SUE KULLEN
A week after she unofficially began her new gig, former Calvert County delegate Sue Kullen was named Tuesday the Southern Maryland representative for U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D), a job she said is rooted in her favorite aspects of public service.
During her six years in Annapolis, Kullen relished her behind-the-scenes constituent work but did not always care for the public, full-contact nature of state politics. Now, as Cardin’s “eyes and ears” in the region, she will return to the political gridiron, but will work mostly from the sidelines, where she can keep her uniform clean.
“It’s basically the things that I love most about politics, which is constituent work and making sure government works for people,” Kullen said. “It’s also a great opportunity for me to see things at the federal level.”
Already a known commodity in Southern Maryland, Kullen, of Port Republic, plans to get out in the coming weeks and formally reintroduce herself to local officials. Her duties will include constituent outreach and appearing at public events in the senator’s stead.
“Sue Kullen loves and knows Southern Maryland. She will be my eyes and ears in the tri-county region, keeping me informed on a daily basis about the issues and concerns of residents of Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s counties,” Cardin said in a statement. “Southern Maryland is facing a number of important challenges, particularly in the areas of development and growth, affordable housing and needed improvements to the transportation infrastructure. Sue understands the needs of the region, and she and I will work closely to ensure that the residents of Southern Maryland have the resources that are needed to address many of these issues.”
Kullen replaces La Plata attorney Hammad Matin, a familiar face in Charles County who had served as Cardin’s regional representative since March 2007.
"Best job I ever had, great boss to work for," Matin said.
Matin opened his law practice the day before he started working for Cardin. It grew steadily to the point where Matin decided he could no longer properly balance both jobs and chose to "devote myself fully to the practice," he said.
"Senator Cardin was kind enough to allow me to practice law, but it got to the point where I was in court and meeting with clients everyday," Matin said. "Once I started getting that kind of case load, I notified [Cardin's office]."
The resignation doesn't mark the end of Matin's work for the Cardin, though — he plans to lead the senator's 2012 re-election campaign in Charles County.
Kullen, appointed to the House of Delegates in 2004 and elected in 2006, chaired both the county and regional delegations and also helmed the House Women’s Caucus for two years. A Democrat, she became known as an advocate for health care and developmental disabilities services and was considered an up-and-comer by party leadership in the state Senate and House of Delegates.
But in one of the more surprising upsets of the 2010 gubernatorial election, Kullen lost her re-election bid to Del. Mark Fisher (R-Calvert).
Since then Kullen has devoted her time to the cottage rental business she runs with her husband, Steve, fundraising for the United Way, helping the state Riverkeepers and completing a Master Gardener class. She recently passed on a little of her newly acquired knowledge and taught some 4-year-olds how to compost.
Kullen also considered whether she wanted to pursue work in one of “three separate paths” — politics, health care or within the developmental disabilities community, where she had spent most of her professional career working for 14 years at the Arc of Southern Maryland and more recently as a disabilities consultant.
Ultimately, Kullen found her best fit with Cardin. In addition to a nationwide emphasis on jobs and economy, she called the senator’s focus on the environment and health care a “good fit.”
“It’s just a different job [from serving as a delegate]. This is more the work behind the scenes and that’s what I tend to love,” Kullen said.
“And honestly, I didn’t want to commute,” she added. “That made the job search kind of tough.”
Though she was supposed to start working for Cardin officially on Sept. 1, Kullen figured Hurricane Irene served as reason enough to get a head start during Gov. Martin O’Malley’s (D) Aug. 30 tour of affected areas in Calvert and St. Mary’s counties.
While awaiting O’Malley’s arrival at the Hughesville headquarters of the Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, Kullen took delight in surprising acquaintances at the co-op and adjacent office of the Tri-County Council of Southern Maryland with news of her new post.
A couple of days later, Kullen could not help but tease her Facebook friends by posting a picture of the U.S. Capitol with the cryptic message, “Started my new job today. Will keep you guessing for awhile.”
When Cardin’s office announced the hire Tuesday, a subsequent Facebook post by Kullen generated more than 50 comments from friends, including a bunch of former statehouse colleagues, wishing her well.
The early days of the job have centered on the emergency response to Hurricane Irene — Kullen has been keeping up with the Federal Emergency Management Agency as it continues disaster assessments throughout the region.
Though the job would serve as an ideal bridge to a future run for elected office, Kullen said no campaigns are imminent in her future.
“At this point I’m just focused on doing a good job for the senator,” she said. “I have a little while to make that decision.”
Kullen encouraged Southern Maryland residents to contact her with any issues via email at sue_kullen@cardin.senate.gov or by phone at 202-870-1164.
jnewman@somdnews.com