Emerge Maryland

Rep. John Sarbanes, his father former Sen. Paul Sarbanes and members of the Stoop Storytelling Series will gather next month for a tribute and a night of tales about former Sen. <a id="PEPLT004501" title="Barbara Mikulski" href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/poli

By Ovetta Wiggins

Martha McKenna expected about 75 people to attend her group’s annual fundraiser. Then Hillary Clinton lost.

And the RSVP list for last week’s gathering for Emerge Maryland, part of a national network that identifies potential female Democratic candidates for office and encourages them to run, swelled to nearly 250 people.

Maryland was once No.1  in the nation when it came to the percentage of women in its state legislature and Montgomery County has often had multiple women serving on its County Council.

That percentage at the State House has dropped and Montgomery County — despite three current female council members — will soon choose between three male Democratic candidates for county executive. The county has never had a woman in the top job in local politics.

“We come out and vote at over 52 percent. We make up 50 percent of the population but we only hold 30 percent of the seats in the legislature,” said Diane Fink, executive director of the nonprofit Emerge Maryland. “So we’re not trying to do anything other than get our equal representation at the table.”

Emerge Maryland, which graduated its first class last May, trains Democratic women interested in running for office with 75 hours of classes and workshops over a seven-month period.

Jessica Fitzwater says she loves working with students while they're too young to care what people think.

The Oakdale Elementary School music teacher said the onset of adult self-consciousness discourages many people from putting themselves out onstage. But when children are little, they are risk-takers, she said.

If teachers can "catch them when they sing their heart out or dance their heart out," there's a chance that they will hang on to that fearlessness as they grow up, she said.

Fitzwater, 29, said her experience as a performer — playing the violin in the Frederick Symphony Orchestra and taking the stage with Equinox Dance Company — has made her someone unafraid to take a public stand.

Her willingness to step forward could move her from the orchestra hall to Winchester Hall; Fitzwater says she's "strongly considering" running for the District 4 seat on the county council in 2014.