Maryland
Heather Mizeur: Campaign against Andy Harris has ‘huge amount of momentum’
Former Md. House of Delegate member running for Congress on Eastern Shore
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 Marylandās 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 ā which currently encompasses the entire Eastern Shore and portions of Baltimore, Carroll and Harford Counties ā 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, Emilyās 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.
āThis is not the Defense Department that I signed up for 1988,ā said Harris, who is a U.S. Navy veteran. āItās 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.ā
Harris in his opening statement noted āthe stripping of parental rights; whether thatās school curriculum, promote (a) transgender agenda in schools, keeping secrets from parents.ā
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.
Maryland
Health care for Marylanders with HIV is facing huge cuts this summer
Providers poised to lose three-quarters of funding
BY MEREDITH COHN | By the end of June, health care providers in Maryland will lose nearly three-quarters of the funding they use to find and treat thousands of people with HIV.
Advocates and providers say they had been warned there would be less money by the Maryland Department of Health, but were stunned at the size of the drop ā from about $17.9 million this fiscal year to $5.3 million the next. The deep cuts are less than three months away.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
GAITHERSBURG, Md. ā Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) on Friday held a “Big Gay Canvass Kickoff” event at his congressional campaign’s headquarters.
LGBTQ+ Victory Fund Vice President of Outreach and Engagement Marty Rouse and John Klenert, a member of the DC Vote and Victory Fund Campaign board of directors, are among those who participated alongside members of Equality PAC. Vogel spoke before Rouse, Klenert and others canvassed for votes in the area.
“Joe brings a fresh new perspective to politics,” said Gabri Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, deputy field director for Vogel’s campaign.
Vogel, 27, is among the Democrats running for Congressman David Trone’s seat.
Trone last May announced his bid to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) in the U.S. Senate.
The Democratic primary is on May 14. Vogel would be the first Latino, the first gay man and first Gen Zer elected to Congress from Maryland if he were to win in November.
āWe need a new generation of leadership with new perspectives, new ideas, and the courage to actually deliver for our communities if we want things to get better in this country,ā Vogel told the Washington Blade last month during an interview in D.C.
Maryland
Montgomery County police chief discusses arrest of trans student charged with planned school shooting
County executive tells news conference studentās trans identity is irrelevant to criminal charge
Montgomery County, Md., Police Chief Marcus Jones joined other county and law enforcement officials at a news conference on Friday, April 19, to provide details of the police investigation and arrest of an 18-year-old high school student charged two days earlier with threats of mass violence based on information that he allegedly planed a mass shooting at the high school and elementary school he attended in Rockville, Md.
In charging documents and in a press release issued on April 18, Montgomery CountyĀ PoliceĀ identified the arrested student as āAndrea Ye, of Rockville, whose preferred name is Alex Ye.ā
One of the charging documents states that a friend of Ye, who police say came forward as a witness who played a crucial role in alerting authorities to Yeās threats of a school shooting, noted that Ye told the witness that Ye identified as the transgender student he wrote about as a character in a 129-page manifesto outlining plans for a school shooting. Police have said Ye told them the manifesto was a fictional story he planned to publish.
At the news conference on Friday, Police Chief Jones and other law enforcement officials, including an FBI official and Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, referred to the student as Alex Ye and Mr. Ye. None of the officials raised the issue of whether Ye identified as a transgender man, seven though one of the police documents identifies Ye as a ābiological female.ā
County Executive Elrich appeared to express the views of the public officials at the news conference when one of the media reporters, during a question-and-answer period, asked Elrich why he and the others who spoke at the news conferment failed to āadmit that this individual was transgender.ā
āBecause itās not a lead,ā Elrich replied, asking if the press and law enforcement authorities should disclose that someone arrested for murder is āa white Christian male whoās heterosexual.ā Elrich stated, āNo, you donāt ā You never publish somebodyās sexual orientation when we talk about this. Why you are focusing on this being a transgender is beyond me. Itās not a news story. It is not a crime to be transgender.ā
The reporter attempted to respond but was cut off by the press conference moderator, who called on someone else to ask the next question.
In his remarks at the press conference Chief Jones praised the so far unidentified witness who was the first to alert authorities about Yeās manifesto appearing to make threats of a mass school shooting.
āNow, this is a situation that highlights the critical importance of vigilance and community involvement in preventing potential tragedies,ā Jones said. āI commend the collaborative efforts of the Montgomery County Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Rockville City Police Department, and the Montgomery County Public Schools, as well as Montgomery County Health and Human Services,ā he told the gathering.
āThanks to their swift action and cooperation a potentially catastrophic event was prevented,ā Jones said.
Jones pointed out that during the current school year, police have received reports of 140 threats to the public schools in Montgomery County. He said after a thorough investigation, none of them rose to the level where an arrest was made. Instead, police and school officials took steps to arrange for the student making the threats and their parents to take remedial action, including providing mental health services.
āBut this case is different,ā Jones said. āThis case is entirely different that takes it to a different level. It was a concerned witness who brought this matter to light by rereporting the suspectās manifesto to the authorities. This underscores the value of community engagement and the āsee something say somethingā approach,ā he said.
Jones mentioned at the press conference that Ye was being held without bond since the time of his arrest but was scheduled to appear in court for a bond hearing on Friday shortly after the press conference took place to determine whether he should be released while awaiting trial or continue to be held.
In his manifesto obtained by police, Ye writes about committing a school shooting, and strategizes how to carry out the act. Ye also contemplates targeting an elementary school and says that he wants to be famous.
In charging documents reported on by WJLA 7 and WBAL 11, the 129-page document, which Ye has referred to as a book of fiction, included writings that said, in part:
“I want to shoot up a school. I’ve been preparing for months. The gun is an AR-15. This gun is going to change lives tomorrow … As I walk through the hallways, I cherry pick the classrooms that are the easiest targets. I need to figure out how to sneak the gun in. I have contemplated making bombs. The instructions to make them are surprisingly available online. I have also considered shooting up my former elementary school because little kids make easier targets. High school’s the best target; I’m the most familiar with the layout. I pace around my room like an evil mastermind. I’ve put so much effort into this. My ultimate goal would be to set the world record for the most amount of kills in a shooting. If I have time, I’ll try to decapitate my victims with a knife to turn the injuries into deaths.”
-
State Department2 days ago
State Department releases annual human rights report
-
Maryland4 days ago
Joe Vogel campaign holds ‘Big Gay Canvass Kickoff’
-
Politics3 days ago
Smithsonian staff concerned about future of LGBTQ programming amid GOP scrutiny
-
The White House1 day ago
White House debuts action plan targeting pollutants in drinking water