On last Day of Filing, Aloi and Hirsch File for Mayor

George Wenschhof

Alderwoman Shelley Aloi

Republican alderwoman Shelley Aloi, who kept voters wondering what office she would be running for, made her run for mayor official on the last day candidates could file to run for office in The City of Frederick election.

Carol Hirsch, a Democrat, also filed for mayor.  With, the additions of Aloi and Hirsch, there are now four women and three men running for mayor.

The possibility now exists three women could face each other in the General Election in November, which would be a first for the city.

Aloi, who has been critical of Mayor Randy McClement during her term as alderwoman, continued her derisive comments of the mayor telling me, in an interview, “The City of Frederick cannot take four more years of the mayor”.

She added McClement had not made the tough decisions in regard to the underfunded city employee pension and other post employee benefit (OPEB) programs. 

Estimates are the city pension plan is underfunded by $78 million and OPEB is underfunded by $104 million.

A total of seven candidates filed for mayor and 15 for alderman.  The City of Frederick website has a list of the primary election candidates here.

Only two incumbent aldermen filed for reelection.  They are Democrats Michael O’Connor and Kelly Russell.

 

Incumbent alderwoman Carol Crimm (D) did not file for reelection and is heavily rumored to be running for state delegate.  Delegate Galen Clagett (D-district 3-a) is running for mayor and has already announced he is not running for reelection for delegate. 

 

Incumbent alderwoman Karen Young (D) joins Shelley Aloi (R) in challenging McClement for mayor.

Voters will elect a mayor and a five member board of aldermen.  The primary election is September 10 and the general election is November 5.

Stay tuned.

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George Wenschhof


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Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Obama, Bush Mourn al-Qaeda Victims in Tanzania - President Barack Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush met in an African capital Tuesday to honor the victims of Osama bin Laden’s opening salvo in his war against America.
 
The near-simultaneous bombings at two U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 claimed the lives of 224 people, including 12 Americans.

A few months before the attacks in August 1998, bin Laden had warned his war would "inevitably move ... to American soil." U.S. embassies are American territory, according to international law.  NBC News has more here.
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Obama Calls Egyptian President Morsi, Urges Peaceful Resolution - President Barack Obama called Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on Monday to discuss the recent developments in Egypt, according to the White House.
 
Obama told Morsi that the U.S. is committed to maintaining democracy in Egypt and does not support any one party or group. He urged Morsi to show that he is receptive to the public's concerns and to solve the conflict through a political process, stressing that "only Egyptians can make the decisions that will determine their future," per the White House readout of the call.

The President also stated his commitment to maintaining the safety of U.S. citizens and diplomats in Egypt during that process.  TPM.com has more here.

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Snowden Drops Asylum Request in Russia - Fugitive Edward Snowden has withdrawn his request for Russian political asylum, a presidential spokesman said Tuesday, apparently because he was unwilling to go along with President Vladimir Putin’s requirement that he stop any activity damaging to the United States.

“He has abandoned this idea and his request for permission to stay in Russia,” Dmitri Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, told Interfax and other reporters Tuesday.

Peskov reiterated that Russia had no intention of returning Snowden to the United States, where he has been charged with leaking classified documents.  The Washington Post has more here.

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Clinton Leads Bush, Rubio Among Latino Voters for 2016 - A new poll of likely Hispanic voters in the 2016 presidential election shows strong support for the two candidates seen as potential Democratic nominees: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Biden.

The survey, by Latino Decisions, also revealed Republican candidates continue to significantly trail among Hispanic voters, with even champions of immigration reform like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush significantly behind top Democrats.

Rubio, unsurprisingly, would begin with a major deficit in a head-to-head matchup with Clinton. According to the poll, Clinton would win Hispanic voters 66-28 percent, with 6 percent remaining undecided. Biden fares nearly as well, holding a 60-28 percent advantage over Rubio with 12 percent undecided.  TheHill.com has more here.

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Opponents of Abortion Restrictions Rally in Texas - Thousands of opponents of a Texas proposal to tighten abortion restrictions rallied outside the statehouse on Monday, giving a hero's welcome to Democratic state Senator Wendy Davis, whose 11-hour speech stalled the measure last week.

As the Republican-dominated state legislature convened for a second special session on Monday, supporters said they expected the bill would pass this time. With few exceptions, it would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The proposal would also subject abortion clinics to stronger health and safety rules, which the nation's biggest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, has said could cause all but six of Texas' 42 abortion centers to close. Republicans have called that an exaggeration.  Reuters.com has more here.

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Alison Lundergan Grimes to Challenge McConnell in Kentucky Senate Race - Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes announced she will challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2014, ending months of speculation about whether Democrats could deliver a top recruit for that targeted race.

“I have met with my supporters, we have had a great conversation, and determined and decided that we can next make the best move, the best difference in the commonwealth of Kentucky, by running for the U.S. Senate,” Grimes said at a Monday event in Kentucky.

National Democrats had laid all their hopes with Grimes’ bid since March, when actress Ashley Judd announced she wouldn’t run against McConnell. A top fundraiser and brutal campaigner, McConnell is a top target for Democrats this cycle.  RollCall.com has more here.

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Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof 

Obama Sends Thoughts to Families of Firefighters Killed in Arizona - President Barack Obama said Monday that his thoughts are with the families of 19 firefighters who were killed battling a blaze in Arizona.
 
"Yesterday, nineteen firefighters were killed in the line of duty while fighting a wildfire outside Yarnell, Arizona," he said in a statement. "They were heroes -- highly-skilled professionals who, like so many across our country do every day, selflessly put themselves in harm's way to protect the lives and property of fellow citizens they would never meet. In recent days, hundreds of firefighters have battled extremely dangerous blazes across Arizona and the Southwest. The federal government is already assisting, and we will remain in close contact with state and local officials to provide the support they need. But today, Michelle and I join all Americans in sending our thoughts and prayers to the families of these brave firefighters and all whose lives have been upended by this terrible tragedy."  TPM.com has more here.

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Snowden Stuck in Russia - Three weeks after Snowden revealed himself as the source of leaked top-secret documents on U.S. intelligence gathering, the former intelligence contractor is stuck in legal limbo in Russia. Although he has not been seen publicly in days, he is thought to be inside a transit area of a Moscow airport.

On Sunday, two of his strongest supporters — Julian Assange of WikiLeaks and President Rafael Correa of Ecuador — said it was unlikely that Snowden would leave there anytime soon.

“The United States, by canceling his passport, has left him for the moment marooned in Russia,” said Assange, whose anti-secrecy organization has aided Snowden in his flight.  The Washington Post has more here.

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Strong Democratic Support for Hillary Clinton in 2016 - Early supporters of Barack Obama in 2008 are embracing the prospects of a Hillary Clinton run in 2016.

Several House Democrats who endorsed Obama over Clinton in the 2008 primary said that all signs point to widespread Democratic support for a second presidential bid for the former secretary of State.

One of Obama’s earliest supporters, Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), said that if Clinton chooses to run, she will be the favorite.

Fattah’s sentiments come on the heels of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) contention that Democrats are coalescing behind a Clinton candidacy.

Pelosi recently told USA Today, "There's a great deal of excitement about the prospect that she would run. I don't know why she wouldn't run. She's prepared. She's well-known. She's highly respected. She knows she could do the job very, very well.”  TheHill.com has more here.

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Unemployment Hits Record high in Eurozone - Euro zone unemployment was at a record high in May, but consumer prices rose in June for a second month in a row and staved off the threat of deflation in the bloc's sickly economy.

The ECB holds a monetary policy meeting on Thursday, though it is expected to hold interest rates at the current record lows for the foreseeable future.

In a sign of the weak economy, unemployment in the bloc stood at a record 12.1 percent, a touch above the revised figure of 12.0 percent in April, but below Eurostat's earlier reading of 12.2 percent. It was lower than a forecast by economists polled by Reuters, who saw a reading of 12.3 percent in May.  Reuters.com has more here.

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Justice Kennedy Denies Motion to Halt Gay Marriage - Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has denied a request from Proposition 8 supporters in California to halt the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses in the nation's most populous state.

Kennedy turned away the request on Sunday with no additional comment.

Same-sex marriage opponents asked him to step in on Saturday, a day after the federal appeals court in San Francisco allowed same-sex marriages to go forward. Numerous weddings were performed at San Francisco City Hall following the court decisions.

The opponents said the appeals court had acted about three weeks too soon. Proposition 8 supporters could continue their efforts to halt gay marriage by filing their request with another Supreme Court justice.  Politico.com has more here.

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GOP Begins Program to Recruit Female Candidates - With a stagnant number of women in its caucus, the House GOP’s campaign organization announced a new program Friday, Project Grow, to recruit, mentor and elect more female candidates in 2014.

“We need more women to run,” Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said. “Project Grow will plant that seed that will get them thinking of doing it.”

CQ Roll Call reported earlier this week that the National Republican Congressional Committee was in the early stages of formalizing a female candidate recruitment program for the upcoming midterm cycle. The NRCC’s announcement was part of a joint event with six GOP committees that are making an new organized effort to help female candidates.

The “Women on the Right UNITE” effort is run by the Republican National Committee, NRCC, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Republican State Leadership Committee, College Republican National Committee and Republican Governors Association. The goal is to help female candidates ascend to all levels of government.  RollCall.com has more here.

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Protesters Demand Morsy Step Down - Egyptians who helped overthrow a 29-year dictatorship in a widely hailed revolution have now given the country's first democratically elected president one day to step down from office.

In a statement posted Monday on its official Facebook page, Tamarod (the "rebel" campaign") demanded that if President Mohamed Morsy doesn't leave office by Tuesday, the group will begin a civil disobedience movement, call for nationwide protests and march on the presidential palace, where Morsy's administration is running affairs.

 

On Monday, protesters stormed the main headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the party that Morsy led before his election. Armed with Molotov cocktails, the mob set the office on fire, shouting, "The people have toppled the regime."

 

At least 16 people were killed and more than 780 were wounded Sunday and Monday during the unrest in Egypt, the nation's health minister said, according to the official Egypt News agency.  CNN.com has more here.

 

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