It takes courage and hard work to break
into politics and seek elected office. USINFO looks at three
very different women who made the effort and won. This is
the first of a three-part series about women serving their
first terms in the Maryland General Assembly.
See also “Hard
Work, Supportive Friends Helped Woman Break into Politics”
and “'Success Is the Best
Revenge,' Says Maryland Lawmaker.”
Joseline Peña-Melnyk poses with her family at their home in College Park, Maryland. |
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Washington -- It was a rocky road to
the Maryland State House, but Joseline Peña-Melnyk
loves challenges.
She was just 8 years old when she left the
Dominican Republic and came to the United States in 1974.
Peña-Melnyk, her younger sister and her mother could
not speak much English, and her father had abandoned them.
Her mother struggled to support the little family. Peña-Melnyk’s
sister succumbed to the lure of the streets, becoming a
teenage mother and losing the father of her first two of
four children to drug-related violence.
Those tribulations inspired Peña-Melnyk
to work harder. She became the first member of her family
to achieve a college degree, and went on to finish law school.
She later moved to the Washington metropolitan area where
she married Markian Melnyk, her law-school sweetheart.
Peña-Melnyk had a full life as a
wife, mother of three young children and community activist,
but she wanted greater opportunities to make a real difference
in society. In 2003, she jumped into politics and was elected
to the City Council of College Park, Maryland, where she
lives.
By her second term on the Council, she had
established relations with politicians on the state level
and realized she already was doing the same sort of work.
When the incumbent state delegate for Peña-Melnyk’s
district retired, Peña-Melnyk decided to run for
that seat in the Maryland General Assembly, which meets
each year for 90 days to act on more than 2,300 bills, including
the state’s annual budget. The Maryland General Assembly
has 47 senators and 141 delegates.
Peña-Melnyk had hoped the senator
and the two other incumbent delegates for her district would
put her on their slate. Her qualifications were excellent:
In addition to being an attorney and an experienced City
Council member, she spoke Spanish in a district that has
a growing number of Hispanic immigrants and she had close
ties with the community, having served on the board of directors
for Casa de Maryland, a nonprofit social services organization.
“Instead, they put on [the slate]
some young kid who worked at one time for the president
of the Maryland Senate, and he was a well-connected Caucasian,”
Peña-Melnyk recalled during an interview with USINFO.
“So I had to run on my own.”
That, she quickly discovered, was an expensive
endeavor. “I had to put in close to $30,000 of my
own money, and I’m not wealthy,” she said. “I
spent over $7,000 just on signs.” Friends, family
and other supporters rallied to raise another $40,000.
“It was a challenge because no one
would write a check for me from the [Democratic] party or
other elected officials because they didn’t think
I was going to win,” Peña-Melnyk said. “It
is very tough when you are not part of the establishment,
not part of the ‘good old boy’ network.”
But grassroots efforts can accomplish great
things. Peña-Melnyk knocked on the doors of more
than 10,000 homes in her district. Senior citizen volunteers
made phone calls; a printer helped out by mailing solicitations;
a group of six core supporters gathered at her home every
Sunday to map campaign strategy.
“My three kids -- my twins who are
girls, 7 years old, and my boy who is 8 -- at 6 a.m. we
were at street corners, sign waving,” Peña-Melnyk
told USINFO. “This was a family affair; they believed
in me. … My husband believed in me.”
Eventually, some important local papers
recognized her efforts and endorsed her.
Peña-Melnyk won the November 2006
election and began serving her four-year term in January.
She has been examining the feasibility of anti-cervical
cancer vaccines for Maryland school girls, making health
insurance accessible to the approximately 800,000 people
in the state who currently lack insurance, and seeking funding
for boys and girls clubs in her district, which encompasses
some 110,000 people. “I think in my first session
I did well for someone who is a freshman,” she said.
What advice does Peña-Melnyk have
for women around the world who might not enjoy the freedoms
of their American sisters?
“I say ‘give them hell.’
Go try to make a difference. … It’s worth it,’”
she told USINFO. Women in politics set important examples
to both girls and boys, she said.
“I think a lot of people don’t
take their civic duties seriously,” said Peña-Melnyk,
who became a U.S. citizen in 1983. “It is so important
to stay informed, to vote, to be a part of the process,
to have a voice. You don’t just complain; you try
to be part of change.”
Jane Morse
USINFO Staff Writer
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