[La-students] Two blind lt. governor candidates

[David Andrews]

>Many of you will remember that Christin Cox worked at the National Center several years ago.


Dave

        

>Md., N.Y. have blind lt. gov. candidates
>7/1/2006, 3:28 p.m. ET
>By TOM STUCKEY
>The Associated Press
>ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Kristen Cox says it is an encouraging sign of how much 
>public
>perceptions have changed that she and David Paterson, both legally blind, 
>are running
>for lieutenant governor in Maryland and New York this year.
>"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 blind people 
>are leading
>candidates for lieutenant governor in the same year.
>"This can only be positive," said Mark Richert, director of public policy 
>for the
>American Foundation for the Blind.
>"Clearly, just like anybody else who represents an ethnic minority, if we 
>succeed
>people will say 'That's great. That's an example of blind people being able 
>to do
>anything,'" Richert said.
>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.
>Ehrlich's choice of Cox impressed Elaine Sveen, president of the Maryland 
>School
>for the Blind, who is not blind but raised a blind child.
>"This really highlights the goals we have as educators, goals of 
>independence and
>to be successfully employed and successful in life," she said.
>"It creates interest and thus opens the doors of opportunity for all blind 
>individuals,"
>Sveen said. "She's quite a role model for others."
>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.
>Representatives of the federation didn't return calls seeking information on 
>any
>other blind public officials or candidates.
>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, 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 with The 
>Associated
>Press that was made through his campaign staff.
>Maryland Republicans say it was Cox's talent and drive that earned her a 
>place on
>the ticket - replacing Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, who is running for the U.S. 
>Senate
>- not the fact that she is blind.
>"Her intellect is stunning, but it's nothing compared to her drive and 
>energy," Ehrlich
>said. "When Kris zeros in on a target, she never misses."
>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."