Adrian Boafo will be Maryland's next member of Congress.

The election is over. The ads have stopped. The mailers have disappeared from our mailboxes. The millions of dollars spent by outside interests have achieved their goal.

Now comes the part that matters most: governing.

For the people of Prince George's County, this is the moment to pay close attention, not because we expect failure, but because accountability begins on Day One.

Throughout this campaign, many of us raised concerns about what Boafo's candidacy represented. His campaign benefited from an extraordinary influx of outside spending from super PACs and national special interests, transforming a race that initially received little attention into one of Maryland's most expensive congressional contests.

That kind of investment comes with expectations.

The question now is simple: Who will have the loudest voice in Congressman-elect Boafo's office? The residents of Prince George's County, or the interests that spent millions helping elect him?

That question matters because the decisions made in Congress will have real consequences for Maryland families.

Our communities are already struggling with rising utility bills, housing costs that continue to climb, and a power grid under increasing strain. We need leaders who will ask difficult questions before approving policies that could increase those burdens.

Take data centers.

As artificial intelligence expands, so does the demand for massive energy-intensive facilities. Maryland is already debating how these developments should move forward and, more importantly, who should pay for the infrastructure required to support them.

Too often, the answer has been everyday ratepayers.

Working families should not be expected to subsidize the electricity demands of some of the world's largest technology companies while they struggle to keep their own lights on. Maryland has already experienced the consequences of an energy system where ordinary residents shoulder costs they did not create.

As these debates continue in Congress and at home, Congressman-elect Boafo should be expected to answer a straightforward question: Will he stand with Maryland families facing rising utility bills, or with corporate interests seeking policies that maximize profit at public expense?

The same standard applies across every issue.

On housing, constituents deserve someone willing to confront affordability head-on, not simply celebrate new development while families are priced out of their own communities.

On healthcare, residents deserve a representative who protects access to care instead of treating it as another political talking point.

On workers' rights, environmental justice, and public investment, Prince George's County deserves leadership grounded in the needs of the people who live there, not the organizations with the largest political budgets.

This is not about relitigating the election.

Democracy means respecting election results. Congressman-elect Boafo won, and he now has the responsibility of representing every resident of Maryland's 5th Congressional District, including those who did not vote for him.

But democracy also requires vigilance.

The same community organizations, neighborhood leaders, faith communities, labor advocates, environmental justice organizations, and everyday residents who spent months organizing during this campaign will continue organizing after it.

We will continue showing up.

We will continue asking questions.

We will continue tracking votes.

We will continue speaking out when policies put corporate interests ahead of Maryland families.

And when Congressman-elect Boafo stands with his constituents, we will acknowledge that, too.

Public service is not about permanent allies or permanent opponents. It is about public accountability.

The campaign may be over, but accountability is just beginning.

Prince George's County is watching.

Maryland is watching.

And the people who sent Congressman-elect Boafo to Washington deserve nothing less than a representative who remembers exactly who he was elected to serve.

— Nick Sia, Bowie, MD, Community Advocate and Progressive Maryland Member