Convention of States Maryland State Director Stephen Patten is the perfect example of a true Convention of States patriot: a hard worker and dedicated servant leader.
Patten first heard about the Convention of States Project on Mark Levin’s radio program. When he read Levin’s The Liberty Amendments in 2014, there’s one line that struck him: “Maybe there is a way We the People are able to still wield power.”
But Patten wasn’t always searching for a solution to divisions in America. Like many who align themselves with the COS mission, Patten’s desire to fix the country came from a lifetime of seeing it broken.
When he first voted in the 1988 presidential election between former Vice President George H.W. Bush and Governor Michael Dukakis, Patten said he was “uninformed and didn’t care much.”
after being awarded the
COS Challenge Coin.
“[When my] first child was born in 1994, suddenly I was interested and paid attention,” Patten said. “In 2006 I took the reins of the company I now own. In 2008, for the first time in over 15 years, I was witness to an economic downturn that directly affected my family and business I would one day own.”
After the Great Recession, Patten knew he had to get involved.
“In 2009 I decided it was time to activate myself, participated in Tea Party events, and helped distribute information about the movement,” Patten said. “The 2010 election and gaining of the House of Representatives was the best and worst of political experiences.”
Shortly after, Patten signed the COS petition in 2013. He “assumed that a very blue state like Maryland was a lost cause” but soon found reasons for hope.
Patten has served as COS Maryland’s State Director for two and a half years and was a District Captain for six months prior.
“I talk to hundreds of people each month in the very blue state of Maryland,” Patten said. “They are worried about our nation and are curious about what COS Maryland is doing. Our Maryland team frames every conversation as one that can be resolved with a discussion. This is the way the Framers intended us to move forward through disagreements. We lose the ability to civilly disagree, we lose everything.”
According to Patten, COS might be the only way to keep that civility.
“Convention of States is the only non-violent hope left,” he said.
