Vignarajah was the policy director of Michelle Obama.
Krishanti Vignarajah, the Sri Lankan American running in the gubernatorial election from Maryland has launched a new ad campaign where she can be seen breastfeeding her child and proudly announcing that, “I’m a mom. I’m a woman. And I want to be your next governor.”
Vignarajah, who is the only woman running in Maryland’s Democratic primary for governor had filed her nomination in August 2017. She will be challenging Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, former NAACP president Ben Jealous, state Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Montgomery), technology entrepreneur Alec Ross and lawyer James L. Shea in the Democratic primary elections taking place in Maryland on June 26, 2018.
Vignarajah, who was the policy director of Michelle Obama, can be seen in the campaign video that has already become viral, cherishing her motherhood.
The video starts by displaying the images of male representatives of Maryland and Vignarajah can be heard saying in the background that neither the state nor any federal offices in Maryland has a woman representative.
She continues to say that just representation doesn’t mean anything but there is a need to set policies that can lead to better schools, better health care, and lower incarceration rates.
In the next shot, we see the baby Vignarajah in the hands of her mother. She speaks about her immigrant parents who came to the United States with $200 and her becoming policy director for Michelle Obama.
“Some say no man can beat Larry Hogan. Well, I’m no man. I’m a mom. I’m a woman. And I want to be your next governor,” Vignarajah says while she breastfeeds.
Soon after Vignarajah announced her candidature, her rivals started questioning her eligibility citing that she is registered to vote in both DC and Maryland.
According to a Washington Post report, she registered in Maryland in 2006 and in DC in 2010. Vignarahah voted in DC in 2014 and voted in Maryland in 2016.
When asked Vignarajah told the newspaper that the DC apartment was never her permanent residence and Catonsville address was her home.
Vignarajah has degrees from Yale University and Oxford. She served as the Director of Policy and International Affairs to former first lady Michelle Obama. She has also worked at the State Department and has an extensive background in private sector too.
Vignarajh’s parents, who were teachers at the Baltimore City public school, immigrated to the United States from Sri Lanka during the country’s civil war.