The Seat Belongs to the People

Part 3 of my interview with Adrian Boafo

Steny Hoyer served Maryland’s 5th for 45 years. He built the military bases that hold up Southern Maryland’s economy. Majority leader through the ACA. By any honest measure, one of the most consequential congressmen of the modern era.

Adrian Boafo is 32.

In Part 3 of our conversation last week, we talk about what it means to follow somebody like Steny. Here’s what Adrian said that I keep coming back to: the seat doesn’t belong to Steny Hoyer. It doesn’t belong to him. It doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the people. Your job when you get there is to fight for them. Not to maintain someone else’s legacy.

We get into redistricting, what Question 3 means for Maryland, and why getting Andy Harris out of Congress matters to me personally. Andy Harris bused January 6th rioters to the Capitol. He called for pardons for people who beat police officers. People who beat my brothers and sisters in uniform. That’s not ancient history. That’s a man who’s been in Congress this whole time.

And then I found out Adrian is a DJ.

Not was. Is. He’ll say he’s retired, then catch himself. DJing saved his life during the pandemic. He was 25, just elected vice mayor of Bowie, trying to keep seniors alive through COVID, and music was the thing that kept him standing. He says a DJ booth is one of the last places in America where Democrats, Republicans, Black, White, it doesn’t matter. Everybody’s in the same room, happy, together.

I worked at the Capitol for 15 years. I always said that building needed elevator music. The vibe in there was wrong from jump. I tell you, if there was music playing in the Capitol, I think it would be a much happier place.

This is the last part of our conversation. Thank you for being here for all three. If you’ve been reading but haven’t subscribed yet, now’s the time. This is the work I’m doing and I want you with me for it.

November is six weeks away. Let’s go.

-Harry