Post-primary Thoughts, 2018 Edition

Although the 2018 Maryland Primary Election is not yet past us-- there are a couple key recounts that have yet to occur, if they occur at all-- it's appropriate at this point to weigh in on them in their totality, both locally to Howard County and to the state as a whole.  This post is about Howard County.  The state post is later.  As in tomorrow.

The first story in looking at the Howard County results is the most astonishing primary campaign in my experience in local politics-- the Democratic campaign for County Council in District 1, between Councilmember Jon Weinstein and Liz Walsh.  As of this writing, after absentees and provisionals have been counted, Walsh has a 2 vote advantage over Weinstein out of nearly 6,400 votes cast, a 0.03% margin.  Weinstein has until Monday to request a recount, which would reportedly occur July 11 or 12.

Whoever ultimately comes out on top of this election will have earned this victory.  And that this election ended in the state that it's in is a testament to Liz Walsh and her supporters.  Walsh is a political outsider who had no plans to run for anything until several days before February's filing deadline.  And yet, she was able to draw many people to her campaign, some because they were unhappy with decisions made by Weinstein during his term, but some, also, because they held a belief in the possible.  And because they hold belief in her. This is especially true, I've found, in the Elkridge community, where I spent a good bit of time during the primary.  So to cast Liz Walsh as some anti-development reactionary, a face to whom the discontented can identify, is a mistake.  I find her to be very demanding of the development community and populist in belief.  Moreover, Council District 1 has always been politically flexible and subject to winds of the moment.  It's very possible that these winds have carried her to a well-earned victory which will have to be validated by a general election victory against Raj Kathuria.  Should this result hold, or even should it change, local Democrats will have an opportunity to expand the party in Ellicott City and Elkridge and it needs to capitalize upon this opportunity.

All of that said, I'm also going to take the moment to recognize what Jon Weinstein has done for the District 1 community.  I have always found Jon to be practical and pragmatic in his approach towards politics.  And I hold the opinion that while doubtless he has done some things during his term in office that have frustrated some residents and party loyalists, he has also done some things that have shown insight and competence that a more partisan person could not bring to the table.  Moreover, I believe that some of the things in District 1 for which Jon has been held accountable for, were truly, not things that occurred on his watch.  Should the current results hold, I will hold some sadness that this comes at Jon's expense.  I have been supportive of him in the past and I will remain hopeful that his time serving the people of Howard County will not have come to an end.

As I wrote above, District 1 deserves the attention of local Democrats this fall.  Since District 1 has assumed it's Ellicott City-Elkridge configuration, here is the list of County Councilmembers elected to represent it:

1986: Democrat Angie Beltram

1990 and 1994: Republican Darrel Drown

1998 and 2002: Republican Chris Merdon

2006 and 2010: Democrat Courtney Watson

2014: Democrat Jon Weinstein

See what I mean?  A 4-4 split over the last 32 years.  Yes, District 3 has had Councilmembers of both parties, but District 1 has been the true swing district of Howard County.  The Democratic nominee-- Walsh or Weinstein-- will need help.

Other observations on the HoCo front:

Christiana Mercer Rigby had a convincing win in the Council District 3 Democratic primary and becomes the first new member of the County Council, as she is unopposed in the general.  Of course she has to wait until December to be sworn in but the size of her margin is a testament to her early start and broad support.  I was surprised by Hiruy Hagdu's second place finish; my read on it is that dissatisfaction with development continues to exist on the southern portion of the US1 corridor as well.

Deb Jung had a huge Democratic primary win against Janet Siddiqui and will face Republican Lisa Kim in the fall.  I remain hopeful that this defeat marks the end of the Janet and Nayab Siddiqui reign of terror in Howard County politics.  And I think that District 4 would be well-served to send Deb to Ellicott City come November.  She has worked the grassroots hard and in every way is more well-qualified to serve than her opponent.

I think almost everyone thought the Democratic primary between Clarence Lam and Mary Kay Sigaty in District 12 would be closer.  I know I did, though I always thought Lam would win.  Sigaty had a lot of presence in terms of signs and support in Baltimore County; however, the record of those southwest Baltimore County Democrats remains unblemished in terms of the candidates they support in District 12 against a Howard County Democrat who has done good work.  As in, none of them have won.  A shame that three noted former Howard County Democratic elected officials got caught up in that nonsense.  I appreciate everything Mary Kay Sigaty has done as the Councilmember from District 4; however, her State Senate candidacy always seemed phase shifted out of place, and ultimately, the voters agreed.

Courtney Watson had an impressive win over Dan Medinger in the State Delegate 9B Democratic primary.  This should give her a lot of momentum in her general election campaign against incumbent Delegate Bob Flanagan, but let's not forget that Watson has beaten Flanagan before and she can do it again.  But the margin by which she won the primary suggests to me that this is a bit of a different Watson campaign, more like the 2002-2010 versions than the 2014 version.  More focused, directed, and full of intent.  If this is the case, then ridding the General Assembly of Flanagan, while not an easy task, will be one she will achieve, and in so doing, will provide a public service that has been overdue in Maryland by about 30 years.

I also want to congratulate other primary winners of note, including Republican David Yungmann in District 5, Democrats Steve Bolen and Natalie Ziegler in District 9A, Democrat Calvin Ball for County Executive (but was that really a primary?  Honestly.), Democrats Alicia Altiramano, Gabe Moreno, Margaret Weinstein and Josh Friedman to their party's central committee, and last but not least, Democrat Jessica Feldmark in District 12.  On the latter account, Jessica went out and earned her victory, and was able to do all the things needed to win a local campaign.  It was well organized and done, and attempts to counter that through alternative means that hadn't been tested on this scope-- well, let's just say those means remain in the political laboratory.  She will be a fine partner to Terri Hill and Eric Ebersole and will acquit herself well against the virulently toxic Republicans running in District 12.

This has become an extremely long post and I haven't even touched upon anywhere other than Howard County yet.  More on that to come.

Let's be careful out there.

 #hocopolitics #hocodems #hocoGOP #hococouncil #mdpolitics #hocoblogs

Comments

[Deborah A Lattimer]

You completely ignored the fact that all 16 candidates on the “HoCo Forward” slate for the Democratic Central Committee won by a significant margin—a testament to their “diversity & inclusion” message and their commitment to grassroots campaigning. Why is that?