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An Interview with Kristen Cox
By
Deborah Kendrick
When Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr.
announced in late June that his running mate for lieutenant governor in the
November election would be Kristen Cox, news spread rapidly throughout the
disability-rights community. The announcement made Cox, Maryland's secretary of
the Department of Disabilities, the first blind woman ever tapped for that
office.
"This isn't something I ever aspired
to, but I absolutely accept the challenge and feel qualified to do the job,"
Cox, 36, said in a recent interview. "I expect people to be curious. They
wonder how this will work."
Cox uses a white cane for mobility, a
BrailleNote (a sort of personal digital assistant with Braille and speech
output), and a laptop equipped with a screen reader called JAWS that enables
her to read (through hearing) documents, spread sheets, e-mail correspondence,
and Internet material. She also has an AirCard in her laptop that allows her to
access e-mail and the Internet while on the road.
 In the months since her candidacy was announced, her days and
evenings have been crowded with destinations such as schools, civic clubs,
women's organizations, churches, national conferences convening in Maryland,
and candidate forums assembled by people of varying interests. Invitations from
disability-related organizations began pouring in immediately after the
announcement of her candidacy, she said.
Her schedule would be considered
frenetic by some, exhausting by others, but she is focused and upbeat. Her
campaign has supplied her with two drivers - each works four days on, then four
off - and she gets lots of work done traveling from one event to another.
"I've been out there (campaigning) a
lot in the community meeting the people," she said. "At first, there were
questions about blindness, but that's pretty much gone away. Now, we're mostly
talking about the issues."
The top priorities she and the
governor address, she said, are health care, education and the interests of all
disadvantaged people, such as the poor, those with disabilities, and those in
foster care.
 As a student at Brigham Young
University, Cox aspired to be a special education teacher, working with
children with a broad range of behavioral and developmental disabilities. After
graduating in 1995, she became a substitute teacher, got married, and became
deeply immersed in the National Federation of the Blind of Utah, becoming that
state's affiliate president. When the NFB went to Utah for an affiliate visit,
the leaders of the national organization got a close look at Cox's drive and
leadership abilities. In 1998, she was hired by the National Center for the
Blind in Baltimore, Md., to work as assistant to Jim Gashel, then NFB's
director of governmental affairs.
"They were really tough on me," she
said of the NFB staff. "But they believed in me. They had high expectations of
me. (Former NFB president) Dr. (Kenneth) Jernigan, Dr. (Marc) Maurer, Jim
Gashel … they gave me a chance; they believed in me. And they also
expected me to deliver."
While on Capitol Hill, advocating for
legislation to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, she
came in contact with many legislators. Among them was then-Sen. Ehrlich who,
after many discussions with Cox, emerged as a strong advocate of disability
rights.
Ehrlich, after becoming Maryland
governor in 2002, appointed Cox director of the state's Office for Individuals
with Disabilities the following year. In that role, the disability community
came to know her as an energetic advocate and leader committed to their issues.
In 2004, Ehrlich signed legislation making Maryland the first state in the
country to have a cabinet-level Department of Disabilities, appointing Cox to
head it.
Cox previously served in the Bush
administration as a special assistant in the U.S. Department of Education's
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Though the
administration is not commonly regarded as a disability-rights ally, Cox said
she doesn't think that will derail her election chances.
"The federal government may be a mess,
but people in Maryland know the difference between federal and state," she
said. "The governor has been especially bold and progressive in the disability
area." Cox said she trusts the voters to look at the gains she and the governor
have made and not be distracted "because there's an R (Republican) in front of
my name."
Cox, who lives in Maryland, has two
sons, ages 1 and 10, and a husband in the information technology field who "is
absolutely supportive of everything I do," she said, including minding the
children most evenings. And if she becomes Maryland's next lieutenant governor,
her children will be among the first generation to witness a time when
blindness does not impede competency.
****
Deborah Kendrick is an
award-winning writer, editor and poet. Currently, she works as a newspaper
columnist and as senior features editor for AccessWorld.
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