I’m a native Marylander looking to serve our community to the fullest. I’m a Fire Lieutenant / Paramedic, married to a Nurse with whom we have three amazing children, ages 8, 6 and 5. I grew up in Talbot County and have a strong agricultural background. I’ve always had an interest in serving the community, this is why I became a firefighter. During my time with the Fire Department, I have been a representative to the MDA for the fill the boot program as well as a representative for the Travis Manion Foundation Heroes Run. I also have always followed politics and became more involved after completing the Leadership Anne Arundel Flagship program in 2015. This program educated me in all the facets of our county.
I decided to run for state delegate because I want to serve my community even more than I am currently doing in my career. With the years in my profession, I have learned and experienced Annapolis more than any of the candidates. I have seen the devistating effects of the opioid epidemic firsthand and taken part in giving countless people a second chance of life from my emergency care. I’ve seen and experienced the living conditions and struggles from many of our residents that aren’t as fortunate as others. I don’t sit in an office imagining or reading about issues, I’m out on the streets seeing them firsthand. I want to help the county resident. It’s time for me to bring these experiences and knowledge to the state house.
Being a newcomer and a public servant, I do not have the huge budgets of career politicians. I really do feel that we should go back to our founding fathers political ideas of having politicians that came from all lines of work and backgrounds to truly represent the people they are serving. Let’s bring politics back to the people, who better to do that than a person that can be trusted in emergency situations.
Note: Doug Rathell is a candidate for the Maryland House of Delegates, District 30 (Annapolis, Arnold, parts of Edgewater). We encourage all readers to learn all they can about the candidates that will appear on the ballot. Here is a link to Rathell’s website.
