Dear John King: The Eastern Shore of Maryland is often used, forgotten, or completely ignored by politicians from both parties. I was born and raised here; it is nothing new.

It honestly wouldn’t surprise me if most Maryland politicians do not know the Eastern Shore is a part of Maryland, let alone be able to name the counties. The Lower Eastern Shore is home to many of the poorest counties in the state and faces a lack of economic growth, opportunity, and political engagement. Yet, it is common for gubernatorial candidates to ignore the Shore and our issues because it is not considered one of the four counties to make or break an election, even though cycle after cycle this is proven false.  

I am happily surprised that, for one of the first times in my life, a candidate is running for governor who cares about the Eastern Shore and has plans and policies that will help us grow and develop. This candidate is you, John King, the former United States Secretary of Education.

Pay attention, Lower Shore. John King seeks to solve the economic, social, racial, and environmental injustices we face on the Eastern Shore and across the entire state of Maryland. John King supports creating a commission on Universal Healthcare that will study how we can make Maryland the first state to provide quality healthcare to all our residents and lead the nation in fixing our broken and immoral healthcare system. He also supports speeding up Maryland’s path to a minimum wage, a living wage, and indexing the minimum wage to inflation. He will support unions by working to ensure every Marylander has the right to collectively bargain in their workplace. Finally, he is committed to fighting the current climate crisis and ensuring that future high-paying green energy jobs come to the Eastern Shore. 

 As our next Governor, John King has the vision and experience needed to bridge the divides in our communities and make us stronger by working together to solve the issues we face on the Eastern Shore and throughout the state. Well, Mr. King, I hope you are reading this because the Lower Eastern Shore is with you, and we will win both the primary and general elections. 

The writer, Jared Schablein, is chair of the Lower Shore Progressive Caucus.