(Reposting this, from back in 2014 on Maryland’s primary day)

Voting, even in a state-wide primary, still makes me a little teary. It continues to feel like a privilege hard fought for and I remain amazed (and a little disgusted) by those who forego the exercise altogether. It may be your right, but you’ll never convince me you are a patriot.

Thoughts this morning on the state and local election. Listen, having worked at the national headquarters for the Gore presidential campaign, on a campaign committee for Mayor in Knoxville and as a campaign manager for a County Council race, I know how politics work to some degree. There, I understood, and expected as a Democrat in Tennessee (at that time), politics at its most base would be alive and well, against my candidate, against my party and it often got personal.

What I didn’t expect was that here in Maryland, amongst an embarrassment of liberal riches, where progressive politics isn’t just a theory, I would run into nasty, ego-driven, and most shamefully, self-serving candidates who believe their place in our political world is a right rather than a privilege. I have friends and respected colleagues who are running for county council, state delegate, and even governor and I’m glad I don’t live in many of their county districts where I would have to choose between some of my favorite people. But, for those where I could cast a vote, I based my decision on whose views were most in line with mine (and let’s be honest, most are here in Montgomery County, at the end of the day), and then I went with those whom I found personally to be the most respectful and most kind…to their constituency, to their staff, and to their colleagues. I had enough in-the ditch politics back in the day in Tennessee (and just an aside, what I wouldn’t give to be a Knoxvillian today, with a newly elected mayor, both a Democrat and a female, who’d of thought!)

Since I was an early supporter of Heather Mizeur, I’m happy to disclose that I certainly ticked the box for this most gracious, incredibly intelligent, and more importantly (to me) respectful and respected woman. I wish her luck today and hope she has had enough time to make her case. We will all be better for it. If I were voting in the republican primary (when pigs fly, of course), I would tick the box for Charles Lollar or Ron George. I’ve worked briefly with both and they could not be more lovely, respectful, or conscientious.

I’m only ten years old in this blue state and it still feels weird and lovely – where I have real choices amongst a host of qualified candidates who, for the most part, value the things I do. Where I make the distinction, then, is how they treat others around them.

Happy voting day, Maryland!