|
Lucinda Lessley
"…my heart is in state issues"
BY Sara Wald
Lucinda Lessley is shocked when people recognize her at the grocery store.
"I still run into people in town in the grocery store that say they voted for me and got my cards." Said Lessley. "I don't know how long that lasts. I don't know how long people remember."
Lessley, a democrat from Silver Spring ran for District 20 Maryland state delegate and lost in the September primary. Unlike many losing candidates who fade into shadows, Lessley ran a memorable campaign.
Lessley could boast years of political experience, including work in the general assembly and work in Congress, which gave her an edge against her opponents.
Her campaign promise that she wouldn't use the position as a springboard to higher offices was also hard to beat.
Yet she came out of the race defeated. For Lessley, her biggest obstacle became financing her campaign.
Photo: Julie Wiatt |  |
| Lucinda Lessley at the District 20 Candidates forum in June. The forum was sponsored by the Voice Newspapers. |
"I found it eye opening and very disturbing just the sheer amount of money you need to run," said Lessley. "Asking people for money doesn't come naturally to me."
Lessley is concerned that state races are becoming too professionalized.
"I really support public financing if we want to preserve citizen legislature otherwise it will become so professionalized that money will matter more than ideas."
As for the way she ran her campaign, Lessley wouldn't do anything differently.
"I wish I had won," said Lessley, "But I don't think I sit around regretting things."
Lessley ran a grass roots campaign, spending nights and weekends meeting citizens, and writing out cards with her information to send to voters.
"I spent a typical day meeting as many people as I could," said Lessley. "If the sun was up anywhere on the horizon I was probably knocking on doors and writing cards."
With the campaign now over, Lessley jokes that now she has so much free time. Hardly.
Lessley will continue to work for U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings while staying involved in the community.
"The issues haven't changed. The purple line, condo development in Silver Spring…" said Lessley. "And this is an exciting time for democrats in Congress after so long in the wilderness."
As for running again, Lessley hasn't ruled out the possibility.
"I don't know what the circumstances will be in four years," said Lessley. "I met a lot of people who have encouraged me to run again. It's the truth when I say my heart is in state issues."
No comments have been posted to this article.
Want to post a comment to this article? Click here.
|
