Primary Nears for Frederick County State Delegate and Senate Races

George Wenschhof

Last Friday, I wrote about the debut of "Early Voting" in Maryland and opined on the outcome of the Frederick County vote in the county commissioner race. Voters will decide in the Primary Election the five Republicans and five Democrats who will move on to the General Election held on November 2. You can read that column here.

Today, I will look at the state senate and state delegate races in Frederick County, Maryland. The county is roughly split in half with the the northern and western regions falling into district 4 and the central and southern regions falling into district 3. In each district, voters elect one state senator and three state delegates.

District 4 has long been dominated by Republican representation due to a large voter registration advantage. There is no reason to expect a change in party affiliation in this year's election with Republican incumbents favored to win reelection. However, the race for the open delegate seat in district 4-a where voters elect two delegates, could be interesting between the many Republican candidates vying for it.

Incumbent Republican Joe Bartlett, who was elected in 1998 with the strength of his father's name (MD Sixth district Congressman Roscoe Bartlett), decided not to run after revelations of his using state funds to pay his girlfriend rent came to light. As a result, a slew of Republicans filed to run for this open seat.

One time Democrat, and now Republican Dino Flores is joined by Frederick County Republican Central Committee chair Kelly Schultz, long term county commissioner John "Lennie" Thompson and Kathy Afzali. Of these four, look to see John Thompson win and move on to the General Election.

Local attorney Flores is certainly qualified, but doubtful to win more votes than Thompson. Afzali has been battling her fellow Republicans by trying to claim she is more Rush Limbaugh "like" than they and using the phrase "don't let the good old boys win". It is highly unlikely her strategy will be successful. Frederick county Republican chair Kelly Schultz will be competitive, but the name recognition of Thompson will be hard to overcome.

Look to see the vote difference between the Republicans. If Stull wins, but the vote is close, it may indicate this is his last term in office.

Incumbent Republican Paul Stull, who was first elected in 1994, is the other Republican expected to win the primary. He succeeded Tom Hattery, the last Democrat to hold that seat. Hattery challenged and beat Democratic Beverley Byron in the Democratic primary for the western Maryland 6th district congressional seat. He was beat by Republican candidate Roscoe Bartlett, who is still in office and running for reelection.

Scott Geunthner is an "Unaffiliated" candidate on the ballot after securing enough signatures to be listed. Do not expect him to impact the race in any significant manner.

The local Democratic party, which has struggled for some time to field competitive candidates in this race, continued the trend, with only one candidate Ryan Trout filing for the two delegate seats. The Democratic party added Bonita Curry to the ballot after the filing deadline had expired. While Ryan Trout is a newcomer to politics, Ms. Curry has long been involved in volunteer efforts for Democratic candidates. They will not have a contested primary to show off their positions on issues which would benefit the voters in district 4-a should they be elected. While they will both move on, they are not expected to be competitive in the General Election.

In district 4-b, where voters will elect one delegate, the lone Democratic candidate is Timothy Schlauch. He has run a multitude of times and deserves credit for having done so. While he will move on to the General Election, do not expect him to beat incumbent Republican Donald Elliot who was first elected in 1986. However, at age 78, one has to be thinking how many more years will he run for office. Elliot is facing a contested primary against Kathryn Freed. But, it should not be close.

Popular district 4 state senator David Brinkley received a bye from the media in regard to his domestic problems with his wife resulting from his tryst with his administrative assistant. As a result, he is easily favored to win reelection.

In the primary, he will face little known Republican Kathryn Freed. The only Democrat to file, Sara Lou Trescott will move on to face Brinkley in the General Election. It will be interesting to see if Brinkley's alleged infidelity with an aide will be brought up after the primary.

In district 3, it is again the Republicans who have contested battles with Democrats having an interesting match up for state senate.

In district 3-a, where voters will elect two delegates, the Democrats have an uncontested primary with incumbent Galen Clagett and Candy Greenway.

Democratic delegate Sue Hecht's retirement has created an open seat and expect the Republicans to be very competitive and possibly pick up a seat in this district which favors Democrats in voter registration. Ms. Hecht's support by the voters exceeded her effectiveness in Annapolis, making this open seat vulnerable for Democrats.

Ms. Greenway's frequent appearances on the local cable political talk show "Pressing Issues" earned her the nickname "Clueless Candy" as her comments on issues showed her lack of knowledge. So, it is dubious as to how well she will do against Republican opponents in the general election.

Incumbent delegate Galen Clagett has done an excellent job representing the voters in district 3 and deserves another term in Annapolis. His membership on powerful state committees, including Appropriations, is a benefit to Frederick County.

Former delegate Pat Hogan will be favored to finish on top in the Republican primary and could easily win in the General Election, making this a pick up seat for Republicans. He lost to delegate Galen Clagett by only a couple of hundred votes four years ago.

Chris Huckenpoehler and Chuck Knapp are a toss-up in the battle for the other Republican seat. Huckenpoehler made it through the primary in last year's City of Frederick alderman race, but fared poorly in the General Election.

Another Republican; Scott Rolle will appear on the ballot, even though he has withdrawn from the race. A well known former Frederick County State's Attorney, his inclusion on the ballot may confuse some voters.

In district 3-b, where voters elect one delegate, the battle is between Republicans Charles Jenkins and Michael Hough, who are vying for the open seat vacated by Rick Weldon when he went to work for the City of Frederick.

Much Republican infighting has transpired in this race, beginning with the appointment of former Frederick County Commissioner Charles Jenkins to replace the departed Rick Weldon.

Michael Hough has a huge fund raising advantage on Jenkins and also enjoys the support of state senator Alex Mooney and Frederick County Commissioner Blaine Young.

Hough has also used the I'm more conservative than you and I signed a "no tax increase" pledge against Jenkins. While Jenkin's claim to fame has been proposed legislation combating illegal immigration. Look to see this race be much closer than the supporters of both candidates would prefer.

It would appear this is an excellent opportunity for Democrats to take advantage of the turmoil within the Republican party and pick up a seat.

Unfortunately, only perennial candidate Paul Gilligan is on the ballot and the Republicans will catch a break. A nice guy who has sound positions on environmental and land management issues, he has been unable to catch on with voters in this district.

This will mark the third time Gilligan has run for this position and the second time he will be the Democratic party nominee. Don't look to see the third time be the charm for the former Mayor of Burkittsville,

The state senate race in district 3 promises to be close and one to watch election night. It is also a good possibility for a pick up for Democrats.

The Democratic winner will face three term incumbent Republican Alex Mooney.

Don DeArmon will be facing Ron Young in the Democratic primary. Unlike, when Mr. Young defeated Mayor Jennifer Dougherty in the 2005 City of Frederick primary, there has been little to no friction or turmoil in this state senate Democratic primary.

Hopefully, this bodes well for the Democratic nominee and the winner will go on to defeat ineffective state senator Alex Mooney.

Both Democratic candidates are well known in district 3-a with Ron being a former four term mayor of the City of Frederick and Don DeArmon twice being the Democratic nominee for congress in the Maryland 6th congressional district.

Both have been supportive of Democratic candidates for all positions over the years. It is not unusual to see Mr. DeArmon's front and side yards, across from Culler Lake in Frederick, adorned with Democratic candidate signs.

Ron Young has once again shown his ability to place campaign signs everywhere, but remember, he did the same in the 2005 city election and lost to a political unknown; Republican Jeff Holtzinger.

Don DeArmon has much more cash on hand than does Ron Young which could be to his advantage when it come to closing the deal with voters through media, direct mail, and other get out the vote efforts.

However, Ron's secret weapon this time around is his wife Karen who is his campaign manager. Karen ran an excellent campaign for alderman in the City of Frederick election last year, finishing first and earning the mayor pro tem designation.

Mr. DeArmon's singular issue he has made a point of getting across to voters is he intends to "fix I-270". An ambitious task and one he hopes frustrated commuters can relate to.

A local business owner shared a story with me recently that sums up the primary race between these two Democrats. Upon his arrival home from work, his wife informed him she had met a nice man today who had stopped by the house. His name was Don DeArmon and he was running against Alex Mooney.

Her husband said to her I thought you were supporting Ron Young. She said oh, yes she was, but really liked Don DeArmon.

Stay Tuned....

---

To receive "Daily Email Updates", click on "Subscribe to this feed' below or use the sign up box located in the upper right hand margin.

MD Delegate Replacement Process for District 3-B has it's Shortcomings

George Wenschhof

Local Republican Central Committees were unable to reach agreement on the replacement for the vacant state delegate position from district 3-B. Instead, they have sent two names to Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and left the decision to him.

Who would have ever thought that questionable procedures to be followed to replace vacant state elected Delegate positions would ever touch the southern tip of Frederick county, Maryland.

Yet, it should not have been a surprise as this decade began with counties in the state of Florida counting "hanging chads" as the country struggled with determining the 2000 presidential election outcome.

The 2008 Democratic primary, aided by 24/7 News and Internet reporting, further provided a civics lesson when the convoluted process used by the Democratic Party to determine their nominee went on display.

Voters learned a state could hold a Caucus or the traditional voting procedure in their primary, each state could have a two step and sometimes three step process for awarding state delegates to the candidate, states were stripped of delegates due to holding their primary too early, and on top of all of those differences between states, candidates had to win over superdelegates who were not answerable to the voters.

All the nuances in procedure played important roles as the close and hard fought contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama played out. Fortunately, the Democratic presidential primary process is currently under review by the Democratic National Committee.

In Maryland, when a state delegate position becomes vacant, the process to fill the position is for the local central committee representing the political party held by the individual when they were elected to office, is charged with determining a replacement which is then confirmed by the Governor.

This is important, as Delegate Rick Weldon who resigned to take a position with the City of Frederick, was elected as a Republican and switched to "Unaffiliated" a year prior to leaving office. Some have questioned why the replacement should be a Republican.

Another part of the selection process for the replacement came into play as the state delegate from district 3-B represents voters in both Frederick and Washington counties. Which leads to the central committees in both counties having an equal say in the nomination process for the replacement per the state constitution.

Some have questioned the fairness of this as the voters in Washington county make up about 6% of the district. The argument, which is valid, is the Washington County Republican Central Committee should only have 6% of the vote in determining the next delegate.

Nonetheless, that is the process, with each central committee being able to submit a name to the Governor if the two committees do not agree on one individual. Which is exactly what happened when the Frederick County Republican Central Committee selected Michael Hough and the Washington County Republican Central Committee selecting Frederick county Commissioner Charles Jenkins.

Additional questions that have been asked pertain to if a member of the central committee who is under consideration for the vacant position can also vote. This was allegedly the case with Mr. Hough who as a member of the Frederick county Republican Central Committee, voted for himself.

Further aggravating to some Republicans was the vote by the central committees were secret with one strong rumor indicating Mr. Hough won by one vote (his own) in Frederick County. Also angering some Republicans were the interviews held by the central committees were held in private and not open to the public.

Now that both names have been submitted to the Governor, it is left to him to make the decision. Not necessarily a good position to put your Governor in, especially if he is a Democrat and you are a Republican.

It is already clear, that if the losing candidate is Michael Hough, he will use the appointment choice by Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley of Charles Jenkins against him. He will say he is running against the liberal Democratic Governor's choice for the district.

The 2008 presidential election and subsequent White House appointments by President Obama also pointed out differences in the filling of vacant U.S. Senate and House of Representatives positions by state. Some could be appointed and then subject to a special election, some were held vacant until a special election was held, and some could be appointed immediately.

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich hastened his already destined departure from office by talking about how the vacant Obama Senate seat was "fu..ing golden" in apparent reference to how valuable the position was to him as it was he was who would name the replacement.

Over in Delaware, Vice President Joe Biden's Senate seat was replaced by a placeholder (a long time family friend) who would hold the office until the next election when Beau Biden (yes, Joe's son) was back from serving in Afghanistan and would run for the position.

The late Ted Kennedy, prior to his death, appealed to have the Massachusetts law requiring a special election changed to be a Governor appointment as he knew this one vote in the senate would be crucial to the passage of health care reform. His appeal was successful in the state and that one vote did make a difference in the senate passing health care reform.

I wrote back in a column dated December 18, 2009 what the possibilities may be in replacing Rick Weldon, who has just made public his resignation. I was correct in predicting Michael Hough and Charles Jenkins as the main competitors for the position and pointed out the Republican central committees had the possibility of naming a placeholder until the general election on November 2. It made sense for if they chose Jenkins, they would have to go through another contentious process of naming his replacement and by not choosing Hough, they would avoid splitting their party.

As a Democrat, I am disheartened by Republicans being able to give a leg up in the Elections this Fall to one candidate, let alone two if Frederick County commissioner Charles Jenkins is selected. It is also questionable, if Jenkins, who has not filed to run for delegate or raised any significant funds, would run if he did not receive the interim appointment. However, I am no supporter of Mr. Hough.

I look forward to the Democrats fielding a competitive candidate(s) for Delegate in District 3-B, a district that is winnable for Democrats. There are about 31,000 registered voters in the district with the approximate breakdown being: Republicans-13,000, Democrats-12,000 and Unaffiliated/Others-6,000. A strong moderate Democrat would do well in this district.

Let's now hope the discussion moves to what the candidates propose to do for the voters in district 3-B.

----

To receive "Daily Updates" from Air-it-out with George Wenschhof, click on "Subscribe to this feed" below.

Frederick County Commissioner Speculation Begins

George Wenschhof

The next year will bring us many opinions from the pundits, including me, pertaining to who the candidates will be, their platforms and what issues will matter most to the local voters here in Frederick County, Maryland.

Sure to be the first and foremost issue will be the budget at the county and state levels. Keep an eye on how the candidates propose to balance the budget and what services will be provided. It was earlier this year when the county government, responding to cuts from the state, moved to reduce the amount of funds returned to municipalities through the tax equity program. Maybe we will see some candidates for state delegate or state senate speak to this issue and perhaps offer up "tax differential" as a solution. If this does become an issue, what will be the response from the county commissioner candidates?

Funding for education will always be a contentious issue and expect to see the mandate for funding the Thornton bill be debated by the state and county office candidates.

Close behind will be the issue of managed growth, as locally the struggle continues to be bringing the infrastructure in line with current build out, let alone future construction. Serious talk should take place over enacting a Frederick County transfer tax with a sunset provision. Those funds raised as a result being dedicated to infrastructure improvement within the county. Adding a tax during tough economic times is not generally a good idea for any political wannabee, yet efforts to obtain funds through new development has not resolved the gridlock facing local residents today.

County Commissioner slates are already being recruited by both "pro-growth" and "managed growth" interests. Delegate Galen Clagett (D) has made no secret of his efforts to recruit and put forward more business friendly candidates regardless of party affiliation. So far the early names being bandied about are two who work in the real estate field; Billy Shreve (R) who ran last year and Michael Kurtianyk (D). Whether or not delegate Clagett's efforts to meddle in county commissioner candidates backfires on his own reelection efforts remain to seen.

On the other end of the spectrum, Commissioner Kai Hagen (D) has announced he is running for reelection. He is also recruiting candidates who are supportive of managed growth. I wrote a column published on TheTenacle.com in August of 2006 where I talked about how this continued growth versus no-growth factions were not beneficial to the residents of Frederick County. You can read that column here for it remains true today.

Commissioner Hagen has maintained a high profile during his first term in office, taking a strong stance against the waste-to-energy incinerator, and opposing several recent annexations approved by the City of Frederick.

This may become another local issue for voters as two Republicans (Joan McIntyre and Farrell Keough), rumored to be considering a run for county commissioner, were in favor of the waste-to-energy plant. Commissioner Hagen, who was the lone commissioner to oppose the incinerator, holds out hope that a new board of county commissioners would reverse the decision to move forward and build the waste-to-energy facility.

How many of the other four incumbents on the county commissioners will seek reelection is yet to be determined. Republican John Thompson has won three elections in a row and even he wonders if he can make it four in a row. While Commissioner Thompson (R) has always been straight forward with his positions on issues, he has often being at odds with Developers. Rumors indicate he is considering a run against state senator David Brinkley (R) in district 4 or perhaps a run against delegate Paul Stull (R) in district 4-A. He would be competitive against either one but his best chance for election remains as commissioner.

In 2006, fellow commissioners Jan Gardner (D), David Gray (R) and Kai Hagen (D) ran together with Thompson (R) on a managed growth platform. This was unusual to see a bipartisan slate develop during a partisan election. I speculated on this as well back in 2006 while writing on TheTenacle.com. You can read that column here. Perhaps, due to this collaboration, Democrat Jan Gardner was awarded the President of the Board and with it, the gavel.

Ms. Gardner recently indicated she will not be seeking another term on the board. Yet one only needs to go back four years to remember her making the exact same statement. Only, to later announce in front of Winchester Hall to a group of supporters, she had been convinced by the voters to seek another term.

The speculation to her interest in another position also centers around state positions. One rumor has her taking on Republican state senator Alex Mooney (District 3) and the other would pit her against a long time nemesis; delegate Galen Clagett (District 3-A). She also would be competitive in both races. If I were to speculate, I would say she would go after the Clagett seat. While that race will surely not be easy, it will not take the same type of effort needed to unseat the well funded political machine of Alex Mooney. As potential candidates continue to talk with one another and take stock of the playing field, do not be surprised to see Jan Gardner run for county commissioner again.

The remaining incumbent commissioner Republican Charles Jenkins was the sole commissioner elected who was not a part of the "managed growth" slate. Early rumors had him running for state delegate in district 3-B which will be an open seat. Delegate Rick Weldon (Unaffiliated) has announced he will not be running for reelection. However, Republican Michael Hough has also announced he is running for delegate in 3-B and already has a huge fundraising advantage over Jenkins. Mr. Hough also has the support from Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-6th District) and Alex Mooney. Look to see Jenkins run for reelection to the board of county commissioners.

Another issue that should be discussed with the voters by county commissioner candidates is charter government. This idea picked up steam after the 2006 election, only to fade away after Madam President Jan Gardner indicated there was the need to educate the public prior to taking it up with the board for a vote. This is a favorite ploy used by politicos to scuttle a issue from moving forward. She was successful in having the issue die and never be brought up again. However, an election season is the perfect time so let's see if any of the commissioner candidates bring up the need to move to charter government in Frederick County. I also wrote about this four years ago and you can read about how to move the process forward here.

While the allure to run for state office is strong after serving as a county commissioner, few have had success. Galen Clagett after two terms as county commissioner from 1978-1986; one as president, ran for delegate in 1986 and lost. It would be 16 years before Mr. Clagett would hold an elected office again when he finally won the state delegate position in district 3-A in 2002 and was reelected in 2006.

Ron Sundergill, after serving one term as Board President, lost in the 1994 Republican wave of victories during Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America" platform.

Only Republican Anita Stup in recent memory won a delegate position immediately after serving as county commissioner. She won a seat in district 3 in 1990 and was reelected in 1994 after serving two terms as county commissioner from 1982 to 1990; the second term serving as president of the board.

Additional candidates for county commissioner are sure to come forward soon as the Thanksgiving season typically marks the beginning of the next political election year. One name to watch for from the recent City of Frederick election would be Democrat John Daniels. He ran a solid campaign for alderman and showed his professionalism as he researched the issues before taking positions on them. Republican Amanda Haddaway who also ran for alderman is another one to watch to see if she enters the race.

Due to the interest and success during the City of Frederick campaign, I will be interviewing the Democratic candidates live online throughout the election.

Stay Tuned!

----

To receive "Daily Updates" from Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof, click on "Subscribe to this feed' below.