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TWO VISUALLY DISABLED CANDIDATES
RUN FOR
LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS:
 In Maryland, Kristen Cox says
it is an encouraging sign of how much public perception have changed that she
and David Paterson, both legally blind, are running for lieutenant governor in
Maryland and New York this year. She was picked by current Governor Ehrlich as
his running mate.
 One Candidate is a Democrat (Paterson), and
the other is a republican.
"I don't think a few decades ago this would
even have been entertained in a serious way," Cox said Friday, one day after
Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich announced she would be his running mate.
Paterson, the Democratic minority leader in the New York Senate, is
the choice of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer and has the
support of the state's top Democrats. In New York, unlike Maryland, candidates
for governor and lieutenant governor run separately
 Advocates
for people with disabilities are encouraged that two visually disabled people
are leading candidates for lieutenant governor in the same year.
Cox
recognizes light and dark but must read Braille or use a computer that converts
print into spoken words. She uses a cane to guide her around obstacles.
Paterson can see shapes and is able to read at close distances for
short periods. He doesn't use a cane but has someone walk with him to help him
navigate and to introduce him to people.
Cox said she would be honored to be
seen as a role model.
"I am who I am today because of people who were role
models for me, who mentored me and believed in me," she said. "I think, quite
frankly, I have a responsibility from that perspective to help others."
Cox, 36, is married and has two boys, ages 10 and 1. She has worked
on disability issues as a federal and state official and with the National
Federation of the Blind.
After his election as governor, Ehrlich brought in Cox to
head the existing disabilities office and then appointed her as secretary in
2004 when the office became a cabinet-level department.
Paterson,
married with two children and has a degree in law, is a prominent Democratic
black official in New York and has been credited with helping Democrats gain
seats in the state Senate.
He lost most of his sight at age 3 months when
an infection damaged his optic nerve, and he backs stem cell research as
offering a promise of a cure for his condition. With a companion to guide him,
he has run the New York City Marathon.
Paterson did not immediately respond
to a request for an interview that was made through his campaign staff.
Cox said she knows her blindness will be an issue in the minds of
voters. "They are curious about it. They have questions about it, and that's
fair," she said. "I hope ultimately in the election that blindness becomes a
non-issue."
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