Transgender advocate to run against Hoyer
Former Navy SEAL Kristin Beck files to run against second-highest ranking House Democrat in 2016 primary
Kristin Beck, a well-known transgender advocate for open military service for LGBT people and a former member of the SEAL Team Six counterterrorism unit, earlier this month filed a declaration of candidacy with the Maryland Board of Elections that she intends to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) in the Democratic primary for the Free State’s 5th Congressional District seat.
Beck, who rose to prominence when she revealed her gender identity in 2013, did not respond to a request for an interview. But she did appear on the Feb. 25 edition of Out There with Thomas Roberts, a show about LGBT-related issues that airs on MSNBC. In the interview, Beck said the reason she was running against Hoyer was her desire to get new blood into the political process.
“I think that we ned a lot more voices of the people,” she told Roberts. “The professional politicians, the guys who have been there for decades and decades, I think that sometimes they lose touch.”
Beck’s words can be interpreted as a challenge to Hoyer, who has served in the House of Representatives since 1976. In her public statements, Beck has largely assumed an outsider vs. insider theme, painting herself as more in touch with the people of the 5th District. She also decried partisan warfare in Congress, saying that members needed to better work together to benefit the American people. But Beck has been coy about where she fits on the ideological spectrum and within the Democratic Party in relation to Hoyer, although she has appeared to be leaning towards a more populist tone, emphasizing her battles with unemployment, temporary homelessness, and finding a job to help pay the rent.
“I’m an American, and I want to fight for us,” Beck said during the show.
And lest someone accuse her of carpetbagging, Beck cites her mother’s longtime residence in Maryland, her current residence, and her previous stint in Arlington, Va., calling the D.C. area “home.” While the Rockville address listed on her candidate declaration and on a filing with the Federal Election Commission to set up a principal campaign committee, which allows her to raise money for her campaign, is not inside the boundaries of the 5th District, the U.S. Constitution only requires that a candidate reside in the state where they are running, not the specific district in which they choose to run.
When asked by Roberts if she would have to overcome a great deal of stigma to be successful in her congressional bid, Beck said that she was used to fighting against stigma just from being a member of the LGBT community. She also made a pitch to younger voters that she could better represent their concerns than Hoyer. Maryland’s 5th Congressional District stretches from Southern Maryland through parts of Anne Arundel County and into the eastern and northern parts of Prince George’s County, taking in all of Calvert, St. Mary’s and Charles counties and suburban D.C. communities like Accokeek, Clinton, Friendship, Bowie, Greenbelt and College Park, where the University of Maryland is located.
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