Julia M. Nichols
Lusby, MD – Leonardtown resident Julia M. Nichols is using the slogan “Building Bridges” for her first political campaign. The Democrat filed in late August for the House of Delegates seat occupied by the representative of District 29C. The district is comprise of parts of Calvert and St. Mary’s counties—an area linked by a 40-year-old bridge that many feel needs to be replaced as soon as possible. That issue is the literal component of Nichols’ slogan. The symbolic component would be the candidate’s desire to by an agent of unity in a highly polarized political climate. As daunting a project the Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge seems, it is the latter aspect that might pose a bigger challenge.
“There’s too much division in government,” said Nichols. “I want to focus on issues and bridge these gaps.”
Nichols and her family moved to Southern Maryland in 1997. While the Nichols family came to St. Mary’s County for work-related purposes, the candidate told a gathering of friends and supporters at a recent campaign kickoff event that she had ancestors who came to America aboard The Ark. “This is my home,” she said. Nichols has been involved in the community, serving on several boards.
Nichols indicated that in addition to the condition of the Thomas Johnson Bridge, the presence of a nuclear plant and natural gas plant in Southern Calvert County are concerns she harbors. “We have to be thinking about infrastructure,” said Nichols, noting that the bridge cannot handle a large evacuation should disaster strike. The plants’ presence, according to Nichols, also pose threats to the region’s environment and keeping the air and water clean is important for the area’s watermen and the tourist industry. “We need to monitor what’s going on at these plants,” she said.
In her remarks introducing the candidate at the campaign event, Patuxent High School teacher Nancy Crosby stated that the district’s current elected officials appear to be ignoring constituents. “I do not feel heard or represented,” said Crosby. She indicated Nichols would represent a significant change. “You are a leader,” Crosby told Nichols.
The District 29C seat is currently held by Republican Jerry Clark, a former Calvert County commissioner who was appointed by Governor Larry Hogan to fill the unexpired term of veteran lawmaker Tony O’Donnell, who the governor appointed to the Maryland Public Service Commission. O’Donnell was first elected delegate in 1994.
“We are fed up with public officials not listening to us,” said Calvert resident Len Zuza, who ran against O’Donnell in 2014. “As citizens, our basic rights are to make our own decisions.”
Nichols pledged to her supporters that she would take a proactive approach to governing if elected. “It doesn’t do any good to complain,” she said. “We have to step up and be part of the solution.”
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
