8-Year-Old Governor Genea Harrison Replaces Martin O’Malley

Martin O’Malley is out; Genea Harrison is in. The 8-year-old replaced the Maryland Governor this week after winning a school contest.

Harrison won an essay contest in honor of International Women’s Day. More than 200 girls under the age of 13 turned in essays about why they wanted to be governor.

Genea’s essay was chosen as the winner and as a prize she was made the honorary governor of Maryland.

Genea writes in her essay:

“I would like to be governor for a day to help improve the State of Maryland. The governor has a lot of important roles such as being head of the executive branch of the government of Maryland, the commander-in-chief of the state’s National Guard, and is responsible for the state’s budget. The governor serves a four year term and is elected by the people. Some other important things that the governor is involved in are education, the safety of the people, the environment, and jobs.”

Harrison goes on to say that she would improve schools, give support to the police and fire department, protect the environment, and help create jobs if she was governor.

WUSA 9 reports that, although Genea’s title was honorary, the 8-year-old had some real duties when she stepped into the governor’s office. She had a meeting with Taiwan Ambassador Pu-Tsung King, attended a women’s caucus meeting, gave her input to speech writers, and joined Lt. Gov. Brown to sweart in the new Transportation Secretary and Director of Maryland Energy Administration.

[Image Via Maryland.gov/ State of Maryland]