Meet Kerry Gillespie for House of Delegates LD-33C

As the daughter of a military veteran, I have lived all over the country, including in 8 states and in Puerto Rico. My husband, Jason, and I have been married for 21 years, and have four children; boy/girl twins who are 18, a 12-year-old daughter, and a 4-year-old princess.

I graduated from Winthrop University in South Carolina with a Bachelor of Science degree in Integrated Marketing Communication. Throughout my professional career, I worked in media buying and planning, event coordination, design and distribution of marketing materials, and most recently SEO (Search Engine Optimization) research. I am not a politician, though I have always closely followed politics.

But my biggest, most challenging, and yet most rewarding job I have had is being a mama bear to my kids. As a parent of children with rare and complex medical issues, I had to advocate for my kids with schools, doctors, and in all extracurricular activities. I further went on to advocate on Capitol Hill on behalf of the nonprofit Beyond Celiac, as we sought to pass legislation to protect those with Celiac Disease by having gluten ingredients disclosed on pharmaceuticals.

And then, Covid lockdowns began and I witnessed my own children and children around this country suffering from the nonsensical prolonged school closures and cancellation of extracurricular activities.

I saw that the pandemic our children experienced wasn’t from Covid 19 directly, but from the way our representatives put the toughest restrictions on kids. This caused a massive loss of learning and the mental health crises they are now experiencing. Our children are NOT political pawns, and were treated as such by teachers unions and Democrats.

After following the science, after seeing our children suffering, after state upon state reopened their school doors to kids while Maryland’s stayed closed, I had enough. I threw myself into advocating to the county and state school boards and even the Maryland Senate for schools to reopen, for our rights as parents to have a say in masking our children and the curriculum they are taught, and for the most important factor currently under attack in our country: parental choice.

So many people have asked me why I am running for office. And my response is, how could I not? I am running for Maryland Delegate to be the representation you deserve, the voice you haven’t had, not only for education, but for all of the issues that are important to you and your families.

Learn more at Kerry Gillespie for Delegate LD-33c