Alec Ross Brings His Vision for Maryland’s Future to Frostburg State University

In a number of ways, Alec Ross isn’t your standard political candidate.  Ross, 46, is running to be the Democratic nominee to challenge Maryland’s Republican incumbent Larry Hogan for governor in the 2018 midterm elections.  Nonetheless, Ross defies numerous expectations of what a gubernatorial candidate should look like and sound like, a fact on display when he visited Frostburg State University (FSU) on Monday, April 16.

Alec Ross’s uniqueness as a candidate starts with his professional background.  Until now, he has never been a politician, but possesses a remarkable range of public policy experience.  Ross began his career out of college as a teacher in Baltimore City Public Schools and founded his own non-profit.  In 2007, Ross joined Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign, and oversaw the future president’s technology policy platform.  During the Obama administration, Alec Ross served as Senior Advisor for Innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  After his time in government, Ross wrote the New York Times best-selling book Industries of the Future.

When Alec Ross made his visit to Frostburg on snowy Monday in mid-April, he sat down for an interview with The Bottom Line (TBL) before speaking at an open event hosted by the FSU College Democrats.  Talking with TBL, he said that Maryland needs “new faces and new ideas.”  That line has become one of the main slogans of his campaign, and is clearly central to how Ross sees the mission and the vision of his political platform.

A current resident of Baltimore and a former American diplomat, few people realize that Alec Ross was born and raised in the Appalachian Mountains of Charleston, W.Va. Growing up in rural Appalachia seems to be a driving force behind Ross’s call to public service and entrepreneurship.   He made sure to note how much the Frostburg area reminded him of his childhood home, and how his rural upbringing inspired the vision he shared in Industries of the Future.

In addition, Ross talked at length about how his background in this region informs his gubernatorial policy priorities for Western Maryland.  “I feel like Western Maryland gets ignored by a lot of the rest of the state,” he said, a line that politicians often repeat when visiting Allegany County.  Where Alec Ross seems to distinguish himself from some other vote-seeking gubernatorial candidates trekking through Western Maryland, however, is in the targeted specificity of his regional policy priorities.  Policies, undoubtedly, which are driven by someone who is proud to say of Allegany County, “this is essentially where I grew up.”

Alec Ross sums up his plan for Western Maryland into three main policy goals.  First, he stresses that bringing twenty-first century, high-speed broadband technology is essential to attracting sustainable and high-paying jobs to Allegany County. “Land was the raw material of the agricultural age, iron was the raw material of the industrial age, and data is the raw material of the information age,” he said, going on to talk about the importance of digital connectivity with an energy you would expect from a former technology policy advisor to a presidential campaign and a former Secretary of State.  At the same time, Ross talked about his plan to bring broadband to Western Maryland with the passion of someone who knows exactly what it would mean for Appalachia.

Ross’s second priority for Western Maryland is to combat the opioid crisis devastating the region with new and innovative ideas. Ross noted that improving access to treatment and restricting access to both heroin and illegally obtained prescription opioid pills were important steps in addressing the crisis.  However, he also emphasized the need for a “bold approach” to dealing with opioid addiction.  Specifically, he talked about his priority to make Western Maryland a center for pioneering innovative non-opioid and even non-narcotic pain treatment.  Ross noted that this innovation could both stem the wave of addiction to opioids, and make Western Maryland competitive as a leader in pioneering medical research.

Finally, Alec Ross’s third policy goal for Western Maryland is to holistically expand opportunity for young people looking to settle down and start careers. He again talked about his childhood in West Virginia, and what it was like to watch the area’s best and brightest young minds forced to leave in order to find meaningful jobs.

Ross noted how many assets Allegany County possesses, from affordable housing to its relatively close proximity to numerous major metropolitan areas.  “Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not,” he stressed, citing another one of his key campaign lines. He went on talk about how he wants to see young professions view Western Maryland as a place of opportunity to live and start their careers.  He added, “One thing I’ve done over the course of my career is take talent and opportunity and bring them together, and I’d love to do that out in Western Maryland.”

During his public event on campus, Alec Ross was asked about his position within the crowded Democratic primary field for governor.  He joke that, at the moment, all of the candidates were trailing “a woman named ‘undecided,’” a reference to polls that have showed a significant portion of Democratic voters still unsure of which candidate they will support in the primary elections.  In both his TBL interview and his public remarks, Ross presented himself as confident and well spoken.  Without a doubt, Alec Ross is a unique candidate to be Maryland’s next governor.  A former diplomat, public school teacher, and best-selling author, Ross was raised in Appalachia and understands the needs of rural Maryland better than most. Although not an established politician, Alec Ross brings energy and a forward-looking vision to the race for Maryland governor.