Maryland Republican Party

Del. Kenneth C. Holt, a 6th District Republican, has appointed Rajiv Goel as a special assistant to his legislative staff.Mr. Goel of Havre de Grace has worked with Mr. Holt as a legislative aide during the past General Assembly session. Prior to his new position, Mr. Goel was a special projects coordinator with the Maryland Republican Party and assisted Republican candidates during the 1994 election.

March has been a rough month for Maryland Republicans. In Annapolis, they watched helplessly as Democrats worked their way through an ambitious ideological wish list that includes new taxes and spending, death penalty repeal, Second Amendment limitations, wind power subsidies, and other proposals anathema to Republicans. Seven of 12 GOP senators - apparent victims of "Stockholm syndrome" - - supported Gov. Martin O'Malley's budget, which includes $1 billion in new spending. And just as state Democrats rammed through an 87 percent hike in state gas taxes, David Ferguson, executive director of the Maryland Republican Party, canceled a planned training session for candidates to embark on a quixotic national "tour" to preach the evils of a possible Martin O'Malley presidency.

On September 8, 2006, after a brief illness, Grace Scaggs M-BM- Entombment Private.M-BM- In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be directed in Grace's memory to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Center for Digestive Disease, 4940 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MDM-BM- 21224 &/or the Maryland Republican Party, 15 West Street, Annapolis, MDM-BM- 21401.M-BM- Arrangments-LEMMON FUNERAL HOME OF DULANEY VALLEY INC. 410-252-6000. M-BM-

Maryland's Republican Party is once again in the red and plans to move its party headquarters to cut costs, according to financial reports discussed Saturday at the party's annual convention. The party owes $122,000, most of it to two vendors, and has $48,000 in its bank accounts, GOP Treasurer R. Christopher Rosenthal told delegates meeting at the Sheraton Annapolis Hotel. The party also has access to a $33,000 line of credit, which he says adds flexibility. "I'd like to see it better than that," Rosenthal said.

For the city's 32,000 registered Republicans -- and 18,000 registered independents who can vote in the GOP primary -- the mayoral race is a low-key contest between Victor Clark, a car salesman, Arthur Coffey, a retired budget analyst, and S. Scott McCown, a security consultant.The Sun endorses Mr. Clark, a one-time Democrat who 20 years ago became a GOP convert and is the second vice chairman of the Maryland Republican Party. His leadership offers the best hope to begin the process of building a genuine two-party system in this city.

A day after Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to federal fraud and tax evasion charges, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said he would return the $16,000 in campaign contributions he received from the lobbyist and his wife. The Maryland Republican Party also returned $4,020 it received from the Abramoffs, and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski announced plans to donate to charity money she received from Indian tribes that were Abramoff clients. But the other Maryland Democrat who received money from Abramoff clients, Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Southern Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, planned last night to keep the money, according to his spokesman.

The Republicans of Maryland are feeling a little edgy today. David Duke says he's coming here in March, and everybody around George Bush wants to make one thing clear: This guy has nothing to do with us.''David Duke's a phony,'' Richard Taylor, Republican National Committeeman for Maryland, said yesterday. ''He's a charlatan. He's a fascist and a racist.''Is that clear enough?''Duke's an opportunist and a charlatan,'' said Kevin Igoe, executive director of the Maryland Republican Party. ''And he's a racist bigot.

Road work beginsRestriping and parking modifications along Crain Highway, from Maryland Avenue to Fifth Avenue in Glen Burnie, will begin Aug. 10.Contracted through the Maryland Department of Transportation, the two-week project is divided into three phases, beginning with moving the center line and putting up new parking signs.Bay film completedThe Chesapeake Bay Foundation recently completed a 29-minute film about the bay for commercial and public television broadcast beginning this summer.

Mary D. Kane Occupation: Maryland secretary of state. In the news: Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. appointed her last week to be secretary of state. She is responsible for overseeing and registering charitable organizations; administering the Maryland Charity Campaign; and recording executive orders and registrations for condominiums, notaries public and trademarks. The secretary also administers the state's international sister states program and other foreign affairs. Career highlights: After earning a business and finance degree from Mount St. Mary's College, the Wilmington, Del., native worked for Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Capitol Hill and then for the American Trucking Association.

The Maryland Republican Party has hired former Delaware GOP official Eric Sutton as executive director, directing him to capitalize on the win of Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to build a competitive two-party system. Sutton, 26, was introduced to Republican leaders this week, and accompanied new party Chairman John M. Kane in the State House yesterday during the General Assembly's opening day. His most recent experience is as Delaware Republican State Committee executive director. "He comes from an environment that I said I was looking for: running a state party when the governor has control," Kane said.

Here's a look at what others are saying about Tuesday's midterm election results. Check back throughout the day for new links to commentary and analysis of Maryland's top races and ballot items. • With Gov. Martin O'Malley topping his margin of victory from his first matchup with Robert L. Ehrlich four years ago, The Washington Post's Maryland Politics blog looks at where the governor picked up votes. Early in the campaign, Ehrlich said he hoped to make inroads in Montgomery County, which is home to many Republican and independent voters despite its reputation as a Democratic bastion.

— It wasn't just the wind whipping up the crowd of about 200 outside Calvert County Republican headquarters Friday afternoon. "In Maryland of all places, we know we can win because we have done it before," former Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele told GOP supporters. Now chairman of the Republican National Committee, Steele has spent the past six weeks on a 48-state "Fire Pelosi" tour, promoting Republican congressional candidates to turn out the Democratic House speaker. The odyssey arrives in Severna Park today for a rally with Andy Harris, the Republican state lawmaker attempting to unseat freshman Democratic Rep. Frank Kratovil in the 1st Congressional District.

The Maryland Republican Party and the state elections board reached an agreement Friday that requires the strapped GOP to repay at least $2,000 a month to Michael S. Steele's campaign account, which state officials contend made an improper contribution. The parties had planned to finalize an agreement last week, but Jared DeMarinis, director of campaign finance at the State Board of Elections, said 11th-hour revisions proposed by the party were "unacceptable." Lawyers for both sides spent the past week in negotiations.

An agreement the Maryland Republican Party struck with the State Board of Elections unraveled in recent days, leaving uncertain how it will resolve what state officials contend was a violation of campaign finance laws. According to elections officials, former Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's campaign account made an improper $75,000 contribution to the Republican State Central Committee by covering legal fees the party incurred during a redistricting fight several years ago. The party, which has run into financial difficulties, agreed last week to incrementally repay the money to Steele, now the national GOP chairman.

The Maryland Republican Party faces its latest rebuilding effort after its chairman announced this week he is stepping down amid the organization's struggles to pay its bills and maintain relevance in an overwhelmingly Democratic state. Chairman James Pelura's announcement came about a year before the 2010 primary elections, when the GOP will select candidates to run against Democratic incumbents such as Gov. Martin O'Malley and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski. Pelura will stay on through the party's convention Nov. 14. Pelura had repeatedly told executive board members that he did not plan to step down, even after receiving a vote of no confidence in July, so his resignation Monday night was "a little surprising," said Chris Cavey of Baltimore County, the party's first vice chairman.

Severn crash injures 10 in 2 vehicles Ten people, four of them children, were involved in a two-vehicle crash Sunday night in Severn. One of the adults, a 22-year-old man, was transported by helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma, with what Anne Arundel Fire Department Battalion Chief Matt Tobia called "life-threatening injuries." Two other men, ages 21 and 28, were taken there with "serious" but not life-threatening injuries, Tobia said. Two of the children, a 9-year-old boy and a 3-year-old boy, were taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital for further evaluation, also with serious but not life-threatening injuries.

The Maryland Republican Party faces its latest rebuilding effort after its chairman announced this week he is stepping down amid the organization's struggles to pay its bills and maintain relevance in an overwhelmingly Democratic state. Chairman James Pelura's announcement came about a year before the 2010 primary elections, when the GOP will select candidates to run against Democratic incumbents such as Gov. Martin O'Malley and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski. Pelura will stay on through the party's convention Nov. 14. Pelura had repeatedly told executive board members that he did not plan to step down, even after receiving a vote of no confidence in July, so his resignation Monday night was "a little surprising," said Chris Cavey of Baltimore County, the party's first vice chairman.

The Maryland Republican Party has asked the state prosecutor's office to investigate whether Edward J. Kasemeyer, the Democratic candidate for state Senate in District 12, established residency in his district in time to run for office."

Douglas W. Thiessen, a Justice Department attorney who was the Maryland Republican Party's general counsel, died Friday while on a ski outing in Mercersburg, Pa. The West River resident was 35. He and members of his family were skiing at Whitetail resort when he was found "unresponsive on the side of a ski trail," according to a spokesman for the resort. Mr. Thiessen did not respond to cardiopulmonary resuscitation and was taken to a hospital in Hagerstown, where he was pronounced dead.

The Maryland Republican Party, reeling from the loss of the governor's mansion, is nearly broke, according to a copy of its financial statement obtained by The Sun. The state GOP treasurer's report from July 31 shows the party had $4,615 in cash and $50,500 in debt. Because of lackluster fundraising, the party operated at a $103,536 deficit in the first six months of the year. A report from the party's accountants shows that funding from major donors has dried up, and that the party's major annual fundraising event, the Red, White and Blue Dinner, netted $15,572, less than 10 percent of the amount the party had been counting on. The poor fundraising comes at a time when conservative and moderate wings of the party are fighting over whether the party should take sides in state Sen. Andrew P. Harris' primary challenge to Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, a stark contrast to the unity and strength that the party displayed during former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s term.