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January 21st 2022 Political Note #440
2022 Heather Mazeur MD 01
Most Members of Congress are college graduates. Heather Mizeur https://heathermizeur.com is one of the few who are not. She lived in Blue Mound, a small town 40 minutes east of Springfield and less than 20 minutes south of Decatur. Her dad was well integrated into the community. He was a welder, a member of the UAW and a factory worker. He was one of twelve kids, most of whom stayed local, some of whom had several children of their own. This was an enormous family,
None of that prevented her from going to college. Heather Mizeur was valedictorian at Blue Mound High School and went off to the University of Illinois. She was a successful student, on her way to getting a Truman scholarship. And then she left. It’s not clear why. She surfaced in Washington DC working as a part-time Congressional aide. Like a story in a book, she proved her mettle. A hospital closed in the Congresswoman’s district. Heather Mizeur went to work developing a plan to save the jobs of the 900 employees who would have been out of work. Congresswoman Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky hired her full-time to implement the plan. Having cast the deciding vote to support Bill Clinton’s budget, the Congresswoman was voted out of office in 1994. Heather Mizeur remained.
By 1995, Heather Mizeur was Joe Kennedy II’s legislative director. When he retired in 1998 after a very troubled year, she became state affairs director for the National Association of Community Health Centers. She left that job in 2003, now an expert in health issues, to become director of domestic policy for John Kerry’s Presidential campaign. In 2005, she married her wife in an informal ceremony. By 2008, she was able to marry her formally.
Heather Mizeur learned something about electoral politics from the Members of Congress she worked for. In 2003 she was elected to the Takoma Park City Council and in 2006 to the Maryland House of Delegates. Campaigning for Delegate, she underlined her commitment to American car companies and to conservation, driving around the District in her Chevrolet; a Chevy Volt.
Elected, she supported substantial increases in education funding and protected teacher pensions by keeping them under the State’s purview. Her efforts to end fracking led to an Executive Order with the same goal. A superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2008, she was uncommitted. She refused overtures to commit early to either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton and attracted a lot of attention. She had become an expert in education in conservation and in politics.
In the House of Delegates, Heather Mizeur extended her expertise in health policy to include families and to focus on women. She ensured that foster children were covered by health insurance, expanded health insurances in Maryland to cover up to 100,000 uninsured children, and she led an effort to expand family planning services. She extended her expertise in politics by leveraging her position as an undeclared delegate in the 2008 Presidential Campaign. By 2011, she was a national figure advocating for the legalization of same sex marriage.
By 2014, Heather Mizeur felt ready for bigger things. She may have been ready, but the electorate was not. She came in third in the primary for Governor. Congressman Anthony Brown got 51% of the vote. He lost to Republican Larry Hogan by 5 points and is now running for Attorney General of Maryland. Doug Gansler, who was the Maryland Attorney General, came in second with 24% of the vote. He is running for Governor again in the 2022 campaign.
Heather Mizeur came in third with 22% of the vote. Many thought she would run for the US Senate in 2016. Instead she endorsed then Congressman Chris Van Hollen, emphasizing how effective he was at constituent service. Her temporary retreat from politics resembles, in a way, her retreat from the University of Illinois. She would rethink the meaning of politics for her and for others who might share her views.
She founded a non-profit called Soul Force Politics. She and other leaders in the organization train those interested in politics to “bridge the divide in civic and political life.” While so many people entered politics after the election of Donald Trump as President, Heather Mizeur stepped back. She would help others and herself renew themselves to undertake a politics disassociated from hate.
Heather Mizeur wrote that she knew the good stuff about herself – that she has a good heart, is eager is serve and help others, has a strong intellect and a midwestern work ethic, courage, a commitment to justice and equality, a capacity to cultivate the empowerment of others, a willingness to take risks. She knew she could give “damn good” motivational speeches, was gregarious, fun-loving and funny, and a leader. Harder, she said, is to “dig into our unflattering bits” and added “when we shine light in these dark places, we allow space for transformation.”
=Heather Mizeur is ready to send her transformed students back out in the world and, it turns out, was prepared to enter the world “transfomed” herself. To people who would help her in her campaign, she says: “I ask one thing of all the people who join me in this journey – that you bring your best self to this race. We are not running against someone. We are running for our dedication to a better tomorrow.”
I’m not asking you to be transformed and I can’t say that I am transformed myself. I am asking you to help Heather Mizeur https://heathermizeur.com be elected to represent the MD 01 Congressional District. I am asking you to help replace Andy Harris. Heather Mizeur was moved to run for MD 01, in part, by Harris’s behavior on January 6. He opposed counting Electoral College votes and, though he denies it, apparently got into a fight with another Member of Congress. A week later, Harris attempted to bring a gun into the Capitol. Long ago, he promised to serve no more than six terms in Congress. He is running for his seventh term. The only way to get him to keep that promise is to defeat him. Donate to Heather Mizeur’s campaign https://heathermizeur.com .
Some Democratic challengers who can flip a Republican seat in 2022
Two challengers in competitive districts with a slight Democratic lean
Jay Chen https://chenforcongress.com , a community activist and college trustee, is running for CA 45D+5 in Orange County against one term Incumbent Michelle Park Steel, who has opposed abortion, opposed Covid relief, and opposed expanding civil rights legislation.
Gabe Vasquez https://gabeforcongress.com , a city councilman and conservationist is running for NM 02 D+4 in the South and Southwest of the state including Las Cruces is running against one term Incumbent Yvette Harrell, a Realtor and an enrolled Cherokee with a goal of reducing regulations.
Three challengers in competitive districts with a slight Republican lean
Greg Landsman https://landsmanforcongress.com , a Cincinnati City Councilman and leader of public/private partnerships is running for OH 01 R+ 3 which includes Cincinnati against long-time Incumbent Steve Chabot who opposes abortion, the Affordable Care Act, and is uncertain about the existence of climate change and who won the 2020 Presidential election.
Tony Vargas https://www.vargasfornebraska.com , a state legislator known for working with Republicans is running NE 02 R+3 which includes Omaha against Incumbent Don Bacon who expressed reservations about Donald Trump as a candidate but voted against his impeachment.
Christina Bohannan https://bohannanforcongress.com , a law professor and a state representative known for tough questioning is running for IA 01 R+4 which includes the south eastern part of the state including Davenport against one term incumbent Marianette Miller-Meeks, an ophthalmologist who was elected by 6 votes. She voted against Covid relief but in favor of investigating the January 6 insurrection.
Three challengers in competitive districts with a stronger Republican Lean
Liz Mathis https://lizmathis.com , a state Senator and former television anchor, is running for IA 02 R+6 which includes the northeastern part of the state and includes Cedar Rapids against one term incumbent Ashley Hinson who won by less than 1,000 votes and voted against Covid relief.
Heather Mizeur https://heathermizeur.com , a former member of the state House of Delegates and former Director of the National Assoc of Community Health Centers, is running for MD 01 R+8 which includes the state’s Eastern Shore against long time incumbent Andy Harris who opposed the Affordable Care Act, expressed belief that Trump had won the 2020 Presidential election, and minimized the dangers of the January 6, 2021 insurrection while expressing appreciation for the participants’ frustration.
Kermit Jones https://www.kermitjonesforcongress.com , a veteran, physician and attorney, is running for CA 03 R+8 which runs along the Nevada border east of Sacramento and of Fresno against state rep Kevin Kiley (the CA 04 incumbent is fleeing to another district) who opposes mask mandates to prevent the spread of Covid and is unwilling to comment on who won the 2020 Presidential election.
Two challengers I’ve written about who have tougher Republican leans
John Lira https://liraforcongress.com , a veteran, Mexican American, and small business expert with Washington experience is running for TX 23 R+13 which includes a long stretch of the southwest Texas border including El Paso. He is running against one term incumbent Tony Gonzalez who voted against Covid relief, but for the January 6 investigation.
Charles Evans https://www.charlesevansforcongress2022.com , County Commissioner, non-profit founder, and former prisoner is running for NC 08 R+20 which is east of Charlotte in the south central part of the state. He is running against one and a half term incumbent Dan Bishop who opposed certification of Joe Biden as President and opposed the Defense Authorization Act.