Maryland Gubernatorial Candidate Ashwani Jain Names LaTrece Hawkins Lytes as Running Mate

Ashwani Jain, a gubernatorial candidate in Maryland has chosen community activist LaTrece Hawkins Lytes as his running mate. If elected, the two “will bring a new energy to the highest offices in our state and will be focused on implementing specific policies to help all Marylanders,” said a press release issued by Jain on Jan. 13. “My family and I are really just your average, typical Maryland family, said Hawkins Lytes, a mother of four. “We work hard and try to make ends meet while taking care of each other. We don’t have fancy titles or big political connections.”

Jain, 31, Obama-Biden administration veteran announced his candidacy last January. He is seeking to be the nation’s first millennial Governor, Maryland’s first governor of color and Maryland’s first South Asian governor.

Incumbent Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is currently in his second term and cannot seek re-election to a third consecutive term.

According to the Jan. 13 press release, the Jain for Governor campaign has two main objectives. “The first is to make Maryland’s state government more representative, transparent, and accountable by focusing on inclusion, banning corruption, and ensuring equal access. The second is to take a comprehensive approach to solving Maryland’s issues by focusing on a ‘Relief, Recovery and Reform’ agenda.”

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The press release describes the campaign as “one of the largest grassroots campaigns in Maryland and the first statewide campaign in the U.S. to be 100% volunteer-run, crowdsource policy, and limit the influence of money by making all events free.”

In a blog in American Kahani, Jain wrote that as an 18-year survivor of childhood cancer; as a son of Indian immigrants and small business owners; as a Maryland native and product of public schools; and as a diverse millennial” he understands “the real impact of policies, including the inequities, because they’ve impacted me directly.”