I am supporting Eve Hurwitz for State Senate, Dist. 33 because it has been a long time since residents of District 33 have had even a liberal option to represent them in the Maryland Senate, so they are fortunate to have a true progressive like Eve on the ballot in 2018. I am particularly inspired by Eve’s drive to advocate for women’s issues and her ability to effectively channel that activism to fight for broader issues of social justice.

Why I am supporting Eve Hurwitz for State Senate, Dist. 33

/By Richard E. Otten/ When I attended the organizing reception for an Anne Arundel County chapter of Progressive Maryland in March of 2017, I was not sure what to expect. I was in the middle of a frustrating fourth legislative session lobbying for a bill that would extend collective bargaining rights to my fellow employees at Maryland’s community colleges, but Anne Arundel County’s State Senators offered us little support. In particular Sen. Astle, the Vice Chair of the Senate Finance Committee that declined to vote on our bill, refused to talk to our lobbying team about our needs to improve our working conditions and our students’ learning conditions. However, I joined a community of progressive Anne Arundel residents when Eve Hurwitz greeted me at the door of the reception with her thousand-watt smile. Since then, Eve realized that she would need to step down from her position as the organizing leader of the group that would come to be known as Take Action AAC in order to focus her seemingly-limitless energies on her campaign to represent District 33 in the Maryland State Senate, but we are glad to continue to stand with her.

          It has been a long time since residents of District 33 have had even a liberal option to represent them in the Maryland Senate, so they are fortunate to have a true progressive like Eve on the ballot in 2018. Her convictions are principled and informed by experience. Her service in the U.S. Navy demonstrates that she is willing to fight for her ideals. Her ownership of a small business enables her to speak with authority about the prosperity that our state might enjoy if we protect the interests of our workers.

          As a feminist academic, I am particularly inspired by Eve’s drive to advocate for women’s issues and her ability to effectively channel that activism to fight for broader issues of social justice. As the Executive Director of the Milky Way Foundation, Eve educates on and advocates for healthy maternal practices that produce strong children and families. As the founder of March On Maryland, Eve has organized the Annapolis Women’s March, March for Science, Rally for Healthcare, and March for Racial Justice; she has spoken passionately and movingly about our needs for universal healthcare, reasonable gun control, and ethical government from the steps of Lawyer’s Mall in Annapolis and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.

          If progressives in Anne Arundel County rally around Eve to elect her to represent District 33, she will be our champion in Annapolis. Eve has been endorsed by Progressive Maryland, by NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland, and by the Maryland and D.C. Council of AFL-CIO. Her campaign is Small Money Certified by Represent Maryland. She believes strongly in putting important issues up to referenda to empower Marylanders to shape the direction of our state. To build the Free State into a Maryland that we can be more proud to call home, we need to elect Eve Hurwitz to represent District 33.

Richard E. Otten is an Anne Arundel County progressive activist who teaches American Studies and Gender & Sexuality Studies at Anne Arundel Community College.