Like other Republican candidates around the country, Andy Harris will stress fiscal responsibility as he attempts to take back a Democratic seat in this fall's election.
Harris, who is formally launching his candidacy today, vows to abstain from earmarking if he becomes the congressman from Maryland's 1st District, which covers the Eastern Shore and portions of Baltimore, Harford and Anne Arundel counties and is currently represented by endangered Democratic freshman Frank Kratovil.
"Some people run and promise to be independent," Harris said in an interview. "A no-new-earmarks pledge clearly makes you independent from both political parties right now."
If he wins and keeps his promise, Harris would become one of a relative handful of senators and representatives who shun the earmark system.
All current members of the Maryland congressional delegation, Democrat and Republican alike, aggressively and unapologetically seek federal earmark funds for pet projects in their district and the state. During 2009, they succeeded in steering hundreds of millions in taxpayer money to Maryland.
But Harris says those efforts reflect an "inside-the-Beltway" mentality that most Americans don't share. Increasingly, he said, voters "view earmarks as political payoffs."
The earmark process, which has been criticized as wasteful and potentially corrupt, results in fewer dollars coming back to Maryland than what taxpayers sent in the first place, according to Harris. Earmark money, and unspent funds from last year's stimulus law, would be better off left in Washington to help reduce the federal budget deficit, he said.
The 12-year state Senate veteran from Baltimore County is giving up his office in the legislature for another try at the House seat he nearly won in 2008. He could still face a September primary contest against Republican state Sen. E. J. Pipkin, who has yet to announce his plans.
Harris is making a daylong swing across the district to let people know what he's been doing for months: running for Congress again.
