Maryland

Mizeur vows to ‘bring dignity and leadership’ back to 1st Congressional District

Former state delegate to face Andy Harris in November

Published

4 years ago

July 20, 2022

Heather Mizeur speaks to supporters at the Ten Eyck Brewing Company in Queenstown, Md., on July 19, 2022. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

QUEENSTOWN, Md. — Former Maryland state delegate and gubernatorial candidate Heather Mizeur won the Democratic primary in the state’s 1st Congressional District on Tuesday.

With 310 of 312 precincts in the district reporting as of Wednesday, Mizeur had garnered nearly 69 percent of the primary vote in the district, defeating former U.S. Agency for International Development official David Harden.

At an election night gathering at the Ten Eyck Brewing Company in Queenstown on the Eastern Shore, Mizeur gathered with supporters to celebrate her victory.

“You have chosen me to be your nominee to bring dignity and leadership back to the 1st District,” Mizeur said. “You said that you trust me to represent you to be your voice and your vote in Congress and this is an immense honor, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”

Cheers erupted among her supporters as Mizeur went on to describe a campaign atmosphere heavily aligned with the attitudes espoused by those gathered.

“There’s an old saying among activists when things are tough: ‘Don’t mourn. Organize,’” Mizeur told her supporters while standing next to her wife. “And that’s what we’re doing here — all of us — with a spirit of energy, optimism and even joy. We’re organizing a movement for change — a movement that says the way things are isn’t good enough, one that insists that we can do better — better than a congressman who disgraces himself at every turn, who doesn’t show up for his district, who puts loyalty to a political cult ahead of loyalty to his own country.”

After succeeding in her bid for the Democratic nomination, Mizeur now faces incumbent Republican Congressman Andy Harris in a reliably Republican district. Mizeur would be the first openly lesbian member of Congress from Maryland if she were to win.

Mizeur has criticized Harris over revelations of his involvement in the events of Jan. 6.

“And now, now that we know, thanks to the Jan. 6 Committee, just how deeply Andy Harris was involved in the plot against our democracy,” Mizeur reiterated on Tuesday night. “He is a traitor. He violated his oath of office, his oath to defend the Constitution of this country. I believe he is unfit to serve.”

Despite the potential challenges posed to her campaign by the district’s political demographics, Mizeur told the Washington Blade that, going forward, the campaign will maintain a similar election strategy aimed at converging support from voters across the ideological spectrum.

“We have been in all 11 counties of this district, working the vote, running a unity coalition campaign to get Republicans and Democrats and Independents to join together to get rid of a congressman who has failed us,” Mizeur said. “And that work just continues.”

Encouraged by her primary victory, Mizeur expressed confidence that she would be able to succeed over Harris, who has represented the district since 2011.

“We’ve got this,” Mizeur said. “Mark my words, friends: I am the woman who’s going to defeat Andy Harris in November.”

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Maryland

4th Circuit dismisses lawsuit against Montgomery County schools’ pronoun policy

Substitute teacher Kimberly Polk challenged regulation in 2024

Published

11 hours ago

February 3, 2026

Staff reports

(Photo by Sergei Gnatuk via Bigstock)

A federal appeals court has ruled Montgomery County Public Schools did not violate a substitute teacher’s constitutional rights when it required her to use students’ preferred pronouns in the classroom.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision it released on Jan. 28 ruled against Kimberly Polk.

The policy states that “all students have the right to be referred to by their identified name and/or pronoun.”

“School staff members should address students by the name and pronoun corresponding to the gender identity that is consistently asserted at school,” it reads. “Students are not required to change their permanent student records as described in the next section (e.g., obtain a court-ordered name and/or new birth certificate) as a prerequisite to being addressed by the name and pronoun that corresponds to their identified name. To the extent possible, and consistent with these guidelines, school personnel will make efforts to maintain the confidentiality of the student’s transgender status.”

The Washington Post reported Polk, who became a substitute teacher in Montgomery County in 2021, in November 2022 requested a “religious accommodation, claiming that the policy went against her ‘sincerely held religious beliefs,’ which are ‘based on her understanding of her Christian religion and the Holy Bible.’”

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in January 2025 dismissed Polk’s lawsuit that she filed in federal court in Beltsville. Polk appealed the decision to the 4th Circuit.

Maryland

Dan Cox files for governor, seeking rematch with Moore

Anti-LGBTQ Republican ran in 2022

Published

2 days ago

February 2, 2026

Baltimore Banner

Dan Cox, the 2022 Republican nominee for governor, has filed to run again this year. (Photo by Kaitlin Newman for the Banner)

By PAMELA WOOD | Dan Cox, a Republican who was resoundingly defeated by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore four years ago, has filed to run for governor again this year.

Cox’s candidacy was posted on the Maryland elections board website Friday; he did not immediately respond to an interview request.

Cox listed Rob Krop as his running mate for lieutenant governor.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

Maryland

Expanded PrEP access among FreeState Justice’s 2026 legislative priorities

Maryland General Assembly opened on Jan. 14

Published

6 days ago

January 28, 2026

Sam Epner

Maryland State House (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

FreeState Justice this week spoke with the Washington Blade about their priorities during this year’s legislative session in Annapolis that began on Jan. 14.

Ronnie L. Taylor, the group’s community director, on Wednesday said the organization continues to fight against discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS. FreeState Justice is specifically championing a bill in the General Assembly that would expand access to PrEP in Maryland.

Taylor said FreeState Justice is working with state Del. Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince George’s County) and state Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Arundel and Howard Counties) on a bill that would expand the “scope of practice for pharmacists in Maryland to distribute PrEP.” The measure does not have a title or a number, but FreeState Justice expects it will have both in the coming weeks.

FreeState Justice has long been involved in the fight to end the criminalization of HIV in the state.

Governor Wes Moore last year signed House Bill 39, which decriminalized HIV in Maryland.

The bill — the Carlton R. Smith Jr. HIV Modernization Act — is named after Carlton Smith, a long-time LGBTQ activist known as the “mayor” of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood who died in 2024. FreeState Justice said Marylanders prosecuted under Maryland Health-General Code § 18-601.1 have already seen their convictions expunged.

Taylor said FreeState Justice will continue to “oppose anti anti-LGBTQ legislation” in the General Assembly. Their website later this week will publish a bill tracker.

The General Assembly’s legislative session is expected to end on April 13.