Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Delegates Ana Sol Gutierrez and Al Carr Endorse Ali for Senate

District 18 Delegates Ana Sol Gutierrez and Al Carr have endorsed Delegate Saqib Ali (D-39) for Senate against incumbent Nancy King. Following are their statements.

Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez
I have known and worked with Saqib Ali now for four years in the Maryland House of Delegates. I admire his intelligence, his independence and his passion for the politics of inclusion. He is willing to take tough stands against powerful interests for immigrants, the poor and underprivileged. His opponent has implied that county residents who need affordable housing, who are poor, need to be perhaps limited in number as a “fair share” of the residents in more upscale neighborhoods (click here). It’s time Montgomery County’s State Senate delegation reflected the diversity in our county. I support Ali for State Senate!

Delegate Al Carr
I have served for over two years with Saqib Ali on the House Environmental Matters Committee. I know that Saqib is a thoughtful and committed environmentalist. This past session I introduced a bill that would establish a 5¢ fee on all disposable bags at supermarkets (paper & plastic). This is similar to a bill that recently passed in Washington DC. The idea is to encourage people to reuse bags instead of using the disposable bags which end up polluting our environment and especially the Chesapeake Bay. The powerful plastics lobby killed this bill. However Saqib fought with me on this good cause to protect the environment. I support Ali for State Senate!