPAC #WA09 #Melissa4Congress #CeaseFireNow #LibertyAndJusticeForAll #votemelissa4congress #seattle #congress2026 #carecourageconstitution

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

I wrote this poem when I was 13 years old. Now, a Melissa for Congress supporter made this song out of it. Thank you, Rach. 

How did I understand the world like this, at 13? 
Please comment below.

Do you folks like what she made with it?

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

"Ageless Heresy," this one - an elegy for a fallen soldier.

"War is not good for children and other living things." I'd take that old adage from my peace march days, and take it one step further: War is not good. Period. For anything. 

The first casualty of war is the truth - rapidly followed by justice, mercy, dignity, integrity, or kindness. Paid for with blood, treasure, integrity, compliance, betrayal, moral injury, and the soul-crushing pain of the suffering of innocents. 

Surely - surely - we can find better ways to be on a planet together, than this. 

New series: one of Melissa's teenage poems per day. Clarity, calm, and care - no urgency or pressure. Just a moment to share.

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

Before "Melissa 4 Congress" - a single mother, recovering from an abusive marriage, working a union job, caring for my baby...

REAL empathy.

#ThrowbackThursday #votemelissa4congress #carecourageconstitution #congress2026 #wa09 #federalway #unionsbuiltthemiddleclass #southkingcounty #kentwa #auburn

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

People's Mechanic, Farmer, Teacher, Mutual Aid community organizer, Congressional Candidate. Poet. Successful Federal Litigator. Union worker? 

Sure enough! Throwback Thursday... after I escaped an abusive marriage, and climbed out of a $12/hr retail job, the first steady work I found was a union job at USPS. Rural Carrier Associate, meant I came in before 6am, sorted mail and loaded packages until 11, and drove the mail truck out delivering across our rural areas until dark, or well beyond it. 

I started just at the beginning of December, so I was still green when the Christmas rush arrived. 14-hour days, 17-hour days... barely 48 hours off with my sick, feverish toddler over Christmas Day. 

The next year, I started at college, and finalized my divorce. Two years later, after college and deep into the pandemic, I was a union worker again, on night shift supporting mothers in residential addiction treatment with their little babies. 

Though addiction wasn't part of my journey, I've always done everything I can to give back and support people who are going through deep struggles like I did - because I know firsthand that housing stability, counseling, employment, and education are *essential* to any meaningful recovery from any kind of struggle - and that with them, and with personal commitment, almost anyone can thrive. 

This August primary, vote for the candidate with real lived experience, irreplaceable empathy, and courage to change our country so that everyone can thrive.

Care. Courage. The Constitution. 
Vote Melissa for Congress.

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

To Washington's Ninth District — and to anyone tired of the never-ending war:

Let's heal this.

Not by pretending our differences don't exist, but by remembering they were never supposed to be weapons.

Let's reunite — not around a party, around a country. Our country.

Let's reclaim what's been taken from us by the people profiting off our division. Let's repair what's been broken — one conversation, one neighbor, one vote at a time.

Party loyalty should never undermine loyalty to the country or the Constitution. Ambition should never undermine loyalty to the country or the Constitution.

America's parties should serve the people. Not the other way around.

The billionaires dividing us will never share our sorrows, our griefs, our struggles — and they don't care how many they put us through as long as their numbers go up.

I'm not waiting for someone else to fix this. I signed the pledge.

Now I'm asking you to join me in living it.

Care. Courage. The Constitution.
Vote Melissa for Congress.

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

I signed the Purple Pledge — not a Democratic pledge, not a Republican pledge.

An American pledge.

It says: put country before party. Tell the truth, even when it costs you everything. Protect our democracy — the checks, the balances, the rule of law that no single person stands above.

Keep elections free and fair. Honor our seniors who paid into Social Security their whole lives. Honor our veterans. Honor the families one paycheck from crisis through no fault of their own.

Invest in the next generation instead of handing them our debts and our damage. Hold every official — elected, appointed, career — to the same code of ethics. No exceptions.

These aren't radical ideas. They're the ideas most of us already believe.

We've just forgotten we all agree on them.

🔗 https://t.co/RLAbZvLwmI

#PurplePledge #Washington9th #votemelissa4congress #civiccourage #civilliberties #civicresilience #inclusiveamerica  #PutCountryFirst #AmericanPledge #congress2026

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

Different churches. Different languages. Different ballots.

But before any of that — are we loyal to our country?

I've spent 20 years working alongside farmers and city planners, union members and small business owners, people who've never voted the same way twice. And here's what I learned:

Partisanship is not our nature. It's been manufactured.

We're being distracted, divided, and conquered by the billionaire class and the politicians who serve them — on both sides.

Our neighbors are not our enemies. That's just who the billionaires need us to be.

It's time to remember who we actually are.

Care. Courage. The Constitution.
https://t.co/MpZpuUBni5

#PurplePledge #wa09  #votemelissa4congress  #UnitedWeStand #Congress2026 #EndPartisanship #seattle #kentwa #auburn #federalway #renton #southkingcounty #civiccourage #civicresilience #civicresilience

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

Proud to stand FIRMLY for universal healthcare! Every other developed country in the world has figured this out. 

We are paying, collectively, an extra $1.2 TRILLION per year because we're subsidizing parasites, aka, health insurance companies.

There is no need for this. We can cover everyone, comprehensively; reduce our tens of thousands of needless dealths and suffering; save millions of life-hours; AND save money. 

All it takes is politicians independent from corporate money. Like yours truly!

Let's get to work. 

Care. Courage. The Constitution.
Vote Melissa for Congress.

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

In all the noise, chaos, and senselessness of the modern day, do you also yearn for the peace, safety, and integrity of wholesome silence?

New series: Melissa's teenage poems. One per day. A dose of beauty to counteract the noise - of gentleness and clarity, to counteract the pressure and the hate.

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

When we do the bigots' and the billionaires' divide-and-conquer work FOR THEM, they're laughing at us all the way to the bank while getting their boots ever more firmly on all of our necks. 

Sure, make a strong, capable, lifelong ally into a pariah. I'm sure that's gonna do wonders for the vitality of the movement we genuinely need, for liberty and justice for ALL. 

Immigrants. People of color. Disabled folks. Elderly, children. LGBTQ+ folks. All religions, all countries of origin, all identities - the Constitution protects everyone. 

That is - if we insist on it. Rights don't protect themselves. 

I've fought and won in federal court with no lawyers, defending due process, equal protection, and liberty and justice for all. I'll do the same in Congress. 

Your call whether you want me there. Or whether you want a liar who yells about these issues but has never lived them and will never say one good word about the Constitution -- or a 30+ year incumbent who gets almost all of his campaign money from AIPAC and the war profiteers, including Palantir and Anduril. 

I'm willing to come on camera and tell the truth. They'll come on camera and bullshit you. Don't mistake polish for authenticity. Political animals like them are famous for charisma utterly detached from reality. 

I'm here. I'm sincere. And I'm offering to serve.

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

Here's what actually happened at The Stranger's interrogation of an endorsement interview.

I was subjected to sustained, aggressive attacks from my opponent — someone The Stranger itself called a "born hater" — who lied about me and my family repeatedly and tried to weaponize my husband's illegal detention for political gain.

Under that pressure, for one sentence, to try to just get to the next actual question about actual policy that actually affect all of us, I caved to her framing. I regret it. I've corrected it publicly, more than once.

That is a fact about one bad moment in a hostile interview I should have walked out of. It is not a fact about my faith, my platform, or me.

My spirituality and LGBTQ+ rights are not in conflict — not in my life, not in my faith's own teachings on justice and human dignity.

Meanwhile, I've been receiving real, serious death threats for wearing a headscarf. Reported to law enforcement and the FBI. Pursued as felonies. None of these outlets have covered that.

Funny how that works.

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

The Washington Stonewall Democrats attacked me — but here's what they won't tell you.

At the Washington State Democratic Convention on June 20th, they refused — more than once — to even let me introduce myself and my candidacy to their caucus. They were the only caucus who did that.

It looked like, and felt like, discrimination against me for my modest dress and my scarf.

They denied themselves direct information by refusing to let me speak. They haven't reached out to me. I've reached out to them. Still nothing.

So you tell me — who's doing the stereotyping?

https://t.co/RLAbZvLwmI

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

My platform has said the same thing since day one: dignity, safety, and opportunity for all.

No asterisks. No exclusions. All means all.

Elderly, disabled, immigrant, undocumented, veteran, women, children, all religions, all languages, all countries of origin — and yes, LGBTQ+ people. Fully. Explicitly. Always.

Are you human? Then I am *for* your dignity, your freedom, and your rights.

Check the platform yourself: https://t.co/MpZpuUBni5 — pillars two and five.

[Vote Melissa Chaudhry for Congress @Melissa4USHouse]

For the record: I've supported full equality for LGBTQ+ people my entire life — not since this campaign started. My entire life.

My only sibling is LGBTQIA+. I helped found our high school's Gay Straight Alliance back when we had to keep the meeting location secret for our own safety. My closest friend of nearly 20 years is a disabled lesbian woman raising her family against immense stigma.

This is not a talking point for me. It is the fabric of my life.

The media that ignored three years of rape and death threats against a federal candidate is now running with a lie. I'm setting the record straight — in my own voice.

🔗 https://t.co/MpZpuUBni5