ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Maisie Howard recently announced her candidacy as a write-in for the upcoming Board of Education Election of Anne Arundel County for District 7 at the Annapolis Juneteenth Festival.
Howard was inspired to run as she became more knowledgeable about the Board of Education over the past three years as a representative to the Citizen Advisory Council for the Southern cluster, she said. She has lived in District 7 for almost 20 years.
“I felt ready to take the next step and give a deeper level of service to my community,” Howard said.
Howard’s vision for Anne Arundel consist of three goals: collaboration and partnership surrounding the relationship between the school board and the community, students’ graduation rate reaching 100%, and steps toward understanding what inclusivity and diversity really means.
“One of the outcomes I would like us to see is a more diverse administration and elected officials,” Howard said.
However as a write-in candidate, Howard has had to work hard for visibility and awareness about her campaign.
“Not only am I campaigning for people to understand my vision, my platform, who I am. I also have to tell them you’re not going to see me on the ballot,” Howard said. “It’s very challenging because many citizens don’t understand some of the election processes that I even have to learn in order to navigate this role.”
Howard has had to provide more education around the electoral process and describes this as adding an entirely new dimension to her campaign, she said.
As a parent of graduated students and students that are now in elementary and high school, Howard wants other parents to know she is one of them and can relate to the struggle of being heard.
“I’m fortunate enough to have deep experience in legislation and policy making and to have a good education. So I have tools I can bring, but the passion is as a parent,” Howard said.
Howard believes her perspective as a parent gives her credibility to other parents and her extensive background in legislation, law and policy are an advantage to her campaign, she said. She worked in both chambers of the House of Representatives and Senate from 2004 to 2005.
Howard has been promoting her candidacy through merchandise such as t-shirts and bookmarks, but also through her campaign website, and various social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Every media or every outlet or medium that I can use to describe my message, I’ve been using,” Howard said.
She has also been utilizing face-to-face campaigning, going door-to-door and speaking with citizens directly about her candidacy, she said.
“I’m bringing every educational asset and every tool I have to the table,” Howard said. “I hope that the voters can see that and they can see that I’m doing it in a way that I want to be a steward and continue to be a representative of not only our cluster, but our district.”
To vote for Howard, citizens must go on their ballot for District 7 Board of Education where it’ll list three candidates. There is an additional candidate write in space with a blank line voters must click on to write in Maisie Howard or Howard, then click record and submit to submit the entire ballot.
Although voters should type in the full name, as long as the candidate’s last name is recorded, the vote is valid according to the Board of Education’s rules.
Howard is thankful to her Campaign Manager, Damon A. Dozier and Campaign Coordinator Dionne Nash-Smith, who have been there from the start when she first contacted the Board of Elections in February, she said.
Howard would like everyone to unite for youth and support her candidacy for District 7, and she will be a credible, accessible and transparent representative as she has always been, she said.
To read more about Howard’s vision for AACPS, visit her website.
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