Results Are In! Howard County tallies final votes
More than a week after the general election, the Howard County Board of Elections has announced the top three vote-getters in the race for the Howard County school board. The winners are current members Janet Siddiqui and Ellen Flynn Giles and newcomer Allen Dyer.
Siddiqui, a pediatrician from Clarksville who was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board last year, led all candidates with 62,126 votes. Giles, the board’s current vice chairman, received 57,266 votes. Dyer, an attorney from Ellicott City who ran unsuccessfully for the board in 2006, received 54,148 votes.
Diane Butler, a community activist from Ellicott City who claimed that Dyer hurt her chances when he distributed campaign literature that was taken out of context and distributed without her permission, placed fourth with 53,459. Retiree Betsy Grater was in fifth place with 34,686 votes. University of Maryland student Di Zou finished sixth with 22,406 votes.
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
Let no one be misled here. However the material distributed by the Dyer campaign may have been interpreted by the various recipients, it was simply an unaltered reprint of the questions sent by Democracy for Howard County and answers received from the only three candidates who provided responses. Those three candidates were Diane Butler, Allen Dyer, and Ellen Flynn Giles. Largely on the basis of that questionnaire, DFH endorsed only Mr. Dyer and Ms. Giles. At the top of the Dyer piece were these words: "See Why Democracy for Howard County Endorsed Allen Dyer and Ellen Flynn Giles for Board of Education" At the end, it was explained that it was "Complied and authorized by Citizens for Allen Dyer" and specifically authorized by his treasurer. Mr. Dyer obviously didn't need Ms. Butler's permission to accurately distribute words that she had freely given in writing to Democracy for Howard County, which was also free to quote them if they chose.
Posted by: Kenneth Stevens | November 15, 2008 8:04 AM