Maryland governor elections are due in November 2022, and with the incumbent Larry Hogan term-limited, the seat is equally open for all candidates.
Ashwani Jain, an official of the Obama administration, has also entered the race, hoping to be the first millennial governor of the state.
A cancer survivor willing to help Maryland, Jain’s involvement in the race will increase the stakes for voters, as not many candidates offer the policies he envisions.
Listening to Voters in Policy-Making Process: Ashwani Jain’s Vision
One of the persisting problems in most political environments is that voters are being disenfranchised once politicians get votes from them.
Thus, voters have no say in the decision-making process, which defies the true meaning of democracy.
However, Ashwani Jain’s campaign promises to implement a policy with average voter input, which stands him out of the box.
His whole campaign is crowdsourced and is being run by volunteers who manage the day-to-day operations of his campaign.
Thus, these activities help him in getting in touch at the grassroots level, which is promising enough that he will incorporate to general voters after coming to power.
He has often met with voters one-on-one, getting their viewpoint on various strategies ranging from day-to-day policy measures to long-term strategies.
Tackling Climate Change: Jain up to Solve Looming Threat over Maryland
Climate change is one of the persistent problems in Maryland, affecting average households’ lives.
Reportedly this climate change is bound to damage various ecosystems by the upcoming inland and coastal flooding.
Jain knows these things well; that’s why he noted that relying on the input of the Eastern shore communities is an opportunity to solve the climate issues, led by people who directly face the brunt of the changing climate.
Ashwani Jain is a firm advocate of healing the deteriorating climate by embracing the following roadmap.
- Introducing practical reforms in the Public Service sector, which will ultimately improve the environmental justice infrastructure of the government. He believes that people of various backgrounds should be added to the climate bureaucracy to help solve the persisting crisis.
- Increasing poultry farm inspections
- Promoting a stormwater filtration system.
- Discouraging coal-based power plants.
- Mandating solar panels on rooftops of schools and government buildings
- Promoting hydropower officially
Protecting People of Color in the Racist State of Maryland: No one can do it Better than Maryland
Racism is an everlasting threat to Maryland, as the state has a history of systematically protecting racist elements. During the time period of 1865 to 1950, almost 6500 Black Americans were lynched, and many of such incidents happened in Maryland as well.
But it is not about the past only. Maryland leads all other states in incarcerating Black Americans aged between 18 to 24.
The nationwide average of Black incarcerated Americans is 32 percent, while it is more than double this amount in the state of Maryland, currently standing at 70 percent.
Ashwani Jain, who himself is an American of color, has often vouched to protect the rights of these people, and his policies are promising enough to protect the rights of the people of color in the state.
Jain has also put down his plan to tackle racism in the state through his plan of Criminal Justice Reform. Under this plan, he promotes police accountability, a debate that has gained significant traction, especially after the murder of George Floyd by the police in Minnesota.
Ashwani Jain is Ready to Help People of Maryland in Evading Drug Problems
The drug problem is also shattering the future of Maryland, with the youth most prone to this addiction.
The average death rate due to drugs consumptions in Maryland exceeds the national average, which cries for the elimination of the menace from grassroots levels.
Ashwani Jain has vowed to treat it as a medical problem rather than criminalizing it and giving police control of those who are addicted under this.
Thus, under Jain’s governorship, Maryland is likely to solve the drugs crisis by treating the people in the right way and assigning the job to drug and addiction experts who really have the potential to solve these crises.
Jain: A Cancer Survivor Ready to Reform Maryland
Jain does not look at things in isolation, but his vision is to interrelate everything together to make sure that maximum productivity is achieved.
He is a firm advocate that every public sector issue, including transportation, housing, and public safety, is interrelated; hence, an all-inclusive plan which treats everything at the same time is needed to solve the persisting crisis of Maryland.
Ashwani Jain is a former Obama-era official with experience in working not only in the Department of Health and Human Services but also in the White House. He himself is a cancer survivor as a child, which makes him ambitious for people suffering from the same.
During his treatment at the hospital as a child, he saw young kids dying from deadly diseases and seeing their parents undergoing a financial meltdown.
For him, providing affordable medical treatment for everyone is a lifelong dream which he is likely to materialize after getting elected as a governor. As a cancer survivor, he served as director of outreach for “cancer moonshot” under the Obama administration, working directly under Joe Biden.
Final Thoughts
Although he holds little experience in political domains, and his bid may not seem fancy in front of the veteran politicians, his election would be likely to change the political dynamics of Maryland as he brings with him the passion which a governor needs.
Eight candidates have joined the Democratic primary race for Maryland governor so far, and the race is expected to be crowded since the incumbent is term-limited. But the one who manages his reputation through modern-day tactics will stand victorious at the end of the day.
Nonetheless, selecting a millennial governor, aged only 32, can help Maryland in eliminating the systematic hurdles being put in the state by many naysayers over time.
Eli is a Political Data Scientist with over thirty years of experience in Data Engineering, Analytics, and Digital Marketing. Eli uses his expertise to give the latest information and distinctive analysis on US Political News, US Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, and Racial Justice equipping readers with the inequivalent knowledge.