Heather Mizeur

Heather R. Mizeur
Member of the Maryland House of Delegates from the 20th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 10, 2007
Personal details
Born	December 6, 1972 (1972-12-06) (age 38) Blue Mound, Illinois
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Deborah Mizeur (née Veres)
Residence	Takoma Park, Maryland

Heather R. Mizeur (born December 6, 1972) is an American politician from Maryland. A Democrat, she is a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing the state's 20th district in Montgomery County.

Background

A former Takoma Park councilwoman, Mizeur's district includes Takoma Park, Silver Spring, Hillandale, White Oak and parts of Colesville – see map. The entirety of the district is located within Montgomery County.

Educated at Blue Mound High School and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Mizeur won a Truman Scholarship in 1994.

She then moved to Maryland to work in Washington, D.C., first in the office of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky (D-PA) then in those of U.S. Reps Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) and Joseph P. Kennedy II (D-MA). After five years as Director of State Affairs at the National Association of Community Health Centers, she became U.S. Sen. John Kerry's (D-MA) Director of Domestic Policy from 2003 to 2006.

She was elected to the Takoma Park City Council in 2003 but resigned her seat in 2005 after relocating from the ward of her election,^[1] prior to her legislative run. She served as Maryland's State Director for the Kerry-Edwards campaign in the 2004 presidential election and, since 2005, has been a member of the Democratic National Committee. As a DNC member, she was a superdelegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. After remaining uncommitted during the primary season, she endorsed Barack Obama on 2008-06-03, the day of the final contests in the Democratic presidential nominating calendar. Her experience as a superdelegate was profiled in a front page story in the Washington Post.^[2]

A lesbian,^[3] she lives with her partner Deborah Mizeur (née Veres), their two cats Tito and Ophie, as well as a dog named Chester. Her election campaigns have both won the backing of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.

Election to the Legislature

In 2006, she ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 20. In the Democratic primary on September 12, she was the top vote-getter in a seven-candidate field for three places, receiving 8,176 votes. In so doing, she defeated two incumbent delegates and won almost 1,800 votes more than she would have needed to defeat the fourth placed finisher. She then went on to the general election, where the three Democratic nominees faced only nominal Republican opposition. All three were elected by a wide margin. This victory was in part due to a grassroots effort that was undertaken by the campaign and volunteer teams. Close to 15,000 households were reached by an aggressive canvassing effort that was spearheaded by volunteer activists Partick Metz, Christian Price, and Matt Wilhelm.

References

1. ^ http://www.takomaparkmd.gov/clerk/agenda/items/2005/071805-4.pdf
2. ^ Rucker, Philip (2008-06-04). "On the Fence and in the Spotlight". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/03/AR2008060303764.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2008060303904. Retrieved 2008-06-04. 
3. ^ Roberts, Roxanne; Argetsinger, Amy (August 1, 2011). "Melissa Etheridge is friend and fundraiser for Maryland Del. Heather Mizeur". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/melissa-etheridge-is-friend-and-fundraiser-for-maryland-del-heather-mizeur/2011/08/01/gIQANOVKoI_blog.html. Retrieved September 29, 2011. 

External links

• Legislative homepage
• Campaign website

Persondata
Name	Mizeur, Heather
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1972-12-06
Place of birth	Blue Mound, Illinois
Date of death
Place of death