Heather Mizeur: Not Interested In Business As Usual At The Maryland State House And Not Willing To Settle For The Status Quo For Our Communities

Rarely does a candidate come along offering this dynamic trifecta-- an unabashed liberal... poised to break the glass ceiling as Maryland’s first woman governor... who would also be the nation’s first openly gay governor. I recently spoke with Maryland Delegate Heather Mizeur (D-Takoma Park, Silver Spring) and she quickly caught my attention when she spoke of courageousness and running to change the way we govern. "I’m fearless and I speak the truth. I’m not an establishment or insider candidate. We are a building a movement for positive social change."

She’s got an impressive background for managing and governing, with a decade of senior staff experience on Capitol Hill before her tenure in the Maryland General Assembly. She served as John Kerry’s Domestic Policy Director for four years and was the principal architect of his 2004 presidential campaign’s health care reform agenda. In a move that was a model for Obamacare, Heather's legislation expanded health coverage to young adults and foster children. One of her bills expanded access to free family planning to more women across Maryland and created innovative outreach efforts to find and enroll 50,000 more uninsured children in the state. Dubbed the “Transparency Queen” by the Baltimore Sun, she sponsored and won passage of the Maryland Open Government Act to livestream Committee hearings, eliminate government website paywalls, and to record votes online. And she and her wife an organic herb farm on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Heather Mizeur will make an amazing and inspiring Governor and we have an opportunity not only to make history but also change politics as usual by supporting her early and promoting her candidacy. Blue America will be working to help elect one of the sharpest candidates anywhere for the governor's chair in Maryland. You can donate to her campaign on the new Blue America page for gubernatorial candidates we're backing. Maryland will be one of the luckiest states in the nation if she's the next governor.

Guest Post By Heather Mizeur

My name is Heather Mizeur. I’m a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, a proud progressive, and later this summer, I plan to announce my candidacy for governor.

It looks like I’ll be running in a tough Democratic primary against two long-time politicians. Both have had designs on the governor’s mansion for years. They are political insiders, and that’s how they would govern.

And that’s why the insiders in Annapolis aren’t backing me-- I’m not interested in business as usual at the State House, and I’m not willing to settle for the status quo for our communities.

As a legislator and life long public servant, my record speaks for itself. I work tirelessly for what I believe in. From achieving marriage equality in Maryland (an issue that’s deeply personal to me and my amazing wife Deborah of eight years), to protecting the Western part of our state from reckless and dangerous fracking, I've accomplished a lot as a Delegate. As governor, I’d take on the many important issues we haven’t addressed yet and I’d win.

The next few months are crucial. I am working hard to ensure that when I announce my run for governor, I have the grassroots support that I need to beat the political establishment. I will be one of the most progressive governors in the country, but I can only win if I have support from people like you. The netroots can be the difference in a campaign like this one.

Help me make history and become the first woman governor in Maryland, and the first openly LGBT governor in the country. Click here and let me know that I have your support. It will go a long way in showing that we have what it takes to take on the establishment.

For far too long, the governor’s office in Maryland has been part of the old boys club-- recently, a columnist in the Baltimore Sun discussed the potential candidates in the race, and not only did he leave me out of the discussion, he even referred to the governor’s office as “the big daddy chair."

I want this campaign to be about the grassroots, not the grass tops. You can help us build a campaign that will make not just Maryland but all of America proud-- because we will always stand up and fight for our shared progressive values.

If you want to find out more about me, you can visit my website. And I would really appreciate a small contribution so that we can start our campaign in as strong a position as possible.

Thank you so much for your support.