Alex Mooney wins GOP chair
Departing state Sen. Alex X. Mooney has been elected chairman of the Maryland Republican Party after a contested election. He edged out Mary Kane, who ran for lieutenant governor this year.
We will have updates with the vote count and additional details right here.
Mooney can look forward to a season of change: Gov. Martin O'Malley and the Democrat-controlled General Assembly will be redrawing legislative and congressional districts, term limits mean the next gubernatorial race will be for an open seat and, for the first time since 1998, former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is unlikely to be the party's nominee for governor.
"The party is on the brink of making a change of some sort," Chris Cavey, a former chairman of the Baltimore County Republican Party said in a story published today. "It is at the crux of change. and [Saturday] is Day One."
Ehrlich's 14.5-percentage point loss to O'Malley last month in a year that was good for Republicans elsewhere has stirred debate within the Maryland GOP, with some saying the party should focus more on local elections than on the top of the ticket, while others want to aggressively recruit new members from Democratic strongholds such as Baltimore.
Comments
What a joke.
Posted by: KingSolomon | December 11, 2010 2:06 PM
That's good news to the leaders in the Democratic Party. Mooney will undoubtedly raise money on behalf of Republican nominees, but, he'll meddle so much prior to the primaries, that he'll create contempt among the rank and file.
Just shows that Republicans in office will always put money before common sense.
Posted by: Tim Ferguson | December 11, 2010 2:10 PM
In 1998 Ellen Sauerbrey was the nominee, Ehrlich wasn't the nominee until 2002. I worry that Mooney will not realize that in order to succeed in Maryland the GOP must embrace Conservatives, Liberals and Moderates in the party. While I would like to see a Butch Otter or Nikki Haley win in Md the chances are slim.
I wish the State GOP had considered there was a reason that 25% of primary voters didn't vote for Mooney even though he ran unopposed. He was the only incumbent Republican to lose in the General Election in Frederick County. He was a horrible senator who only showed up at election time. I hope that he has learned from his loss and that he will do well for the state party.
Posted by: Fred Co Resident | December 11, 2010 5:15 PM
Good news for Dems, I'd say.
Posted by: Ol' Lefty | December 13, 2010 3:15 PM