Harry Dunn is much more than a former Capitol Hill cop –He is a man on a mission.
The night Harry announced for Congress a text popped up on my phone. I showed it to my husband and said, “this is really interesting, let’s give him a small contribution.” We did. A couple of hours later I got another text telling me that over 22,000 people had contributed and asked if I could I send a little more. I was more than just amused — I was impressed.
I was more than intrigued. After the first finance reports came out it was clear that there were several candidates that were in the race but only a few had shown that they had the capacity to raise the dollars needed to run a competitive Congressional campaign. Harry hadn’t filed a report because he hadn’t announced his candidacy until the beginning of January to coincide with January 6th news stories. I saw that as a really strategic move.
So in early February when the Jewish Insider called me to ask me what I thought, this what I said, “Dunn’s entry into the multi-candidate race changed the dynamic in my view. He is a wild card … With so many candidates in the race each with a base from prior elections, the question is what is his base?”
Why did I say wildcard? I knew from that first night that with probably more than well over 25,000 donors the first day, he would have more money than any of the other candidates in that race and that was just the beginning. He wasn’t self-funding either — he was raising grassroots money one person at a time. Depending on how many of the people were in Maryland — I realized that his Maryland donations could amount to an amazing base for building a vibrant campaign. It has.
I wrote his campaign and said that I wanted to check in because I was likely going to be called by press again and I wanted to be informed. I’ve been paying attention to the race ever since.
Why did I get so interested? Because he is remarkable for his character. He is someone who wasn’t looking for the next step in his career. He was thrust into a horrific situation and rather than step back — he stepped forward. His testimony before the House Select Committee Investigating January 6th had been compelling and strong. His work since then has been not only emotionally charged but significant in keeping the focus on the most important issue facing us right now — the future of our Democracy.
So I listened to his book, Standing My Ground: A Capitol Police Officer’s Fight for Accountability and Good Trouble After January 6th. I heard Harry Dunn in his own voice describe in exquisite detail how he came to be one of the most compelling faces of one of the most consequential days in our country’s history. Reading it confirmed that I was going to get involvedwanted to help that voice get to Congress. It piqued not only my imagination but my mind.
This was around the same time that AIPAC’s affiliated Super PAC United Democracy Project was discovered to be dumping huge sums of money as an independent expenditure supporting another candidate in Congressional District 3. What was especially odd was that UDP created specifically as Super PAC affiliated with AIPAC had been typically engaged in races where the candidates have diametrically different views on Israel. The Super PACS’ AIPAC megadonors have supported over a hundred GOP election denying Congressmen. That this Super PAC is spending money in this race is abominable and even the PAC has since “claimed” that, “it is not about Harry Dunn,” one of the three leading candidates in every public poll. Harry Dunn and the candidate they are boosting have virtually the same positions on policy and yet they were plunking more than a million (now close to $2 million) into an independent expenditure for Harry’s primary opponent in the race.
The UDP began flooding the airwaves days after Harry was endorsed by End Citizens United (ECU) which is renowned for its tireless efforts to reform our nation’s campaign finance system and he had just released a Plan to Protect the People’s Democracy. How ironic that a Super PAC would join this race dwarfing their preferred candidate’s campaign in spending in a district where Cong. John Sarbanes the retiring incumbent had been the foremost proponent of campaign finance reform. It is especially one jarring because the Super Pac has a record of which 86% of the time spendings against candidates of color in 86% of the races they enter. You can draw your own conclusions on why — I have my own and I find it incredibly disturbing. be determinative in races against people of color.
I After the UDP entrance in the race, I went to a house party in Laurel and met Harry in person for the first time. I heard him describe to an engaged crowd of the hosts’ neighbors and friends why he wanted to go to Congress. The guests were both excited to meet him and happy to support him. He is very simple and direct — he knows that Democracy isn’t a spectator sport and that it is on every single one of us to leave our Democracy better than we found it. I heard him say in an unequivocal way that none of our priorities to better people’s lives, to restore reproductive rights, to deal with the climate issue have a chance if we don’t save our Democracy first. I believe him and agree. It isn’t complicated.
Two days later I filmed a short video with him. As of this writing it has been seen on X over 78,000 times. It isn’t because it is me — it is because he has an audience of friends and supporters — regular people doing regular jobs. They like me think we need heroes these days. Maryland friends have told me — unsolicited — that they contributed to him that first day, too.
The President’s Citizens Medal awarded to him based on his service to our country on January 6 and since is a testament to his bravery and conviction. His absolute honesty and integrity is not something that we come across often in our line of work. He’s refused money from corporate PACs and withstood the brutal and unjustified attacks on his character from those on the wrong side of history. At the same time everyone in the Maryland political chattering class has been impressed that he is one of the friendliest people they have met in a very long time.
You put it all together and while there might be doubters who are used to a legislature full of lawyers — after 22 years working for more than a dozen Members of Congress, I am convinced that Harry is the best equipped candidate in his race to protect our Democracy — perhaps the most immediate need we face in this election.
It really is the case as he says that it is only by securing our Democracy that we can protect our freedoms for his daughter and future generations.
Harry Dunn comes has a singular kind of experience and would add a new dimension our Maryland Congressional delegation. Many of the other candidates in the race would represent the 3rd District well — several already do so in the Maryland Legislature. But, Harry’s lived experience are from an atypical position. He already has mentors on the Hill. He was a familiar face in the halls of the Capitol for 15 years building strong relationships with leaders like Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Cong. James Clyburn, Cong. Adam Schiff and several others — all whom have endorsed him and want him to succeed. He offers a valuable new perspective, a new type of understanding of what’s at stake and he has a strength of character that will be respected in Congress — it already is. He will make a difference in ways that others can’t. None will have the same kind of megaphone to be as successful representing the 3rd District in Congress. When he wins it will be because his support won’t be coming from one community it will be coming from across the diverse district where he has been tirelessly knocking on doors and meeting constituents house by house.
I am so fortunate that I received that text in January. I’ve made a special new friend and I know he will do everything he can in the next 20 days to make certain that the issue of who we are as a nation is in the conversation and is addressed. I am ready to help save our Democracy with him leading the way. Let’s help him win!
