Tag: Wicomico County Examiner

Is a money source important?

Quarterly financial reports are often scoured and picked through again with a fine-tooth comb by researchers from all sides for any sort of irregularity. Obviously this week will bring a fresh look at the data provided by candidates to the Federal Election Commission for the most recent quarter which ended June 30.

For example, a nagging perception regarding Republicans in Maryland is that they won’t have enough money to compete. So when Senate candidate Eric Wargotz says he had, “fundraising numbers (which) show we have the resources we need to win the Republican Primary, and to then take on Senator Mikulski in November,” one may be inclined to look at his $600,000 cash on hand and agree.

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You know, a funny thing happened on the way to writing the article. I meant for this to be on my Political Buzz Examiner page but realized when I hit ‘publish’ that I was working on my Wicomico County one. Oh well.

Election Calendar: July 19 – August 1, 2010

A couple busy weeks ahead, particularly for this reporter.

We did have a ballot change this week, as First District Congressional hopeful John A. Roberts, a Republican, abandoned his drive for the seat on Friday.

Now we can get to the calendar, which is growing.

Monday, July 19 – The Mid-Shore chapter of Americans for Prosperity is hosting a United States Senate candidate forum at the Dorchester County Library, 303 Gay Street in Cambridge, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Confirmed to attend thus far are Republicans Stephens Dempsey, Daniel McAndrew, and Jim Rutledge, along with Democrats Christopher Garner, Sanquetta Taylor, and Lih Young.

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Local Democrats kick off ground campaign

A nondescript downtown Salisbury building became a beehive of activity this morning as about two dozen local Democrats gathered for a morning of canvassing. This meeting, part of a larger nationwide effort by the Organizing for America group, enlisted rank-and-file Democrats in an early get out the vote drive.

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Caldwell promises ‘spirited’ District 4 race

An unsuccessful Salisbury mayoral campaign didn’t dissuade GOP stalwart Bob Caldwell from throwing his trademark Superman hat back into the political ring. Caldwell filed just before the deadline to challenge incumbent District 4 Wicomico County Council Democrat David MacLeod in November’s election – since both Caldwell and MacLeod are unopposed in the September 14 primary the race will be more of a marathon than a sprint.

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A Democrat to-do

On my Election Calendar last Sunday, I alluded to an event Frank Kratovil is holding on Saturday morning both locally and across the district. Well, it looks like the big guns of Organizing For Against America (a front group for national Democrats) are keenly interested in turnout.

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By the way, the editorial change is only here. The Examiner requests I do coverage straight up, but I take more editorial license on this site.

Election Calendar: July 12-25, 2010

Let’s start with the LONG list of new filers. After this week there may be the occasional new filer, but he or she would have to either run as a write-in, a minor party candidate, or be added to a ballot opening by a party’s Central Committee.

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Media, part 4: O’Malley hits the TV airwaves

Billing his tenure as Governor as one of “tough choices,” Governor O’Malley will begin selling his campaign soap Monday in the Baltimore media market.

Since Salisbury only receives a handful of Baltimore stations through their cable affiliation, it’s helpful to dissect this commercial one point at a time.

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The updated ballot tally

With the filing deadline having passed yesterday, the ballot process in Wicomico County took another step toward completion. Including statewide and federal offices, over 100 candidates filed for the partisan primaries for Republicans and Democrats held September 14, while 12 others (mostly for statewide races) automatically advance to the November ballot as members of Maryland’s recognized minor parties or candidates who chose to remain unaffiliated.

Yet a few conspicuous holes remain for party leaders of both the Republicans and Democrats to fill. Most glaring statewide is the lack of a Republican to challenge Attorney General Doug Gansler.

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Pollitt files to retain County Executive seat but draws a rematch

It certainly wasn’t unexpected that Rick Pollitt would file to keep his County Executive seat, and today he did. But in a case which Yogi Berra would call “deja vu all over again” his Democratic challenger from 2006 also filed today.

T. Anthony “Tom” Taylor, who only won 23% of the vote in that challenge four years ago, is back to face Pollitt in the September 14th primary. But this time Pollitt has a record for Taylor to criticize, and Tom is going to make this campaign one about, “…financial responsibility and ending the expansive intrusiveness of government.”

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One thing about having a blog is having an archive. On September 10, 2006, just before the primary, I said the following regarding Tom Taylor:

On the other side in his self-described “David vs. Goliath” matchup is Tom Taylor. Taylor is what I would describe as a Reagan Democrat, stressing private property rights, citizen preparedness, and allowing citizens more of an ability to defend themselves as they see fit.

Taylor fits in with Wicomico County in many ways. Our county is one where the Democrats lead in voter registration, but where the Democrat party has not had a gubernatorial or Presidential candidate carry the county since William Donald Schaefer in 1986. Essentially, it’s a conservative hotbed where voter registration means less than it does in most places.

(snip)

Wicomico County, based on its overall voting record in races for executive positions and its overwhelming approval of the revenue cap just two years ago, is no place for a “taxer and spender.” Because he provides an insurance policy against government overwhelming the masses in Wicomico County, I’m urging our county’s Democrats to follow the age-old example and let David slay Goliath. Tom Taylor is your best pick for County Executive.

That still rings true today because, quite honestly, we needed a belt-tightener when times were good to make the bad times easier to work through. Certainly Wicomico County did set some money aside, but as we see by the example of the man Pollitt is local campaign chair for (Martin O’Malley) no wallet is truly safe with a Democrat like Pollitt or O’Malley in charge.

It should be an interesting campaign.

If the family that plays together stays together, what does the family that runs together do?

Just a few minutes ago I received this on my Facebook page:

I’m Running for Maryland’s 38A Delegate Seat (Southern Wicomico and Somerset) I hope I can count on your support!

The author of this Facebook post: Julie Brewington, spouse of Mike Brewington. Mike is running as a Democrat for Wicomico County Council at-large, while Julie will file as a Republican for the seat previously held by Page Elmore.

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