Andy Harris doesn’t seem to care about people

It was a profound pleasure to serve Maryland’s 1st Congressional District in 2017 and 2018 by working to elect a Democratic congressional candidate who gave a damn about us. During that time, we traversed the Eastern Shore often and met incredible people everywhere. However, with a large primary field and high odds to beat, we were ultimately unsuccessful in our bid, leaving us again stuck with Rep. Andy Harris (“Andy Harris and Donald Trump: ‘Great’ minds think alike,” Oct. 18).

As a civics educator, it breaks my heart that here, like so much of the country, people feel disenfranchised, like nothing they do matters.

I can understand why. My friends and I frequently call, write and meet with Mr. Harris’ staff. They’ll listen, but based on letters we receive back, they don’t even understand our pleas, let alone have a desire to fulfill them. Perhaps it is because we are not his desired constituents.

When looking at the congressman’s ratings, patterns emerge: beloved by businesses, gun enthusiasts, religious zealots and libertarians, but despised by organizations and issues related to people.

Education, environment, health care, workers’ rights, civil rights, LGBT rights, reproductive rights, agriculture. People working in these areas — and many others — rate him extremely low. For a physician, he sure doesn’t seem to care very much about people.

At town halls like the one Mr. Rodricks described, he’s literally made people cry. It doesn’t have to be this way. Mr. Rodricks’ column reminds us some of the many reasons Mr. Harris is no true representative. He can be defeated if we work hard for it. If all the people who felt their voice didn’t matter rallied together, can you imagine how loudly we would roar?

Please don’t give up. Keep organizing, keep talking to friends and neighbors, and when a worthy candidate emerges, rally around and give that campaign money. Things can look different if we work for it.

Allison Berkowitz, Bel Air