Hollywood, MD – Her parents brought her to America when she was 9-months-old. Krishanti Vignarajah and her family fled strife-riddled Sri Lanka in 1980, eventually entering the United States legally. Vignarajah (everybody calls her “Krish”) is the daughter of educators. After they arrived in America, Krish’s parents began teaching in the Baltimore City public school system. “There was a real emphasis of education in my family,” she said. Growing up in Edmonson Heights, located on the Baltimore City/Baltimore County line, Krish said her assimilated family “lived paycheck to paycheck.” After graduating from Woodlawn High School, Krish was off to Yale, then to Oxford and back to Yale for law school.
Today—over 18 months before her 40th birthday—Krish has a resume that includes experience as an attorney, ownership of a management consulting business, advisor to two secretaries of State and policy director for the First Lady of the United States. In her role as Michelle Obama’s policy director, Vignarajah focused on several initiatives involving education, support for military veterans and healthy lifestyles. Her next career goal is to be Maryland’s next governor. In order to do that she would have to conquer the crowded field of Democrats vying for the job—there are a total of eight candidates—and then defeat Maryland’s popular incumbent governor, Republican Larry Hogan.
Krishanti O’Mara Vignarajah filed to run Feb. 27. When she announced her intention to run for governor last August, according to court documents, some “unnamed opponents” told reporters Krish was “legally ineligible” since she had voted in Washington, DC elections. After looking at Maryland’s voter registration laws, the Yale Law School grad said, “I knew the law was on my side.” After some legal wrangling, including a suit that named Hogan as a defendant, Krish and her running mate—For Baltimore City Teacher’s Union president Sharon Y. Blake—are on the ballot.
Recently, Vignarajah visited TheBayNet.com and provided an overview of her grassroots campaign. On the issue of transportation, the candidate declared “our infrastructure is cracking. We have got to make basic investments in our infrastructure. The money in the Transportation Fund should benefit all.” While repairing and replacing bridges is important, Vignarajah said “bringing the jobs to the commuters” is also important. Having high-speed Internet throughout the state would provide “access to opportunity” for many Marylanders.
On the subject of the environment and energy, Vignarajah declared, “we are importing pollution. We need to go aggressively after the future of energy—clean energy.” Offshore wind and solar would be major components, she said. It will be her goal as governor to reduce carbon emissions 50 percent by 2020. Vignarajah called the manufacturing of wind turbines “a real job-creator.”
Regarding Maryland’s economy in relation to the environment, Vignarajah declared, “we have beautiful natural resources.” She has vowed to invest in tourism. “We are going to support farmers and watermen as well,” she added.
In the area of education, Vignarajah announced she will soon be rolling out a “safe schools” initiative, investing in universal pre-kindergarten and fixing the state funding inequities that shortchange smaller school systems. Vignarajah said she is a proponent of teaching “job skills” to Maryland’s school children. “Right now, we’re not equipping our kids to be job-ready,” she said. It is Vignarajah’s goal to see Maryland reclaim its status as the nation’s number one state for education. “Under Governor Hogan our schools have fallen,” she declared.
While Vignarajah gives Hogan credit for creating a task force seeking solutions to the ongoing opioid crisis, she stated that more needs to be done. State officials need to address pain management, crack down on “pill mills,” increase access to healthcare facilities and work closer with law enforcement.
On the topic of immigration, Vignarajah noted her own family went through the arduous process of applying and waiting their turn to enter America. “I understand the importance of having systems in place so it’s not chaos,” she said. However, Vignarajah opposes deportation of “dreamers,” since “these are kids who had no choice, no say” about living in America. She would not oppose sanctuary cities, either, stating, “I will not let our law enforcement officers into [President Donald] Trump’s and [Attorney General Jeff] Session’s war on immigration.”
So, does Vignarajah have a legitimate shot at the governor’s mansion? She noted the conventional wisdom is “no man can beat Hogan. But I’m not a man.” Vignarajah predicted the 2018 voter turnout in Maryland will be “60 to 65 percent women. Furthermore, in 2014 approximately 296,000 Maryland Democrats failed to turn out on Election Day. “We must learn from the mistakes of 2014,” said Vignarajah, who added she is traveling to every jurisdiction in the state and isn’t writing off any location. So far, she is pleased with the reactions she has received. “As long as we get in front of audiences, we win,” she said. “Our message is catching on.”
Vignarajah told TheBayNet.com “I never thought of myself as a career politician.” As the only woman in the 2018 race for Maryland governor, Vignarajah does stand out from the other major party candidates. She and Blake comprise the first Maryland gubernatorial ticket represented by two women of color. She stated she is also the only candidate for governor who was educated, K through 12, in the Maryland public school system. A resident of Gaithersburg, Vignarajah and her husband, Collin O’Mara, are the parents of a 10-month-old girl, Alana.
More about her stance on the issues can be found on her campaign’s Facebook page.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com