Late yesterday afternoon Rasmussen released its latest polling of the Maryland governor’s race and the results should be encouraging to Bob Ehrlich.
After trailing in two previous polls Ehrlich has closed the gap and now sits in a virtual tie with incumbent Martin O’Malley 45 percent to 45 percent.
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First of all I’d like to congratulate Julie Bykowicz and the Sun for writing an article on the Maryland GOP which omits most of the backhanded complements and snide remarks. But, as always, the party’s newfound success begs the question: does it have too many eggs in Bob Ehrlich’s basket?
There’s little doubt that, for better or worse, Bob Ehrlich has been cast as the party’s savior in 2010. Yes, there are some conservatives who don’t care for some of Ehrlich’s actions while he was governor and Bob has a game but underfunded challenger in political newcomer Brian Murphy – as Julie points out, former GOP chair Jim Pelura is in his corner.
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While it wasn’t a strictly party-line vote outside of the Maryland delegation, Frank Kratovil joined his other six Democratic colleagues from the Free State in voting for an amendment to the defense appropriations bill to overturn the Clinton-era ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy for gays in the military, with certain conditions.
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The colorful Pat McDonough, who considered a run for Governor but instead will bid to retain his seat in the House of Delegates, is using his bully pulpit to blast a resolution to be introduced by Baltimore City Councilwoman Sharon Green Middleton.
McDonough’s staunch opposition to illegal immigration extends to a pledge to introduce a bill similar to Arizona’s SB1070 if re-elected to the General Assembly next year. In contrast, Middleton’s proposal codifies the City of Baltimore’s opposition to the law.
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Dogged by a rumor that he’s dropping his U.S. Senate bid to run for Attorney General, Jim Rutledge took the occasion to fire back at his opponents. Calling the allegation, “probably the first of many desperate acts that voters will see from liberal opponents,” Rutledge claimed it as a sign he’s winning over Republican voters.
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With the consent of three state Republican officials, the Republican National Committee national apparatus has been set loose to benefit two Maryland candidates.
First District Congressional candidate Andy Harris had already drawn national support from the NRCC Young Guns program, but the waiver of a national rule allows pre-primary involvement from the Republican National Committee in his campaign as well as Bob Ehrlich’s, despite the presence of primary opponents in both races.
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While he’s not been a proven vote-getter, Montgomery County Executive candidate (and former U.S. Senate aspirant) Daniel ‘The Whig Man’ Vovak surely has a flair for the dramatic in his campaigns – after all, what other candidate would fight the state Board of Elections over a nickname on the ballot line?
However, I like to use the outspoken Vovak to make my own points. In a release earlier this week, Vovak complained about a lack of support from party officials apparently seeking to find a primary opponent to take him on in September:
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This is the separate article I promised yesterday, but I wrote it for my Examiner page.
While the main plot of last weekend’s Republican state convention in Ocean City seemed to be the celebration of all things Ehrlich, an interesting sidebar turned out to be a panel discussion by four members of the General Assembly moderated by state party Chair Audrey Scott. The discussion featured three Senators: David Brinkley (District 4), Minority Whip Nancy Jacobs (District 34), and Minority Leader Allan Kittleman (District 9) along with Delegate Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio (District 37B).
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The pitch: If you like what you’ve read there, you can subscribe and assure you don’t miss any of my articles. Just click the ‘subscribe’ button at the top, add your e-mail at the prompt and you’re good to go.
If there were ever a post which earned my moniker of “Political Buzz Examiner” this may be it.
Montgomery County is facing a massive budget shortfall nearing $1 billion, and one candidate for County Executive has a unique solution for tackling the issue: legalize marijuana. And he’s a Republican.
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One idea of the relative strength of a political campaign is the amount of money it’s raised. As we stand six months out from the November elections, it’s no surprise that Maryland’s incumbent members of Congress (with one exception) lead the way in both money in both money raised and cash on hand.
In the lone statewide race, incumbent Senator Barbara Mikulski trails only Eighth District Congressman Chris Van Hollen in cash on hand with just over $2.7 million in the bank. Among her GOP challengers only Eric Wargotz has cracked the six-digit barrier in either cash on hand or total contributions to date, with Wargotz sitting on a small war chest of $118,321. So far Eric’s raised just under $200,000 for his effort, with his closest competition being Jim Rutledge and his total take of $74,709.
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Hoping to capitalize on the success of bus tours like the TEA Party Express, Congressional candidate Andy Harris is doing his own small-scale version of the tour tomorrow and Saturday. The schedule is as follows:
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In 2007, a special session of Maryland’s General Assembly enacted a slew of tax increases designed to deal with the state’s structural deficit. Among them was a 20% increase in the sales tax rate, which increased from 5 cents on the dollar to 6 cents.
For years, merchants along the Eastern Shore have complained about the disadvantage they labor under because Delaware businesses charge no sales tax. It’s no accident that the seaside resort of Rehoboth Beach has also become a shopping hub. Or take a drive north from Salisbury along U.S. 13 and you’ll notice a number of stores selling big-ticket items located just across the border. While Maryland residents who buy items in Delaware are supposed to remit a tax to Maryland, the law is rarely enforced.
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