Mar 30

Mar 30 At Home With The Girls

10 Women Candidates for Elected Office Meet & Greet In Relaxed But Serious Business Setting

“Like Michelle Obama says, ‘when they go low, we go high,’ I have had to go even higher at times. We all have,” said Vangie Williams, a Virginia candidate for U.S. Congress in 2018.

Vangie Williams sat for a brief interview with Donna Edwards

Williams told stories of the challenges she faces as a woman candidate that her male counterparts do not face. An African American, she even tells one anecdote of blatant racial disrespect by a white colleague while an African American male counterpart stood silent at the obvious slight.

Among the sea of faces nodding affirmatively at her remarks, Karen McConnell-Jones sits with her broad, inviting smile and keeps tabs on her guests, the crew livestreaming the event and even the finger food in the kitchen upstairs.

Karen McConnell-Jones (at left) with County Executive Candidate Donna Edwards who was one of many women candidates to speak at McConnell-Jones' home.

Ten women candidates and nearly five dozen voters and community leaders gathered at McConnell-Jones’ Forestville home March 24 to introduce themselves and the reasons for their candidacy. “It was a meet & greet during Women’s History Month for the women of Prince George’s County,” McConnell-Jones says.

Among the leaders:

Dr. Juanita Miller/County Council at Large
Karen Anderson/County Council District 7
Angela Angel/State Senator District 25
Wala Blegay/State Delegate District 25
Belinda Queen/School Board District 25
Donna Edwards/Candidate for County Executive
Krystal Oriadha/Candidate for County Council District 7
Mahasin Amin/Candidate for Clerk of the Circuit Court
Vangie Williams/Candidate for Congress VA
Jamila Jaye Wood/State Senator District 26

Dr. Juanita Miller. PHOTO: STEVIE GAYMON

Candidates characterized their platforms and pointed to specific goals of their potential term in office.

But McConnell-Jones’ goal went further than introduction. She wants to improve voter turnout in midterm elections. “Only 38% of the voters came out and voted in the last local election in 2014,” she says. “65% of that pool were women voters. The men didn’t come out to vote but we women are putting men in office.”

The community leader and local media personality has a knack for mobilizing grass root efforts. She is the CEO & President of Class Act Productions, LLC a community based organization that supports community through networking, image consulting, training, human development and events. McConnell-Jones-led awards events and her work to support breast cancer research are among her noteworthy accomplishments. But in the local political arena, serving as campaign manager for now-Judge Ingrid Turner’s long shot bid for the circuit court catapulted the former hairstylist to local election leader status.

“I wanted to bring attention in my local area and the low attendance that we had. We don’t vote enough in our local elections. It’s important for voters to know who our local leaders are that we put in office,” she says.

McConnell-Jones also announced the launch of her new county-based speakers bureau. The Class Act Speakers Bureau will house, groom and offer speakers to address audiences and issues across the region.

McConnell-Jones says the event exceeded her expectations. "All the candidates stayed until the end. Sometimes they make an appearance and then leave but here they stayed for the whole time. Donna Edwards even led an interview with Vangie Williams."

The momentum swing of women running for elected office didn’t come out of thin air.

The momentum of the #MeToo Movement, response to the accusations by women impacted by men elected to office and the direct family-based needs many feel are overlooked by male-dominated leadership have led to more women seeking public office than ever in the nation’s history. In Congress alone, over 420 women are running for office.