Gall: Congress Needs 'Fresh Perspectives'

College Park resident Andrew C. Gall said that while it will be an uphill climb to defeat Democratic Congressman Steny H. Hoyer in November for the fifth congressional district seat, many of the residents he speaks with are "excited" for change.

"Folks are tired of the status quo leadership," said Gall, a graduate student at the University of Maryland. "We need some fresh perspectives."

Still, there are vast differences between the two candidates. First, there's the age difference: Hoyer, of Mechanicsville, is 71. Gall is 27.

Then, there are the monetary differences. Hoyer, who serves as the House of Representatives' majority leader, has raised more than $3.3 million toward his re-election campaign. During an interview, Gall said he has raised roughly $3,000 toward his election effort.

"You can't run for Congress against a top Democrat without several million dollars," said G. Keith Haller, a pollster with the Potomac Inc. polling firm in Bethesda."You can't do it talking to a few friends or talking in an occasional news article. It's laughable if you're propagating the notion that this is a serious contest."

To raise funds, Gall said he has hosted a few fundraisers and stressed to donors the importance of "getting corporate money out of the election system." If elected, Gall said he wants to invest more money into education and election reform.

Personally, Gall said he jumped into the race because he couldn't vote for someone who voted for the war in Iraq: "It went against my values and my beliefs, and I didn't want to do that."

Gall said he was also inspired during his work as an intern, field organizer and voter file manager for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. As an intern, Gall worked in Obama's native Chicago. He worked as a field organizer in Iowa, Alaska, Ohio and West Virginia during the primaries and as a voter file manager in North Carolina and Colorado during the general election.

After the election, Gall enrolled in graduate school at the University of Maryland to pursue a master's degree in public policy. He finished his first year with a 3.96 grade-point average.

Gall completed his undergraduate work at Tulane University in New Orleans, earning his bachelor's degree in political economy and history in 2005. Upon graduation, he took a job with the Madison Marketing Group but left after just a few months. Gall grew up wanting to be a teacher but changed his dream after realizing that his influence would not reach far beyond his classroom. He is now focused on public policy to make systemwide improvements, he said.

However, while Haller said he doesn't diminsh Gall's reasons for challenging Hoyer, the veteran politician's popularity and track record might be too strong to overcome this fall.

"It would be the biggest upset in Maryland political history for this race to even be close in the final hours of Nov. 2," Haller said.