{"id":3318,"date":"2014-05-12T08:30:03","date_gmt":"2014-05-12T12:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=3318"},"modified":"2014-05-12T00:32:23","modified_gmt":"2014-05-12T04:32:23","slug":"the-top-thirteen-young-guns-of-maryland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=3318","title":{"rendered":"The Top Thirteen Young Guns of Maryland"},"content":{"rendered":"

1.\u00a0<\/i>Sarah Elfreth\u00a0<\/span>is\u00a0Government Affairs Director for the National Aquarium. The smartest, wittiest lobbyist walking the halls of the Lowe House Office Building, she is also one\u00a0of the youngest young guns on these lists. Whether she remains behind the scenes or runs for office in the future\u2013a distinct possibility\u2013one thing is for sure: you\u2019ll be sure to hear the name Sarah Elfreth for decades to come.<\/p>\n

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Anonymous<\/span><\/strong>: \u201cSarah Elfreth, a resident of Annapolis MD, is a true leader and an extraordinary example of a young woman who is both influential and impactful before State and local government.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

2. Amit Mistry<\/strong> is a rising star not just in Montgomery County, not just in Annapolis but also in the big leagues: DC. Currently the National Data & Targeting Director at the League of Conservation Voters, he was previously an Account Executive at Catalist. Before that, he was Chief of Staff to House Majority Leader Kumar Barve and worked for Martin O’Malley–both in the Governor’s Office and on his reelection Campaign. He also worked for Del. Sam Arora in his Annapolis office and on his 2010 primary campaign. A native of Damascus, he is well positioned to win a seat in District 14 if he ever felt so inclined.\u00a0The kicker: he’s only 26.<\/div>\n
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3.\u00a0<\/em>Jonathan Sachs\u00a0<\/span>is the rare wunderkind made good. \u00a0Currently Director of Public Policy for Adventist Healthcare, I could see Jonathan as a successor to GiGi Godwin as CEO of the MoCo Chamber. A number of different people wrote in to nominate Jonathan for this list. Here is what one said:<\/p>\n

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Anonymous<\/strong>: \u201cProbably the most notable thing about Jonathan\u2014and it speaks to his character and intelligence\u2014is that in a county where \u201cprogressives\u201d rule, Jonathan is a centrist, pro-business Democrat. He thinks for himself and doesn\u2019t fall in line with the local political dogma, so his input is all the more valuable because those who share his point of view can get drowned out in our local political conversations. But when Jonathan says something, people\u2014included elected officials\u2014pay attention.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

4. Zach Fang\u00a0<\/span>– In my opinion, Zach is now the top field director in the State of Maryland. With a DCCC Pedigree, Zach has returned to the Free State more dangerous than ever. Doug Gansler lucked out hiring this guy.<\/p>\n

5. Melissa Joseph<\/span> is whip smart and perhaps has the best people skills of Maryland\u2019s political class. With an extensive experience in the offices of Ron Young, Rob Garagiola and Chris Van Hollen, Melissa is a triple threat: she\u2019s effective at the federal, state and campaign levels.<\/p>\n

6. Ed Burroughs<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 Not only is Ed the youngest member of Prince George\u2019s School Board, he\u2019s established himself as a national thought leader on education reform. Although he passed on what would have been an easy open seat race for Delegate in D26, a promotion is surely in his near future. He\u2019ll certainly be the favorite to succeed Obie Patterson on the County Council . . . if he wants it. Close with the Iveys, he could also end up as a bigwig in a potential Gansler administration.<\/p>\n

7. <\/span>Joseph Kitchen –<\/b> Joseph is a highly influential openly gay African-American Minister. He is also a respected voice on education reform and were it not for a recurrence of cancer would have likely been elected to the Prince George’s School Board in 2012. He is also the President of the Young Democrats of Maryland, who have experienced a lot of growth in the DC Suburbs under his tenure.<\/p>\n

8. \u00a0<\/span>Anne Klase <\/span>is part of Comptroller Peter Franchot\u2019s small, close knit circle (along with Andrew Friedson and Len Foxwell)<\/p>\n

Anonymous:\u00a0<\/strong>Anne is District 30’s go-to. Hardworking, balanced, and liked by everyone.<\/p>\n

Anonymous –\u00a0<\/span>works for the Comptroller (floats between the campaign and the office) but don’t hold that against her. She’ll be elected to the AAC Central Committee in June. In a county with few strong Dems (and the strong ones can sometimes be divisive), Anne is universally liked and respected. She is young (23\/4) and has a long career ahead in AA politics – if only as the person behind the scenes<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

9.\u00a0Kelly Blynn <\/span>is a Rockstar organizer. No one does it better in Montgomery County. I dread the day I find myself on the opposite side of an issue from Kelly because that can be a very scary place to be. One nominator described her as:<\/p>\n

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\u201cCoalition for Smarter Growth, transit advocate \u2013 a sophisticated and energetic organizer who played a central role in the BRT campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

10. Tommy Underwood\u00a0<\/span> is a genuinely nice, decent guy and done a great job so far managing O\u2019Malley Speechwriter Nick Stewart\u2019s state house run and has a very bright future. This guy could be the Executive Director of the Democratic Caucus in 2018.<\/p>\n

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Anonymous<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/span>He\u2019s not only a plugged-in guy with a very easy-going personality, but he\u2019s also one of the hardest workers I\u2019ve come across and sharp politically.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

11.\u00a0Andrew Friedson.\u00a0<\/span>Excepting\u00a0his longtime handler Len Foxwell, no one is closer to Peter Franchot than Andrew Friedson. He currently serves as Communications Director in the Comptroller\u2019s Office, where he was previously Deputy Chief of Staff. He managed Franchot\u2019s reelection campaign in 2010.<\/p>\n

Anonymous<\/strong>: \u201canother no-brainer nominee.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0
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12. Cory McCray<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 As far as I\u2019m concerned, there is not a single person in Baltimore (or Maryland) who doesn\u2019t think Cory McCray will win a seat in the legislature on June 24th. One incumbent actually dropped out to avoid facing him in the primary\u2013and I don\u2019t think anyone blames her. Cory has been a recognized leader in the IBEW for years. He\u2019s also infectiously charming. Future Mayor?<\/p>\n

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Anonymous<\/strong>:\u00a0Cory is a graduate of a five-year apprenticeship program with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 24. For the past\u00a0four\u00a0years before becoming a candidate in Baltimore\u2019s\u00a0 District 45 you could not say union\u00a0organizing in Baltimore without mentioning Cory\u2019s name. Corey also is the co creator of the B.E.S.T. Democratic Club.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

13. Jonathan Jayes-Greene<\/span> is very bright and connects well with many people. He combines a tremendous personal story with boundless political savvy to promote the issues important to him, which frequently involve immigration. Currently working in the governor\u2019s office, maybe he\u2019ll return there as First Panamanian-American governor?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1.\u00a0Sarah Elfreth\u00a0is\u00a0Government Affairs Director for the National Aquarium. The smartest, wittiest lobbyist walking the halls of the Lowe House Office Building, she is also one\u00a0of the youngest young guns on these lists. Whether she remains behind the scenes or runs for office in the future\u2013a distinct possibility\u2013one thing is for sure: you\u2019ll be sure to … Continue reading The Top Thirteen Young Guns of Maryland<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[908,806,885,868,831,797,799,910,800,863,803,911,909],"class_list":["post-3318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-young-guns","tag-amit-mistry","tag-andrew-friedson","tag-anne-klase","tag-cory-mccray","tag-ed-burroughs","tag-jonathan-jayes-greene","tag-jonathan-sachs","tag-joseph-kitchen","tag-kelly-blynn","tag-melissa-joseph","tag-sarah-elfreth","tag-tommy-underwood","tag-zach-fang"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4mKJE-Rw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3318"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3398,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3318\/revisions\/3398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}