Tonight as promised it’s time to reveal my endorsements for the Maryland General Assembly races that are contested on Tuesday. In Districts 37 and 38, the total is six, four on the Democrat side and two on the Republican ledger. Only District 37B has both Democrat and Republican primaries contested.
I’m going to start with the District 37 Senate race. Democrats in that area have the choice between Hilary Spence and Ronald Warden Sr. with the winner squaring off against incumbent Rich Colburn and possibly an independent candidate, Moonyene Jackson-Amis.
As you know, I look at things from a conservative viewpoint. Hilary Spence speaks about a few pet issues: health care, growth, education, and the environment. From looking at her stances, it appears that she would be a reliable vote with the Democrats in Annapolis and we on the Eastern Shore really don’t need more of that. With the little bit I’ve found about Ronald Warden, at least it seems like he’s less likely to be a lapdog in Annapolis. Maybe the 2002 primary loser is closer to what the Eastern Shore wants and needs, so I’m urging District 37 Democrats, who by and large are the moderate-to-conservative types that still exist in a few areas, to reject Spence and vote for Ronald Warden, Sr.
Another Democrat race will decide the seat in House of Delegates District 37A, as no Republican filed. The incumbent, Rudy Cane, seeks a third term in Annapolis, and has a challenger in Charles Cephas, Sr.
If you go to the Cane website, you read his positions and they are generally moderate to somewhat liberal. However, when he votes in Annapolis, once again he reverts to the party line. In fact, at the NAACP forum, he pointed with pride at his votes on the Fair Share Health Care Act, calling it a “win-win” because it goaded Wal-Mart into improving its health care coverage. But we may never know if that bill prevented the company from going ahead with its Somerset County distribution center and possibly 800 good-paying jobs, a large portion likely held by the minority population.
On the other hand, Cephus is quite passionate in his beliefs and promised to fight for the “underdog.” One thing that I got from him at the NAACP forum is that he wanted to convince other delegates to adopt his positions by force of argument. He also wanted a living wage and more affordable housing, so the race comes down to a battle between Tweedledum and Tweedledee in most instances.
So, if for no other reason than to get some new blood into the General Assembly, Democrats in District 37A should elect Charles Cephus, Sr. to the House of Delegates.
One other Democrat race remains in that area, House of Delegates District 37B. This is a three-way battle for two seats between James Adkins, Robert Cheek, and Tim Quinn. Now I understand that sometimes people have other things in life that prevent them from doing much on the campaign trail, but in District 37B there’s only two Democrats who are apparently running for the post. I know next to nothing about Robert Cheek, and there’s ideas here and there that the other two have (particularly Adkins) that I can find palatable and/or workable, so it’s not quite by default that I urge District 37B Democrats to advance James Adkins and Tim Quinn through the primary election.
On the GOP side in District 37B, again three vie for two slots – incumbent Delegates Addie Eckardt and Jeannie Haddaway, and challenger Dr. Redgie Lancaster. This is one of those unfortunate situations where three excellent candidates are pitted against one another. Lancaster is a Reaganesque Republican whose platform is pretty basic – he’s pro-life, advocates private property rights, school choice, and, most interestingly, making Social Security and Medicare taxes deductible as charitable donations. I think he’d be an outstanding Delegate, at least based on his platform. The only knock I’d have on Redgie is that he hasn’t made it around to our part of the district to campaign, or at least I’m not aware of him doing so. And, we have two good Delegates now in Haddaway and Eckardt, both of whom have spent at least some time campaigning in the Wicomico part of the district.
So here’s what I’m going to say about the situation. All are excellent choices; however, Haddaway and Eckardt both have a voting record and are supposed to serve their constituents. Since I’m not a resident of District 37B I cannot complain about their service to constituents, the only beef I’d have with Haddaway is not answering the Ten Questions (Eckardt has.) But if you do have a problem with either of the two I’d encourage you to consider Redgie Lancaster. If not, then you are just fine voting for the incumbents. I know it’s a little on the wishy-washy side, but it’s my blog and that’s the way I’ll handle this!
Now I’ll move southeastward to District 38, which is my home district.
In District 38A, we have a race that’s not a race. On the Democrat side, the contest was supposed to be between Patrick Armstrong and Tony Bruce. Due to the passing of Mr. Bruce, the contest is now between Armstrong and a candidate to be named later, as it were. I actually have seen the name Daniel Powell bandied about as the man warming up in the bullpen as Bruce’s proxy. (Hat tip: JFA). I spoke to one of the Democrat Central Committee members today at Riverfest and he told me that whether he wanted to support Armstrong or not as the person who actually made the effort to secure a place on the ballot, the Wicomico people would be outvoted by the Somerset side (who back Powell) because that’s the population proportion of the district.
Even though Armstrong is on the wrong side of many issues, it’s now become a battle between the people and the proverbial smoke-filled room to select a candidate. If Tony Bruce had been unopposed for the District 38A nomination, then it’s perfectly fine for the Democrats to select a surrogate, they just did that for Bennett Bozman’s District 38B seat. But Armstrong is on the ballot and whether he wants to mount a campaign or not is his business. (Perhaps he may do better if he’s not feeling like his party is stabbing him in the back.)
The portion of my website that’s devoted to links is headed “Let the people decide.” Because of the situation in District 38A, the people have one choice, and I think they should take advantage of it. District 38A Democrats should reward the effort and eschew backroom politics by allowing Patrick Armstrong to face Page Elmore in the November election.
Finally, we get to House of Delegates District 38B. Is there any possibility we can change the rules and allow 4 Republicans and no Democrats on the November ballot?
Bill McDermott didn’t answer my Ten Questions, but he did put his NPAT answers on his website, which indicates he’s fairly conservative on moral issues but much less so with our pocketbooks, advocating large increases in state school spending.
Bonnie Luna is the sole candidate who hails from Wicomico County’s portion of the district and I’m sure is quite sincere when she says that she wants to bring civility back to Annapolis. Unfortunately, in that regard it takes two to tango and the other side takes no prisoners.
Sonny Bloxom points to his 16 years of experience as a Worcester County Commissioner and is definitely conservative. He’s also bluntly outspoken about the issues, which I think would bode well for him in Annapolis but can rub some the wrong way at times. (That’s fine, I do the same with monoblogue.)
There’s a very good chance that two of the three above will make it through the primary, and I’d support any of those three without hesitation over the pro-Annapolis, anti-Eastern Shore tandem of Conway and Mathias. But this year I’m looking for good candidates who come from making their living outside of politics where I can get them, which makes my final choices for endorsement Michael James and Jack Lord.
I know Jack Lord has run before and was an also-ran in 2002, but he’s one of the “good guys” you like to see in the political world. Before anyone else had made much of a move to begin their candidacy, Jack filed practically on day 1. He also has spent time in two occupations where common sense runs rampant: law enforcement officer and farmer. Common sense is what we need in Annapolis, not politics.
Meanwhile, Michael James brings a solid business background and has created jobs through the private sector. James also has espoused conservative values and has one other sort of intangible asset I like to see, as his campaign manager is a young man named Dustin Mills. It shows me that he’s interested in a peripheral way in something that’s a campaign plank of mine and that’s getting more youth involved in the political process, particularly on the conservative side.
As I said above, any of the five would be outstanding choices for Delegate. But I can only vote for two and that’s the two I’ll select on September 12. Whether it will be the two I select on November 7 remains to be seen, but you’d better believe that those who make it through this GOP primary have my votes!
