The Sixth District donnybrook

Since I live on the opposite end of the state, I really don’t have a dog in the Sixth District slugfest that now involves an incumbent Congressman in a revamped district taking on three members of the General Assembly and a cast seemingly of thousands. Most of my readers recall the battle royal which took place in the First District four years ago when two sitting members of the Maryland Senate fought each other and the incumbent in a nasty primary skirmish eventually won by Andy Harris. It took him two years, but Harris finally put the seat back into the hands of the conservative electorate of the First District – a base made even stronger with redistricting.

History will eventually reveal what occurs in the Sixth District as the years pass, but there’s one piece of the puzzle I find quite interesting when it comes to two of the contestants. Despite two of the Republicans having ties to the Maryland Senate – Alex Mooney was a Senator from 1998-2010 while David Brinkley has served since 2002 – nearly every Republican member of the Maryland General Assembly hailing from that part of the state supports Brinkley. This despite the fact Mooney is the (outgoing) Chair of the Maryland Republican Party.

Certainly Mooney seems to be the more conservative of the two (a lifetime monoblogue Accountability Project rating of 88 vs. Brinkley’s lifetime 75 rating) but in either case – or if incumbent Roscoe Bartlett wins the primary – most of the “traditional” Sixth would certainly be more in line with their prospective Congressional voting record than the miserable mAP lifetime rating of 10 compiled by Senator Rob “Gas Tax” Garagiola or the probability that any of the other Democrats would be similarly terrible for the district. My question is how Mooney could have burnt so many bridges, and is this a reason why he’s not been the successful fundraiser for the Maryland Republican Party he intended to be?

The chances are pretty good that the Sixth District race will be the most interesting one to follow in Maryland since we won’t have Kratovil vs. Harris round three here in the First. April 4th will be a crazy morning after.

5 thoughts on “The Sixth District donnybrook”

  1. Alex Mooney has the support of many delegates. The Senate Caucus has decided to endorse a current senator for that exact reason. Your facts on endorsements are flawed. Please correct.

  2. The information on the endorsements came from the Brinkley campaign, which claims as its exploratory committee “co-chairs” State Senators George Edwards (District 1), Chris Shank (District 2), Joe Getty (District 5), J.B. Jennings (District 7), Allan Kittleman (District 9), and E.J. Pipkin (Minority Leader, District 36.) Delegates mentioned as co-chairs include Wendell Beitzel (District 1A), LeRoy Myers (District 1C), Kelly Schulz (District 4A), Donald Elliott (District 4B), Susan Krebs (District 9B), and Donna Stifler (District 35A).

    If you would like to add a list of Maryland Delegates and Senators who are backing Mooney, please feel free – obviously several have not come out for any contender. I just found the paucity of public support for Mooney interesting when Brinkley stated his case.

  3. Alex Mooney – prior to demonstrating his skills as a lease negotiator while Chair of Maryland’s Republican Party- lost a state senate race (District 3) to the openly progressive retread, Ron Young.

    Roscoe Bartlett- when not pretending to be a farmer- mesmerized District 6 with accomplishments like cutting ribbons with over sized scissors for pork projects he routinely laments as the cause of our national debt.

    His scientific background led him to conclude that computer modulation was a better predictor of man’s impact on global temperatures than was one million years of scientific data which proves otherwise.

    Then again, Roscoe believes a lot of things- “he considers himself a citizen-legislator, not a politician,” (from his website bio), despite the fact that he was just elected to serve a 10th term in the United States House of Representatives. Apparently, one has to serve at least 11 terms before admitting he has made a career of it.

    I am not sure what a “lifetime monoblogue Accountability Project rating” is, but it sounds made up and looks misspelled. Further analysis leads me to believe your methodology is more complicated and less interesting than the AFC Wildcard algorithm. That being said, at least you have a monoblogue, which is more than I can claim for myself.

    On-line gossip from “Maryland Juice”- a progressive digital rag which reads a lot like liberal Kool Aid- predicts lifelong Democrat and Barbara Mikulski “gal pal” Jan Gardner might enter the race to humor state senator Garagiola (D) who has a monoblogue rating of 10, rendering him mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

    This hypothetical Democratic primary could be interesting: Ms. Gardner has made a political career out of playing the victim- a skill set necessary to attract victims of the economy, victims of race, victims of evil and greedy developers, victims of global warming and victims of broadcast brutes.

    Robert “Joe” Garagiola (pronounced “winseasily”) has victimized taxpayers as Montgomery County’s District 15 state senator. Annapolis needs another attorney, especially one who specializes in property, planning and zoning. Plus he won awards for his dedication to solar energy and his understanding of climate change. His agenda is simple: Shutter coal mines and tax gas to a level which will eliminate petroleum based products. He will then hang a recycled shingle as bicycle injury tort attorney.

    Garagiola’s toughest challenge will be distancing himself from Bartlett’s loyalty to the man-made climate change theory.

    The prudent vote would be for senator David Brinkley (R) of District 4. Mr. Brinkley is liked by members of both sides of the aisle. He has private sector business experience in the financial sector, was a volunteer firefighter and EMT and since he advocates for legalization of medical marijuana, he is best suited to answer the recurring question, “what are they smoking in Annapolis?”

    Handicapping the race, the odds on favorite has to be Garagiola. He will gobble up liberal voters in the gerrymandered District 6, which includes half of counties Frederick and Montgomery, half the state of Massachusetts and the University of California at Berkeley teacher’s lounge.

    Regardless of outcome, Maryland will continue to be a haven for politicians who can point to an above average economy and housing market, failing to credit proximity to the largest employer in the nation- our federal government- and the second largest employer in the nation- Governor O’Malley. Politicians will also enjoy continued freedom to point toward “blue ribbon” schools, failing to mention lowered standards. Alas, they will be able to curry favor with environ mental midgets while they pump from citizen’s wallets to Chesapeake Bay, billions of dollars of would be discretionary income……

  4. Liz-Interesting that you would dismiss Brinkley’s Senate endorsements (but not his Delegate endorsements) because of his incumbent status… Brinkley was elected by the members to be both the Senate’s Republican Leader and Whip during the time both served in the Senate. He currently serves as the Chair of the Frederick County Delegation. Although Mooney had more seniority, he never managed to be respected enough by his colleagues to have earned those positions. Additionally, Brinkley was endorsed in the last election by actual voters, something else Mooney failed to do. Hmmmm.

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