Campaign Funds and Control Crucial for Democrats in Maryland District 3 State Senate Race

George Wenschhof

Last week, Democrat Don DeArmon finally made official his race for the Maryland district 3 state senate seat. I was the first to report on March 22 he had filed a campaign committee with the state which allowed him to raise funds and judge support for his campaign. I used the same approach when I explored running for this seat back in 2006.

Mr. DeArmon will now face former four term City of Frederick mayor Ron Young in the Democratic primary on September 14. Additional candidates may file up through July 6.

The amount of campaign funds raised by candidates is important as incumbent three term Republican Alex Mooney is a heavyweight when it comes to raising funds for his campaigns. His far right ideology which includes opposing the rights of women and gays, brings him donations from across the country.

While I raised $16,000 with my candidate committee, I made the judgement it was insufficient for me to unseat Alex Mooney back in 2006. After I informed the local Democratic leadership I would not be running, they asked that I file as they had no candidate. After filing, it was discovered that Democrat Candy Greenway had filed and I withdrew, offering my support.

Ms. Greenway was able to raise about the same level of funds as I had from her date of filing and prior to the general election. She supplemented her campaign funds with a $30,000 loan. While a newcomer to politics, she did manage to narrow the margin of loss.

My decision to withdraw was based on Mr. Mooney having raised and spent nearly one million against his Democratic opponent Sue Hecht in the 2002 election. Sue Hecht also raised an incredible amount close to $750,000 which was supplemented by Maryland Senate President Mike Miller's senate campaign committee by at least $100,000, only to lose to Alex Mooney by ten percentage points.

I realized that while my campaign had raised $16,000, it would be like using spitballs against an opponent with a Tank.

The discussion of campaign funds is important as is the use of door-to-door campaign tactics. In spite of admirable intentions by candidates, this approach has limited success when trying to reach what will be about 80,000 registered voters in district 3.

The mind boggling funds spent by Mooney and Hecht in 2002 will hopefully never be repeated. However, it is important to note the average funds spent in a Maryland state senate race is around $150,000.

While candidate campaign reports are not due until a few weeks prior to the primary election, both Don DeArmon and Ron Young volunteered where they currently stood in fund raising.

Don DeArmon is a previous candidate for Congress in the Maryland sixth district who has raised hundreds of thousands in a campaign. Also a veteran staffer on the Hill, he informed me he had $50,000 cash on hand.

Ron Young, who was the first to publicly announce in January and the first Democrat to file, informed me he had raised about $18,000. Young raised in excess of $100,000 in the 2005 City of Frederick election. After being out of office for sixteen years, he beat incumbent Democratic mayor Jennifer Dougherty in the primary. Only, to lose to political neophyte Republican Jeff Holtzinger in the general election.

Mr. Young also pointed out to me that his funds were received from about 200 people with an average of about $90.00. I did not ask Mr. DeArmon for any detail on his contributions.

Both Democratic candidates realize they will need to raise additional funds to be competitive. However, both intend to make use of the old shoe leather door-to-door approach to meeting voters. Mr. DeArmon has even arranged to take a leave of absence from his job as the campaign heats up.

Mr. DeArmon informed me Stephen Slater will be his campaign manager and that he intends to also make good use of his campaign website which can be read at www.dearmonforsenate.com In his announcement, he highlighted the need to "fix I-270" and he intends to add his positions on a variety of issues on his campaign website for voters to easily read.

Ron Young said he was still about ten days away from his campaign website going live. His wife Karen Young, who ran her own successful campaign for alderperson in last year's City of Frederick election will be his campaign manager.

While raising funds will be important for the Democratic nominee, controlling their own campaign after the primary will be even more important. Miller, in his desire to defeat Republican ultra conservative nemesis Alex Mooney, has been heavy handed in direct mail composition and target mailing areas for the Democratic nominee in the last two elections.

Unfortunately, this over reaching on the part of the senate campaign committee has backfired with losing results in the 2002 and 2006 elections.

The direct mail pieces used by the Maryland senate committee were over the top in their negativity, to the point close Hecht supporters complained to me after receiving them in the 2002 election.

Besides negative attacks being counter productive in district 3, the practice of using the same mail house to mail for all Democratic state senate candidates resulted in multiple mailings hitting a voters mail box the same day at the end of the Sue Hecht campaign.

Precincts which were heavily Democratic, were also inundated with negative direct mail and they were already voting for Ms. Hecht which was a waste of funds. In addition, Miller's then chief of staff Tim Perry was calling almost daily to the campaign manager of Sue Hecht, offering advise.

Unfortunately, the practice continued in the 2006 general election with outrageous negative direct mail by the state senate committee.

The reason for the use of negative attacks on political opponents is political operatives of major political parties have found it generally effective in narrowing margins between candidates.

Back in 2006, I met with the young man Mike Miller had put in charge of his committee and informed him that if I became the nominee, I would welcome their support, but I would have final approval on the what, when and where of how direct mail was used.

Fortunately, in talking with both declared Democratic candidates Ron Young and Don DeArmon, they have assured me they have already had similar talks with Mike Miller's office and were in agreement they should control their campaign message.

The time is right for a Democrat to win the Maryland third district state senate seat. Both Mr. DeArmon and Mr. Young are well qualified for the position. Either will be more effective in serving the voters and their interests in Annapolis than incumbent Alex Mooney.

I hope Maryland Senate President Mike Miller is listening.

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