Heather Mizeur on Wednesday said her campaign to unseat Republican Congressman Andy Harris has “a huge amount of momentum” in the final days before Election Day.

“We’ve really done something with this unity coalition that we’ve been putting together for almost two years now,” Mizeur told the Washington Blade during a telephone interview.

Mizeur served on the Takoma Park City Council before she served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2007-2015. Mizeur ran for governor in 2014.

Mizeur, who now lives on the Eastern Shore with her wife, announced her campaign against Harris in Maryland’s 1st Congressional District less than a month after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

She defeated David Harden in the Democratic primary that took place on July 19. Mizeur would be the first openly lesbian member of Congress from Maryland if she defeats Harris on Tuesday.

Harris has represented the 1st Congressional District — which currently encompasses the entire Eastern Shore and portions of Baltimore, Carroll and Harford Counties — since 2011. Mia Mason, a transgender veteran, ran against Harris in 2020.

The Cook Political Report currently ranks the district as R +11.

Campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission indicate Mizeur raised $2,621,651.48 from Jan. 1, 2021, through Oct. 19, compared to $1,675,169.32 that Harris raised during the same period. The statements also indicate Mizeur as of Oct. 19 had $447,762.57 on hand, compared to Harris’ $1,099,702.25.

Mizeur’s website notes former Maryland Congressman Wayne Gilchrist, former Cecil County Executive Alan McCarthy and Havre de Grace Mayor Bill Martin are among the Republicans who have endorsed her campaign. 

Salisbury Mayor Jake Day, Havre de Grace Mayor Bill Martin, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, state Del. Lisa Belcastro (D-Baltimore County), House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) are among the elected officials who have endorsed Mizeur. The Victory Fund, LPAC, Emily’s List, the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, SEIU and other groups have also backed her campaign. 

The Human Rights Campaign notes Harris has voted against the Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal civil rights laws. Harris, among other things, has co-sponsored a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban marriage for same-sex couples.

Harris on Oct. 27 repeatedly attacked transgender people during a debate against Mizeur that took place at Cecil College in North East.

“This is not the Defense Department that I signed up for 1988,” said Harris, who is a U.S. Navy veteran. “It’s more interested in whether or not you fund transgender surgery than whether you fund a missile system to counter the Chinese hypersonic threat. There is more interest on the other side about whether we are going to use preferred pronouns in the Pentagon than whether or not our men and women in uniform have the backing of their higher ups and the investments in military weapon systems to protect their lives.” 

Harris in his opening statement noted “the stripping of parental rights; whether that’s school curriculum, promote (a) transgender agenda in schools, keeping secrets from parents.”

Mizeur told the Blade that his comments were “not surprising because it’s part of how he has governed.” Mizeur further described them as “disappointing.”

“We don’t ever want to use trans kids or immigrants or any othering to create division and fear in order to win an election and stay in power and my campaign is the total opposite,” she said. “I arrived with solutions and ideas and relationships that reflect the true reality of what’s going on in the district, what our needs are and how we’re going to solve problems and he showed up with just right-wing, fringe, extremist radical talking points that are completely out of touch.”

Mizeur during the debate also sharply criticized Harris over his position on abortion rights.

“He came out with this ridiculous suggestion that women in Maryland would carry a pregnancy to term and decide to have an abortion because of the gender of the baby,” said Mizeur. “It is offensive to every woman in the state of Maryland.” 

“He clearly knows nothing, surprisingly as a doctor, about the process of pregnancy, about what a woman endures in that process, about how all pregnancies late-term are wanted pregnancies,” she added. “The only time you’re going to have an abortion is if something goes tragically wrong and to suggest a women would just cavalierly end a pregnancy because the baby wasn’t the gender she wanted is just an affront to every woman in America.”

Mizeur spoke with the Blade days after Harris’ campaign released a flyer that contained a picture of her wearing a t-shirt that says “America needs lesbian farmers.”

“I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m a lesbian and a farmer,” said Mizeur.

Mizeur said the t-shirt she was wearing was “making fun of right-wing extremism where Rush Limbaugh suggested during the Obama administration that they were giving grants to lesbians to make them farmer so that the queer agenda would infiltrate conservative America and allow democrats to win red states.” 

“While being hilarious because I am a lesbian and a farmer, he was using it as an effort to trump up homophobia in the district that is just going to be resoundingly rejected,” she told the Blade.

Mizeur also said her potential constituents’ reaction to Harris sharing the picture on social media was a combination of “more of Andy Harris’ divisive politics and smear campaigns and as a sign of how threatened he is that we are really closing this campaign with strong campaign.” 

“He fears losing and he should,” said Mizeur.