Tag: HB1513

Szeliga makes Salisbury announcement

By Cathy Keim and Michael Swartz

This afternoon about fifty people gathered at Headquarters Live in Salisbury for the Kathy Szeliga for U.S. Senate announcement tour. It was a political who’s who for the Eastern Shore with Delegates Carozza, Otto, Anderton, and Adams there to support their fellow delegate, Kathy Szeliga, as she formally jumped into the U.S. Senate race. Also present were State Senator Addie Eckardt, County Executive Bob Culver, County Councilman Marc Kilmer, Sheriff Mike Lewis, and State’s Attorney Matt Maciarello.

Congressman Andy Harris started off the introductions for Delegate Szeliga, who once served as his chief-of-staff. He was enthusiastic in his support for her Senate bid.

Businesswoman Michelle Fager was next on the podium proclaiming Kathy Szeliga as the poster girl for the American Dream. Fager related the story about how Szeliga started with very little, but began building a construction company with her husband while raising two sons and going to college.

College Republican Elizabeth Swan followed saying that Delegate Szeliga’s life story inspires college students to believe that the American Dream is still alive.

Finally we reached the main speaker. Delegate Szeliga gave a stump speech emphasizing her common man background. She met her husband in Ocean City thirty-six years ago when he was a Bonfire busboy and she made subs. They eloped a few months later when she was only 18. They believed in the American Dream and worked hard to achieve it.

Once they had a construction company, she realized the amount of regulation and paperwork that inundates small businesses. She is for reining in government because of this experience.

She went on to work as Andy Harris’ Chief of Staff when he was a State Senator and then was elected to the House of Delegates in 2010.

In her remarks, Szeliga noted things are finally moving in the right direction in Maryland with the election of Governor Hogan, so now it is time to switch to Washington. As a grandmother, she added, you look at your grandchildren and wonder if they will have the opportunities that you had or will they just have a pile of debts? Is the American Dream fading?, asked Szeliga.

It is not too late to turn it around, she said. Szeliga is running with three goals: to improve the quality of life, improve security, and improve the schools. As she described it, the federal government is too big, too distant, and too gridlocked. The paralyzed federal government can’t meet our basic needs in the areas of health care or fighting terrorism.

America is exceptional, Szeliga continued. Americans are motivated by love of life, love of family, and love of country, and she will work for these goals. She asked for our votes so that she can go to Washington.

Given yesterday was Veterans Day, Szeliga also pointed out she is an Army brat. Her father served 20 years in the Army, and she didn’t meet him until she was one year old because he was deployed when she was born. Moreover, her grandfather signed up on the day after Pearl Harbor and fought in North Africa during WWII. With that in mind, she believed we needed to fix the VA.

Szeliga made a point that Michael has brought up on occasion regarding vocational education. We need kids to consider honorable jobs like plumbing rather than just assuming all the good jobs require a four year degree – after all, you can’t outsource your plumbing to China. Every child is unique.

I asked her about a bill she sponsored last year, HB 1513, better known for being the effort to change the composition of the Harford County Republican Central Committee.

Kathy seemed quite perplexed why I would bring up old stuff. I said I was asked to inquire about that. She said that bills often get proposed to start a conversation, but once they get discussed and unintended consequences become evident, then they are dropped. That bill never went anywhere when it was realized that it was not worth pursuing. This is good that many bills never make it out of committee because many of them do not deserve to move forward, but they do allow conversations to occur.

I also asked her about this quote:

GOP lawmakers in Washington currently are divided over an effort to tie government funding to cuts for Planned Parenthood. Asked about the debate, Szeliga said she would support legislation to keep the government open even if the measure did not address funding for the organization, which performs abortions and other medical procedures.

“I think it is unwise to shut down the government,” Kathy said. She said that when government is shut down the taxpayers are just giving the government workers a paid vacation, but the contractors and small businesses don’t get paid and it is hard on them.

She would be willing to shut down the government in exceptional cases, though.

I should add there were no questions from the floor, so I asked my questions privately later. It was a love fest, not a serious PR time, although the Daily Times had a reporter there and WBOC and WMDT had cameras there.

The Salisbury stop was the last on a three-day announcement tour. And while he wasn’t there to make the announcement in person, it should be recorded that City Councilman-elect Muir Boda made his first endorsement as an elected official:

Kathy has served diligently in (the) Maryland House of Delegates and earned her right as a leader in the House of Delegates serving as the Minority Whip. She is an extraordinary legislator and I believe her experience and her abilities will serve her well in the United States Senate.

With all of that said, I wholeheartedly endorse Delegate Kathy Szeliga for the United States Senate. Kathy stands out above all others in the field who are running for the Senate and I firmly believe she is the best choice for Maryland to represent us in the United States Senate.

So her campaign is coming together, although polling would suggest she’s slightly behind another (undeclared) candidate for the nomination. With fundraising reportedly off to a strong start, though, Szeliga should be considered among the top tier of challengers for now.

A regional juxtaposition

In looking at the speaking itinerary for an upcoming event, I think the Worcester County GOP has put together an interesting pairing for its upcoming Lincoln Day Dinner on April 5th at Lighthouse Sound just outside Ocean City. (The restaurant has a Bishopville address, but is located on St. Martin’s Neck Road just off Route 90.)

The two speakers listed would seemingly represent the establishment vs. the pro-liberty group of the GOP, but all is not what it seems.

National RNC Co-Chair Sharon Day is listed as the primary speaker, and she is considered by our National Committeewoman Nicolee Ambrose to be her mentor. But despite Day’s lofty status at the RNC, there was one action which earned the respect of grassroots activists everywhere. From the Potomac TEA Party Report:

Remember the controversy in the spring of 2009 about whether Michael Steele’s RNC would endorse Charlie Crist for the Florida US Senate seat when conservative Marco Rubio was the up and coming challenger in the Florida Republican primary. Sharon Day was the one hold out of the three national committeemen for Florida who refused to sign the Rule 11 waiver letter! She said NO! She said that the voters should choose their candidate in the primary and not have it decided by Michael Steele and the boys in Washington!

If only one of Maryland’s esteemed representatives at the national level at the time had that sort of foresight! There are still some hard feelings about how Rule 11 was handled in the 2010 election cycle, and it could all have been avoided.

On top of that, the second speaker is Patrick McGrady, Chairman of the Maryland Liberty PAC. They are no stranger to controversy either, as the Liberty PAC is vocal on a number of issues. Nor is he foreign to this site.

Perhaps the controversy closest to the heart of the Worcester County faithful is the HB1513 debacle – not that it would directly affect Worcester County, but the principle of General Assembly members inserting themselves into the Central Committee in that way is probably just as troubling to them as it is to many other such groups around the state. At this time, Worcester has just one resident Republican delegate (Mike McDermott) but could potentially have two after November – Mary Beth Carozza is running in the newly-created District 38C while Somerset-based Delegate Charles Otto had the southern portion of the county added to his District 38A during redistricting in a brazen effort to eliminate the pesky Delegate McDermott; instead, McDermott is running for the Maryland Senate.

Obviously, though, there are some who consider McGrady’s group bomb-throwers who add nothing to the conversation; thus, it will be interesting to see what he has to say at the Bishopville event.

A week later on April 12, Wicomico County will have its own Lincoln Day Dinner. We’re inviting the four gubernatorial candidates to speak before our gathering, and there just might be some other announcements there as well. Stay tuned.