Qasim grew up moving from Louisiana to Texas to Michigan as his parents chased work to provide stability for their kids. His father was a skilled carpenter who later earned an engineering degree while raising four children, doing whatever it took to keep the family afloat. But stability was always just out of reach. There were stretches when the family got by on ramen and cereal made with water, and Qasim went to school in clothes that didn't fit and squinted through dollar store reading glasses because there was no money for a real prescription. He learned early that hard work is not enough to dig people out of a deep hole and is instead what happens when the system stops working for working people — a reality that too many Montana families face every day.

When Qasim was a child, his father fell from scaffolding that collapsed and permanently injured his back. Without union protections or adequate workers' compensation, the family teetered on the brink of homelessness. When his father tried a medical procedure to manage his pain so he could keep working, it left him in a coma. He never walked or spoke again. The insurance that had kept him in a facility nearby was eventually cut off, and his father was moved to Lebanon, leaving Qasim unable to visit or be present with him for the last two years of his life. His father passed away in 2002.

Qasim saw how quickly a family can unravel without a safety net: no affordable health care, no housing stability, no union protections and no help for a family who lost their father. After an eviction left them without a home, Qasim worked full-time at McDonald's while trying to earn a GED and eventually finishing high school. Through it all, he never stopped pushing forward.

Qasim eventually made it to the University of Montana. He fell in love with Montana's public lands, its people, and its sense of community. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a Master of Public Administration, and went to work for Montanans with developmental disabilities, organized on behalf of working families across the state, and put down roots in Helena, the city he calls home.

Today, he serves as a public defender in Helena, where he fights every day for people who can't afford to fight for themselves, the same people many politicians overlook. Qasim knows firsthand what happens when someone has no one in their corner, because he's been that person.

Montana gave Qasim a home and a future. He's running to make sure it does the same for every Montanan.