Last night, the Wicomico County Republican Central Committee interviewed six candidates before selecting four local Republicans to advance to an upcoming Wicomico County Council vote to fill the seat now vacant due to the passing of Bob Caldwell. Selected were former County Council member Bill Carey, local businessman John Hall, Robert Huntington, an airline pilot, and political activist Cathy Keim. A seventh applicant withdrew from consideration just before the interview process began.
These half-dozen candidates were peppered with questions from the Central Committee, which was charged by the county charter to select four qualified citizens for County Council’s consideration. As a body, we agreed that all six candidates interviewed would have been fine additions to County Council, but only four could move on and all four who advanced received a majority of votes from the eight eligible members voting, with one receiving support from all eight present.
Truthfully, I was somewhat surprised at the outcome but had one vote flipped I would’ve had the result I expected – it was that close. I voted for three of the four winners, so I wasn’t dismayed at all. It’s my impression as well that the person selected will probably be a reliably conservative vote.
So it’s now up to County Council to decide the final winner, and they will vote on the matter in an upcoming meeting.