| Javier Mabrey is running for Colorado's House District 1 to fight for hard working families like his own. If elected to represent House District 1, Javier will fight for economic justice, affordable housing, racial justice, and universal health care.
Javier became an eviction defense lawyer because for him, tenants' rights, and poverty aren't just abstract issues, they're personal.
Two years before Javier was born, his mother Catherine, was involved in a near fatal car accident that left her permanently disabled. Catherine raised Javier and his brother Thomas in south Denver; the family's only source of income was his mother's Social Security Disability check. His mother worked hard to stretch their income, but it was not always enough to get by. As a result, the family frequently dealt with their power or water getting cut off. They went to food banks in order to eat and eventually were evicted and became homeless when Javier was 15.
In 2008, Javier was inspired to pursue a career fighting for social justice after watching Barack Obama campaign for President Obama often spoke about providing a good education to every child, and he emphasized protecting Social Security benefits. Javier recognized that this was someone who wanted to fight for people like him, and it opened his eyes to how politics could provide opportunity to working families.
Javier got his GED and worked as a dishwasher and pizza delivery driver to put himself through community college. Javier's path was not without roadblocks, he took payday loans to get by and had to deal with bad credit and astronomical interest rates as a result. His family dealt with housing instability throughout Javier's college career and it took him four years to finish community college, after which he began his career as a community organizer. He worked on Obama's re-election campaign, organized public pressure campaigns to advocate for immigration reform and more funding for Colorado schools.
In 2016, Javier Graduated from The University of Colorado, Boulder and then enrolled in Berkeley Law School. While in law school, he worked at the East Bay Community Law Center, and successfully defended families facing eviction or harassment from landlords. Since graduating in 2019, Javier started an eviction defense non-profit legal aid group that represents tenants in Denver and advocates for affordable housing and tenants' rights at the Colorado State Capitol.
Javier fights for everyday people in court and he will fight for all Coloradans at the capitol by pushing for affordable housing, racial justice, better schools and universal healthcare. |