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Dear Anne Arundel County Democratic Central Committee and District 30 Residents,
Delegate Dana Jones has my full and unconditional endorsement in her bid for the vacant District 30 Senate seat.
I first met in-person with Delegate Jones the summer of 2021 in the middle of the pandemic. We had chatted via phone prior to that; however, the first time we broke bread together was July 2021. Her love of public service was evident almost immediately. She spoke to me about her background and what drew her to the Maryland General Assembly. From helping others get elected to answering the call to serve herself and improve people's lives.
Fast forward to October 30, 2024, I watched Delegate Jones reaction move quickly from shock to tears when she recently received an award from Annapolis Pride for consistently showing up for the LGTBQIA+ community in a variety of ways, including in her seminal legislation, the Freedom to Read Act, Delegate Jones spoke passionately about the people she serves and just doing the right thing without any expectation of receiving anything in return. She hadn’t changed from the person I saw years earlier. If anything, her passion for serving others had increased.
The Freedom to Read Act will positively impact the lives of Maryland public school students and anyone who accesses a public library. Throughout the passage of the Freedom to Read Act, Delegate Jones soundly rejected the dog whistles of extremists, even homophobic remarks made by some of her colleagues in the Maryland General Assembly, hell bent on further othering Black, brown, and LGTBQIA+ Marylanders and hiding the history of this State and Country. The Freedom to Read Act garnered the support of Speak Adrienne Jones who prioritized the passage of the bill, further illustrating its importance. Meaningful to me, both personally as a cultural and religious minority who is also part of the LGTBQIA+ community as well as a Board of Education of Anne Arundel County member, the Freedom to Read Act goes a long way from preventing the scourge of censorship from taking hold in Anne Arundel County Public Schools. In a time when marginalized communities are targeted and scapegoated in a variety of ways both in Maryland and across the country, I am comforted by the fact that book banning will not occur in Maryland including the removal of materials from school and public libraries for ideological reasons.
Outside of the Maryland State House, Delegate Jones leads, volunteers, or donates to dozens of community events including annual book, diaper, and clothing drives as well as her annual clean up event at the World War II Memorial. As a prolific volunteer myself, I appreciate that she consistently shows up for the community outside of the 90-day session and beyond fancy events. For her, service isn’t just about votes, although one’s voting record both in terms of all votes cast and missed is absolutely a mirror into an elected official’s character and values, but is also very much about loving, supporting, and affirming the rights of fellow Marylanders.
With the national political landscape being what it is, we need elected officials willing to throw down to protect the rights of constituents – all constituents – and will tune out the noise to get the work done. Delegate Jones is the complete package of toughness and compassion with one hell of a work ethic.
I look forward to calling you Senator Jones.
Best,
Dana SchallheimBoard of Education of Anne Arundel County, District 5
*The opinions/views expressed above are my own and must NOT be construed as the view of the Board of Education of Anne Arundel County.
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