ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Democratic congressional candidate Robin Wilt attended a moving up ceremony at Dr. Walter Cooper Academy on a warm June afternoon. She’s supporting the children of some of her campaign volunteers, but says it’s also a reminder of why she’s running.

"We're in this race for these kids, for our future so I just wanted to emphasize that," Wilt said.

Wilt always had an interest in government and politics. She studied it in college but didn’t really start getting involved until her brother was severely injured in Iraq in 2004.

"We went down to Washington D.C. to support my brother during his dozens of surgeries and I decided at that time that I really needed to become more engaged in the policies that were being implemented that affect all of our families," she said.

Last year, Wilt, a real estate broker by trade, won a seat on the Brighton Town Board. When veteran Congresswoman Louise Slaughter passed away earlier this year, she says people began asking her if she would step up and run for the vacant 25th district seat.

"I think I was recruited by this community to run for this seat," Wilt said. "I often say that I'm running for all of you because I've been active in this community around these issues, organizing around these issues of improving our community."

Wilt doesn’t think the jump from town board to Congress will be too big for her. She says she has been advocating for and organizing around issues like health care reform, immigration reform and criminal justice reform for the past 15 years. She says she wants to continue to be a champion for an affordable single-payer health care system.

"Right now, people are looking for integrity," Wilt said. "They're looking for representatives that they can trust because for too long the issues that matter most to the communities that I'm speaking to have not been championed for us."

Wilt says Slaughter has a legacy of progressivism, compassion and caring and she would like to continue to represent those values for constituents.

"I think that everybody in this race wants to carry on that mantle," Wilt said.

For more information on Rochester's congressional race, check out our NY-25 Voters Guide.