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US Polls: My vote, run for Congress
When sworn in this December, I will bring the same resolve I have demonstrated through 18 years of volunteer leadership to promoting literacy among children in rural Uganda, writes Anita Mpambara Cox
Anita Mpambara Cox. (File)
By: Admin ., Journalist @New Vision
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OPINION
By Anita Mpambara Cox
Voting in this week’s American elections felt especially significant as the US celebrates 250 years of independence. Where America stands today is like Uganda voting in the year 2212. Twenty-two-twelve—almost a tongue twister, so difficult is it to imagine. Anyone reading this today will be an ancestor by then, having left a footprint that might not even be traceable. Few are consigned to history books.
By Monday, more than 57 million Americans had voted early, according to the University of Florida Election Lab. At my polling place in Maryland, queues stretched to two hours on some evenings. An election judge called it “unheard of”. Talking with voters outside the polls, sometimes after a little prodding, I heard a sentiment I shared: celebrating America at 250 in a divided nation gave voting elevated meaning. We were safeguarding what we inherited for future generations.
Seeing Freedom 250 banners and bunting everywhere, I had decided voting was not going to be enough. With my family’s blessing and encouragement from local party officials, I decided to run for office. On Maryland’s June 23 primary ballot, I appeared twice: on page one among four candidates seeking the Republican nomination for Congress in Maryland’s 8th District, and on page two for the Republican Central Committee of Montgomery County, adjacent to Washington, DC and the 25th wealthiest county in the US.
Entering the congressional race in February, four months before the primary, against a competitor making her third run was not the intimidating part. Being one of four was. It had not happened in decades, officials told me. Something was going on! Had I won, I would have faced Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin. I finished second for Congress but won the page-two race — the central committee seat.
I received early backing from Congressman Ryan Zinke of Montana, former US secretary of the interior in President Trump’s first administration and a former Navy SEAL Team Six commander. Endorsements from sitting members of Congress in primaries are rare, but he put his entire SEAL political action committee (PAC) behind my campaign, an exception since I had never served in the military. His statement read: “We need freedom fighters in Congress and Anita Cox is that warrior. She has our complete and total endorsement.” Congressman Robert Aderholt of Alabama also backed my campaign through his PAC and offered valuable advice.
On the eve of July 4, I went to thank supporters, including Zinke. Standing at the Capitol, across the street from his office and where mine might have been, we turned towards the flag above the dome. This July 4 was like no other. He encouraged me to keep going, describing the need in American politics to build a solid runway for takeoff. I had built a long one, Zinke said, and my message was strong. “We will need you to run again.”
Entering the congressional race in February, four months before the primary, against a competitor making her third run was not the intimidating part. Being one of four was. It had not happened in decades, officials told me. Something was going on! Had I won, I would have faced Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin. I finished second for Congress but won the page-two race — the central committee seat.
I received early backing from Congressman Ryan Zinke of Montana, former US secretary of the interior in President Trump’s first administration and a former Navy SEAL Team Six commander. Endorsements from sitting members of Congress in primaries are rare, but he put his entire SEAL political action committee (PAC) behind my campaign, an exception since I had never served in the military. His statement read: “We need freedom fighters in Congress and Anita Cox is that warrior. She has our complete and total endorsement.” Congressman Robert Aderholt of Alabama also backed my campaign through his PAC and offered valuable advice.
On the eve of July 4, I went to thank supporters, including Zinke. Standing at the Capitol, across the street from his office and where mine might have been, we turned towards the flag above the dome. This July 4 was like no other. He encouraged me to keep going, describing the need in American politics to build a solid runway for takeoff. I had built a long one, Zinke said, and my message was strong. “We will need you to run again.”
My campaign colour was magenta — “a whole lot of red and a drop of good blue” — expressing my concern about division and belief in common ground. Running for office is like being a mannequin dressed in the party’s clothing. That is how voters see you. Winning a central committee seat takes me inside the mannequin.
Each election produces a different one, shaped by quiet grassroots work between elections: listening, organising and explaining our values. When every ballot is counted, this week’s elections could leave President Trump a lame duck, or perhaps an amputated one. He was elected with a mandate, but that does not settle every question about how it is carried out. The grassroots will be discussing what voters have said and calculating what comes next, focusing on policies we seek to influence.
When sworn-in this December, I will apply to this unpaid, part-time role the same resolve I have had during 18 years of volunteer leadership of the Mpambara Cox Foundation, run from my home in Maryland to support literacy for 1,000 Universal Primary Education children in rural Uganda. Children who learn to read become informed citizens who can understand a ballot, a budget and a law to meaningfully participate in national conversations through voting.
Consider that in 1840, when America was just 64 years old — as Uganda is today — voters denied president Martin Van Buren a second term and elected William Henry Harrison. Few today would pass a multiple-choice history test asking them to name either president. Yet, both men played their part in handing us, without knowing us, what we have today: a free, prosperous and extremely powerful country. Voting, standing for office and preparing to serve are my ways of preserving that inheritance for my children and their children’s children.
Yet, I also think of the children in Uganda, in this increasingly interconnected world where the choices American voters make today help shape the future they, too, will inherit.
The writer is a committee woman-elect, Montgomery County Republican Central Committee, a former US State Department official and founder of the Mpambara Cox Foundation
Each election produces a different one, shaped by quiet grassroots work between elections: listening, organising and explaining our values. When every ballot is counted, this week’s elections could leave President Trump a lame duck, or perhaps an amputated one. He was elected with a mandate, but that does not settle every question about how it is carried out. The grassroots will be discussing what voters have said and calculating what comes next, focusing on policies we seek to influence.
When sworn-in this December, I will apply to this unpaid, part-time role the same resolve I have had during 18 years of volunteer leadership of the Mpambara Cox Foundation, run from my home in Maryland to support literacy for 1,000 Universal Primary Education children in rural Uganda. Children who learn to read become informed citizens who can understand a ballot, a budget and a law to meaningfully participate in national conversations through voting.
Consider that in 1840, when America was just 64 years old — as Uganda is today — voters denied president Martin Van Buren a second term and elected William Henry Harrison. Few today would pass a multiple-choice history test asking them to name either president. Yet, both men played their part in handing us, without knowing us, what we have today: a free, prosperous and extremely powerful country. Voting, standing for office and preparing to serve are my ways of preserving that inheritance for my children and their children’s children.
Yet, I also think of the children in Uganda, in this increasingly interconnected world where the choices American voters make today help shape the future they, too, will inherit.
The writer is a committee woman-elect, Montgomery County Republican Central Committee, a former US State Department official and founder of the Mpambara Cox Foundation