Gilchrest

The rough-and-tumble Republican primary in Maryland's 1st Congressional District got wilder yesterday with the entry of a second state senator in the race against incumbent Wayne T. Gilchrest. Sen. E.J. Pipkin, a second-term Republican from the Eastern Shore, officially announced his candidacy yesterday, bringing a maverick streak - and a personal fortune earned on Wall Street - to a race that has gained national attention. Sen. Andrew P. Harris has been running since the spring, raising more than $500,000 this year and pulling in the support of national conservative advocacy groups, as well as former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Pipkin said his campaign will focus on cutting taxes, reducing federal spending, stopping illegal immigration, and reforming the nation's utility regulations.

Dredging the port is crucial to economy, won't hurt the bayWhen it comes to dredging the shipping channels leading to Baltimore, Rep. Wayne Gilchrest seems to be a reincarnation of the late Rep. Clarence Long of Baltimore County Mr. Gilchrest has used the same rhetoric, the same overblown fears of contamination to gain the limelight ("Putting spoil in the bay opposed" July 21).But this time Mr. Gilchrest has been able to pass language in the Appropriations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives that would delay, if not stop, the use of Site 104 in the upper bay to dispose of the dredged material.

BERLIN -- A group of five congressmen pledged their support yesterday for strengthening protections for chicken growers after listening to them describe financial hardship and fear at the hands of the nation's large poultry companies.The group, led by Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, a Maryland Republican, listened for several hours to the stories of Delmarva farmers, poultry plant workers, chicken catchers and environmental activists. They donned plastic boots to wade through ankle-deep mud at the Parsonsburg farm of Arthur Holley, passing a front-end loader full of bloated chicken carcasses, as Holley explained that his contract with the Mountaire Farms poultry company sometimes doesn't pay enough to meet his $350,000 mortgage on four chicken houses.

Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest added his voice yesterday to the growing federal chorus opposed to plans to dump 18 million cubic yards of silt and mud from Baltimore harbor's approach channels in open waters near the Bay Bridge.Gilchrest, an Eastern Shore Republican whose district includes the land closest to the proposed dump site, called on the U.S. Corps of Engineers to tear up the draft environmental impact statement it released last winter and start over. Ultimately, he said, the corps should reject the site, a 4-mile-long area about a mile from Kent Island.

WASHINGTON -- A Connecticut congressman believes he's found the perfect place to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., but it's not in his own Nutmeg State. And it's not in King's native Atlanta.The most fitting site to rename for the slain civil rights leader, who was born 70 years ago yesterday, is Baltimore-Washington International Airport, says Republican Rep. Christopher Shays."I asked him, `Why not do it in Atlanta?' " said Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, an Eastern Shore Republican whose district includes much of the airport's grounds in Anne Arundel County.

State Del. Bennett Bozman, a conservative Democrat from the Eastern Shore, said yesterday that he plans to run for Congress next year against Republican Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest.Bozman, a third-term delegate from Worcester County, could give Gilchrest his most serious challenge in eight years. Bozman said he is "about 99 percent" certain he will run for the 1st District congressional seat.The 1st District includes all the Eastern Shore, parts of Anne Arundel County and a sliver of southern Baltimore.

Here is how members of Maryland's delegation on Capitol Hill were recorded on important roll-call votes last week:Y: Yes N: No X: Not votingHouse: Gun showsVoting 218 for and 211 against, the House approved the weaker of two proposals for requiring background checks on buyers at gun shows. Written by John D. Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, it was supported by the National Rifle Association and opposed by Handgun Control Inc. It addressed a loophole that allows unlicensed dealers at weekend shows and flea markets to sell firearms without federal checks to determine whether the buyer has a criminal record.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, an Eastern Shore Republican, has become the first Marylander in Congress to call on NATO to commit ground troops to Yugoslavia, arguing that the continued airstrikes alone will not roust the Serbian forces from Kosovo.Most of the state's other lawmakers are divided over the wisdom of the Clinton administration's use of airstrikes, with Republicans offering varying criticism of the president and Democrats expressing solid support.Reflecting the wariness of many lawmakers toward a deeper involvement in Kosovo, most of the Marylanders said it was premature to consider the introduction of U.S. soldiers on the ground.

Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, in a characteristic break with the state's Republican establishment, has agreed to serve as chairman of Arizona Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign in Maryland.The Eastern Shore congressman said Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the Republican front-runner, is a "fine man" but that McCain is a "bold and visionary" candidate."I just want someone in there who has the guts and the brains to do the right thing, and I think McCain is that person," Gilchrest said.Howard Opinsky, press secretary for McCain's campaign, said Gilchrest is the first well-known Maryland Republican official to endorse the senator.

Here is how members of Maryland's delegation on Capitol Hill were recorded on important roll-call votes last week: Y: Yes N: No X: Not votingHouse: Religious expressionVoting 306 for and 118 against, the House passed on Thursday a bill (HR 1691) making it more difficult for state or local governments to infringe upon expressions of religion or the actions of religious groups. The bill requires governments to meet a higher standard of evidence to justify interfering with the free expression of religion.

Washington -Even before Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter switched to the Democratic side, Republican leaders were warning that their national party was in danger of becoming a regional one. Specter's departure, part of a larger Republican shift away from the Northeast, has left a hole on the political map. For the first time since the founding of the Republican Party in the 1850s, there is not a single Republican senator from Maryland or any of the four...

Courageous stand for gay marriage I was very pleased to read of former Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest's testimony in Annapolis in support of same-sex civil marriage ("Support for gay marriage," March 13). Mr. Gilchrest, unlike most in his party, "gets it" when it comes to the injustice inherent in denying one group of citizens access to rights accorded other citizens. He understands that the issue of same-sex civil marriage has nothing to do with religion, that no church can be, or would be, compelled to sanctify a marriage that violates that congregation's tenets.

A freedom rider, a former Republican congressman and the state's chief legal officer banded together yesterday to testify in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in Maryland - evidence that proponents say shows the issue is gaining momentum. Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler appeared for the second year in a row before a General Assembly committee to testify for the legislation. This year, he was joined by former U.S. Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, who lost the Republican primary last year after 18 years in Congress, and Travis Britt, an African-American civil rights activist and widower of the late Sen. Gwendolyn T. Britt, who was to be the lead sponsor of the bill before her death last year.

Congress will miss voice of a veteran I'd like to add my voice to those saying farewell to Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest as he leaves Congress. But in my case, I do so as a fellow Vietnam War combat veteran ("For Gilchrest, a peaceful farewell," Jan. 5). With his departure, the Maryland congressional delegation has not a single wartime veteran. Does that matter? I believe it does, especially as our country faces economic woes that could become the next Great Depression. The last depression was only ended by a world war, and this one might end up that way, too. That must be prevented at all costs.

On December 17, 2008, Stanley Wroblewski, A funeral service will be held at the CONNELLY FUNERAL HOME OF ESSEX, 300 Mace Avenue on Monday at 1P.M. Visiting hours Sunday 3 to 5 and 7 to 9P.M. Interment private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Gilchrest Hospice Care, 555 W. Towsontown Blvd., Towson, MD. 21204.

A poisonous brew of revenge, ideology and personal ambition leaves former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and his party reeling. With Mr. Ehrlich's assistance, the GOP lost half its already diminished representation in statewide public office. Any notion that he could be a kingmaker - or re-establish his own credentials - seemed mere fantasy after the ballots were counted. Going into Election 2008, Republicans had a pair of House members. In the recent past it had four, and in the 1980s a U.S. senator.

Democrat Frank M. Kratovil Jr. appeared ready to declare victory in the 1st Congressional District after the bulk of the provisional ballots from last week's election were counted yesterday. With about 8,000 absentee and provisional ballots outstanding, Kratovil leads Harris by 2,154 votes, or 0.6 percent of the 352,813 counted in the state's most competitive congressional race this year. Kratovil, 40, the state's attorney for Queen Anne's County, announced a news conference for this afternoon.

In the closing weeks of their run for Congress, Andy Harris and Frank Kratovil have claimed a wish to get away from negative campaigning. But it seems they just can't help themselves. With the election in just four days - a period when campaign professionals advise office-seekers to drop attacks and send voters to the polls with a positive message - the state's most competitive race is ending pretty much as it began: With the candidates tearing into each other. Harris, a Republican state senator from Baltimore County who has cast Kratovil in recent advertisements as a "Martin O'Malley, tax-and-spend liberal," has opened a new line of attack this week: questioning the Democrat's handling of a pair of cases as the state's attorney in Queen Anne's County.

Maryland, we have ourselves a race. In a district that covers some of the most conservative terrain in the state, Republican Andy Harris is fighting off surging Democrat Frank Kratovil in a race shaped by aggressive advertising, a steep drop in fortunes for Harris' party nationwide and lots of outside money. The Eastern Shore-based district, which sent Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest to Washington nine times, was considered safe for the Republicans as recently as February. But Democrats now see a shot at picking up their seventh of Maryland's eight House seats.

Maryland, we have ourselves a race. In a district that covers some of the most conservative terrain in the state, Republican Andy Harris is fighting off surging Democrat Frank Kratovil in a race shaped by aggressive advertising, a steep drop in fortunes for Harris' party nationwide and lots of outside money. The Eastern Shore-based district, which sent Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest to Washington nine times, was considered safe for the Republicans as recently as February. But Democrats now see a shot at picking up their seventh of Maryland's eight House seats.