In late April, Maryland voters will have the opportunity to nominate a progressive, working-class champion and democratic socialist to Congress. Twenty-nine-year-old Mckayla Wilkes, inspired and emboldened by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s victory over longtime incumbent Joe Crowley, announced in March 2019 that she would be mounting a primary challenge against the second most powerful Democrat elected official in the country.

House majority leader Steny Hoyer is currently serving his twentieth term as representative for Maryland’s 5th district, and the contrast between the two candidates could not be more absolute. As someone who was put in juvenile detention and was incarcerated as an adult because she could not afford cash bail, Wilkes has felt the punishing impact of Hoyer’s policies firsthand. Hoyer boasts a conservative legislative record — with votes for the Iraq War, multiple crime bills, and Wall Street deregulation — and has received millions in donations from the fossil fuel, pharmaceutical, and defense industries.

Although Wilkes does not have the traditional background or credentials of the typical congressional candidate, she emphasizes that Hoyer and the Democratic establishment writ large have, for decades, failed to address the needs of working communities and people of color and fight for needed change. In giving voice to the crises of homelessness, lack of affordable health care, dearth of good-paying jobs, and a broken criminal justice system in her candidacy, Wilkes is running not only to represent her community but also to give people a reason to trust in the political process.