Former U.S. Education Secretary and Maryland gubernatorial candidate John King Jr. has tapped attorney and women’s rights advocate Michelle Siri as his choice for lieutenant governor.
Siri, 44, works as executive director of the Women’s Law Center of Maryland and previously served as an assistant attorney general and board president of Planned Parenthood of Maryland.
“I’m so excited and so honored to partner with you as your lieutenant governor,” Siri, a first-generation Iranian American of Cockeysville in Baltimore County, said in a video released Wednesday.
“Thrilled to have you on the team. Now let’s get to work,” King said.
Similar to King, Siri has never run for public office. He selected Siri based on a belief in the “transformative power of government to be a force for good in people’s lives.”
Besides Siri’s knowledge and advocacy in equal pay and paid family leave, she brings geographic diversity. King, 47, resides in Montgomery County.
She becomes the fourth person and woman announced as a running mate amid a crowded Democratic field.
Former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III on Oct. 13 became the first candidate to announce his choice in Montgomery County Council member Nancy Navarro, a native of Venezuela and council’s first Latina and immigrant member.
Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot tapped former Prince George’s County Council member Monique Anderson-Walker, who resigned Nov. 8 to focus on the gubernatorial race.
Author and former nonprofit CEO Wes Moore announced on Dec. 9 chose engineer and former Del. Aruna Miller as his running mate.
Republican candidate Del. Daniel Cox, who represents portions of Carroll and Frederick counties, also chose a woman as a running mate in Gordana Schifanelli, an attorney from Queen Anne’s County.
Libertarian candidate David Lashar of Annapolis also picked a woman — Christiana Logansmith, a Navy veteran who owns a commercial cleaning company in Anne Arundel County.