Steve Hudson

Political Party: Republican
Current Position: Practicing eye surgeon with the Baltimore-Washington Eye Center
District: Eight
Political Experience: None

This is not original reporting. All information has been compiled from Hudson's campaign web site and the Gazette. Silver Chips Online posts this news summary to provide readers with a forum for discussion.

A newcomer to the world of politics, Republican Steve Hudson is running against three-time incumbent Democratic Representative Chris Van Hollen. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Hudson makes up for his lack of political experience with his community service. In 2005, Hudson acted as an on-site medical provider and a legal advocate for victims in Baton Rouge after Hurricane Katrina, and in 2007 Hudson traveled to Africa and Israel and worked as a volunteer eye surgeon, according to his campaign web site.

Hudson's top three priorities as Maryland's District Eight Representative would be national security, immigration reform and health care, according to the Gazette. For Hudson, national security is more important than personal freedoms, and recent threats to the United States, such as nuclear proliferation and terrorist attacks, show that the United States needs a stronger defense system. In order to control illegal immigration and ensure the security of citizens, Hudson supports enforcing immigration laws and securing U.S. borders by finishing the border fence, according to his campaign web site.

Hudson fully supports the war in Iraq and thinks that the United States must let its military leaders and troops finish their job in helping the Iraqi government succeed. He is solely focused on winning the war and opposes a timetable, claiming that a premature exit strategy could have disastrous results.

With healthcare as one of his top three priorities, Hudson would like to improve U.S. medical care. He claims that he will work to improve the access to and quality of medical care, especially to meet the growing needs of retirees. Hudson believes that the United States can improve medical care by focusing on disease prevention.

A conservative candidate, Hudson supports the death penalty, opposes abortion and opposes same-sex marriages, according to the Gazette.

While conservative about some issues, Hudson is not conservative across the board. He is not as adamant about No Child Left Behind (NCLB) because he supports only limited government involvement in education. Hudson believes that not all students can conform to the standards set by NCLB. He thinks that parents, teachers and school boards at the local level are more capable of providing for students that fall behind, according to the Gazette. With four children of his own, Hudson claims that ensuring parental involvement and providing the right resources for teachers are vital to good education.