Meet the RNC Delegate: Kera Birkeland

Birkeland, a day care center owner, competed in the Mrs. Utah pageant in 2012 with a platform to encourage foster parenting. She and her husband, Lars, have five kids and have also been foster parents for eight years. 

Favorite living politician: Ron Paul. “I love the idea of personal freedom and personal liberty. That’s why I got into politics years ago. He’s one of the few politicians who really seems to stay by that, no matter what happens in politics.”

Fostering benefits: When the Birkelands became foster parents, “it seemed like everyone would talk about how it was crazy or dangerous, that the children would be broken and damaged.” People even expressed concern for the couple’s five kids. “We had the opposite experience. Being foster parents enhances our life, and it’s taught our children so much more.”

Plans for Cleveland: Visiting Kirtland. “I’m a Latter-day Saint, so I’m excited to see Kirtland Temple.”

Favorite fictional political character: Konstantin Levin, the heroic, independent landowner in Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. “Hollywood avoids, at all cost, portraying Republican characters that you can really get behind,” she says.

Her take on Trump: “I don’t feel he represents me at all.” She finds choosing between Trump and Hillary Clinton distasteful. “I’m focusing on my ability to go to Cleveland and vote for Ted Cruz.”