Hello Daily Kos!
Since it's obviously a slow, uneventful time of year politically right now (yes, that's a joke!), now seems like a great time to introduce you all to Jim Ireton, the Democrat who is going to oust Andy Harris (R – Far Right Fringe) from Congress this November.
Most people on this site probably already know who Andy Harris is and why it's essential that he is voted out of office in favor of a proud Democrat who will represent the values of all the residents of Maryland's First District, not special interest groups. If you don't know about Harris, we'll let other Daily Kos bloggers fill you in on the grim details of his right-wing record and agenda:
GOP lawmaker to DC residents: If you don't like taxation without representation, move
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And remember when Harris won his seat by railing against the Affordable Care Act, only to complain why had to wait a month to get his tax-payer funded coverage when he got to Congress?
Yeah, that guy.
Who is Jim Ireton? He is currently serving on the City Council of Salisbury, MD, the largest city in MD-01. He was elected to the position by a landslide in November of last year after serving two terms as the first openly-gay mayor of Salisbury. If you know the general culture of the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, you know just how much that speaks to Jim's ability to bridge divides and appeal to a wide constituency.
As mayor of Salisbury, some of Jim's accomplishments include:
Leading Salisbury's Safe Streets Initiative and the use of data to empower neighbors and law enforcement, which led to a 50% reduction in violent crime in Salisbury and the lowest Part I Crimes in the City in two decades.
Naming the first woman police chief, public works director and Code Enforcement director in the city's history.
Focusing on the clean-up of the Wicomico River with his Wicomico River Project initiative. Creekwatchers 2014 River Health report shows 3 straight years of improved health of the river, with declining nitrogen and phosphorus levels.
Spearheading the revitalizing of downtown, with the most people living, working and shopping in downtown Salisbury in 30 years.
Jim is a leader, and he knows how to get things done.
Beyond his career as a public servant, Jim has served his community as an educator for 23 years and is currently employed as a Reading Intervention Teacher at an elementary school. Check out his bio at his campaign website:
On the issues, Jim is a proud Democrat who is not afraid to stand up for what he believes is right:
Jim fully supports the right for women to control their own reproductive health. Congressman Harris has time and again shown he is an extremist who wants the government to control women's bodies. Jim will fight to keep funding for Planned Parenthood clinics across the country to ensure lower-income women can still have access to prenatal care and counseling. The bottom line is that women should not be forced to go through Harris' office to get the healthcare they need!
Speaking of healthcare, Andy Harris wants to take away the health insurance for millions of Americans who have now been able to obtain it via the Affordable Care Act. Jim Ireton has made the protection of the RIGHT to healthcare a pillar of his campaign. Tens of thousands of Maryland First District residents stand to lose their insurance if Harris and his Republican cohorts get their way. Jim will fight to expand healthcare access for rural areas, too. His goal is nothing less than seeing 100% of Americans have coverage.
Protecting the health of our citizens is complemented by protecting the health of our environment. We can no longer afford to bury our heads in the sand about the enormous damage that we are doing to our natural resources. MD-01 constitutes the bulk of the watershed of the Chesapeake Bay, the world's largest estuary in the contiguous United States and one of the largest in the world. The Eastern Shore of Maryland is also one of the most important farming communities in the country. For too long, the anti-environment demagogues have claimed that protecting the Bay meant hurting our farmers. Jim knows this is simply not true: the only way to protect our farmers—as well as our fishermen and warermen—is to ensure the Chesapeake Bay is a healthy, vibrant ecosystem.
Jim supports increased funding for research and scientific solutions for farmers so they can employ new technologies such as anaerobic digesters to ensure nitrogen and other harmful runoff from farms is used to create energy, not just dumped into our waterways. Jim opposes opening up the coast off of Maryland's gorgeous beaches for offshore oil drilling: we don't need another Deep Water Horizon destroying Assateague's pristine beaches. We can build wind farms offshore that provide energy without harming our coastlines.
The heroin epidemic is taking a huge toll on Eastern Shore residents, and Jim is passionate about tackling the crisis both in Maryland and across the country. Addicts need help and treatment, not the harsh, draconian penalties championed by Harris and others who can't see the failed policies of the War on Drugs. We're not at “war,” we're suffering a public health crisis. Jim is proud that Maryland has decriminalized marijuana possession and supports legalization of recreational use of pot so we can refocus our law enforcement resources on actually protecting their communities from real criminals. Harris? He actually tried to stop Washington DC—a district he doesn't even represent—from legalizing marijuana in 2014. So much for being opposed to “big government!”
Andy Harris and his Republican friends have a long history of trying to use government to discriminate against Americans, in fact. Across the country in many states, Republican legislatures are trying to undermine the hard-won victory for Gay and Lesbian citizens to marry the person they love. Misleadingly called “Religious Freedom” bills, what they really represent is the continued attempt to deprive LGBT Americans of their rights. Jim is extremely proud that Maryland granted marriage equality in 2012, the first state in the country to do so via popular vote before it was legalized nationwide by the Supreme Court. While Harris wants to take us back into the closet, Jim Ireton will fight to move us forward.
Jim has a track record of fighting for what he believes. As mayor of Salisbury, he often had to take on special interests to protect the most disadvantaged of the city's citizens. It didn't make him many friends among those special interests, but they always knew where he stood. Jim believes that Democrats need to be fighters, his biggest influences being public servants like Tom Harkin, Barbara Mikulski and Paul Wellstone. Democrats don't have to agree with each other on every issue, but they must be willing to stand up to Republicans for what they believe.
Check out Jim's announcement speech from Crisfield, Maryland:
x YouTube VideoTranscript:
JIM IRETON ANNOUNCEMENT - PREPARED REMARKS FOR TUESDAY, JAN. 26, 2016
Thanks for spending this beautiful morning with me in Crisfield. I first came to Crisfield in the 1970s with my grandmother to buy seafood, because she knew that’s where the best crab meat came from. I’m proud to call Kim Lawson, PJ Purnell and Garland Hayward friends, fine public servants and advocates for their cities here in Somerset County. I’d like to thank local dignitaries, supporters and friends for coming out today.
I’m here today because the 1st District needs a Congressman who won’t just say no and vote no. In just 6 years in Washington, Andy Harris has done nothing for the people of the 1st District. It’s hard to say what he’s for, but we sure know what he’s against. He’s voted against crucial aid to Crisfield to help families and businesses after Hurricane Sandy, he voted against farmers, and he voted against health care.
All of these issues are not important to Andy Harris – the answer we get from him is no, no, no.
I'm here right now in Crisfield because Andy Harris was not. He turned his back on this city when its people needed him the most. Homes and businesses were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy and Andy Harris voted against hurricane relief for people in his own district. As everyone in Crisfield knows, Andy Harris, voted against federal relief funds to help this city recover. He voted against $9.7 billion in hurricane relief – taxes that you have paid to the federal government, and in your time of need, he refused to approve the aid needed to help Crisfield rebuild. More than three years later, Crisfield is still struggling to get back to what it was. You elected a representative – a voice for your interests in Washington – and he told you “No”.
Even this week, as Governor Hogan has asked the Maryland Emergency Management Agency to request FEMA to begin damage assessments as preparation to ask for aid, we’ve not heard a word out of Andy Harris. Just like four years ago when Crisfield needed his help, he’s nowhere to be found to help the people of his own district.
He’s voted against help for farmers. Two years ago, he voted against the $950 billion farm bill due to “ideological concerns”. Well, those concerns don’t help farmers on the Eastern Shore and Harford and Baltimore Counties. They expected their Congressman to represent their interests. You elected a representative – a voice for your interests in Washington – and he told you “No”.
He’s voted more than four dozen times against affordable health insurance. More than 55-thousand people on the 1st District have health insurance and access to health care that didn’t have before 2014. This isn’t a government handout, it’s people paying for affordable health insurance. But Andy Harris has voted against the Affordable Care Act more than 50 times, and repeatedly said he wants to repeal it completely. He wants to return us to the days of insurance companies legally discriminating against Americans. Just like landlords in the 1950s could tell a black family no, and do so legally, Andy Harris wants to give insurance companies the legal right to say no to people with pre-existing medical conditions. In Andy Harris’ America, people with conditions like diabetes, with physical disabilities, with mental health issues, they could all be legally denied the ability to buy health insurance from insurance companies. That’s a right the ACA guarantees, and Andy Harris wants to repeal it. You elected a representative – a voice for your interests in Washington – and he wants to tell you and your children “No”, time and time again.
We need a Congressman working on problems, not just voting no. We need a Congressman who will find solutions, not pick fights.
We need a Congressman who will go to Washington to make a difference, not just to make a point. And that is why I want to be your next Congressman of Maryland’s 1st District.
From here on, it’s going to get ugly – Andy Harris will make sure of that. He will attack me as a person, and attack the issues you care about. He will issue dire warnings about taxes, even though I have a record of cutting fees as the mayor of Salisbury. He will issue dire warnings about crime, even though Salisbury’s Part I Violent Crimes dropped almost 50% over my 6 years as mayor. He will try and scare farmers, even though the Wicomico River is now healthier than it’s been in decades due to the work of the city while I was in office. And I can only imagine what he will make up to say about me personally.
He will try and pit group against group, making this an...Us Against Them... fight.
The people of the 1st District know better and deserve better...and we start doing better today. We’re all in this together. And the people of the 1st District have told me, time and time again over the past 6 weeks, they want a Congressman who will DO HIS JOB. And I will be a Congressman who does the work for you, the people of the 1st District.
So now the journey begins, from Taneytown to Tilghman Island, from Marydel to Delmar, Federalsburg to Fallston, Willards to Wye Mills, Oil City to Oriole, Bel Air to Berlin, Salisbury to Stevensville. I will listen to the people of the 1st District – something Andy Harris has never done – and be your representative in Washington. Because you deserve someone willing to make a difference, not just make a point. Send me to Congress and I will do just that as your next Congressman. Thank you and I’ll see you soon!
We need Jim Ireton in Congress. No matter which of our Democratic candidates secures the nomination and goes on to win the White House, they will need more and better Democrats in the House and Senate to help enact a progressive agenda for America. Booting Andy Harris from his seat in MD-01 is a step in this direction, and we can do it.
Of course, it is a daunting challenge. The latest Cook composite says MD-01 is R+14. Andy Harris has a considerable financial advantage thanks to donations from the special interests he represents. While well-known on the lower Eastern Shore, Jim Ireton is still introducing himself to the rest of the First District. So far the response he's received—even from many registered Republicans—has been fantastic. He's even got some good national media exposure recently:
But he needs help. While Jim has gotten a ton of support from Maryland Democratic leaders for his campaign—they all agree he is the best candidate yet to take on Harris—the national party needs to see that Jim can bring in enough funds to be taken as a serious threat.
We also need volunteers throughout MD-01. If you live in the First District or close to it, we would love to hear from you and discuss opportunities to work with the campaign. You can contact us through the campaign site. Right now this campaign is mostly being run by a group of dedicated volunteers, friends of Jim who believe in him and know he's the right person to beat Harris in November.
Lastly, please spread the word! Share this blog and the Huffington Post story above on social media, let anyone you know who lives in Maryland—or who would just like to see Andy Harris sent packing from DC!
We hope you will join us!