State Gop

Hours before President Barack Obama was expected to appear in Maryland for a handful of fundraisers today, state Republicans cast his visit as an attempt to rally a base that they argued has been diminished by Democratic policies. "If this was four years ago, he'd be filling the convention center," said David Ferguson, executive director of the Maryland Republican Party, noting that Obama's second and larger fundraiser of the day will take place instead in an Inner Harbor hotel. The event is a fundraiser, not a rally.

He's a rookie in Congress, but Rep. Andy Harris is positioned to become a GOP heavyweight in Maryland. As delegates from across the country converge at the Republican National Convention this week to nominate Mitt Romney for president, the first-term lawmaker from Cockeysville is the state's highest-ranking elected official to attend. And while his role will be limited - he is not a delegate - his efforts at getting fellow state Republicans elected in November have been extensive.

If Maryland Republicans hope to pull off the sort of election victories the GOP won in Virginia, New Jersey and New York City on Tuesday, the local political organization had better get its act together: There still is no Republican heavyweight candidate running for the United States Senate seat in next year's election.Good campaigners for statewide offices are crucial for the state GOP. The party has a prominent and aggressive campaigner in the race for attorney general, former U.S. Attorney Richard D. Bennett.

Hours before President Barack Obama was expected to appear in Maryland for a handful of fundraisers today, state Republicans cast his visit as an attempt to rally a base that they argued has been diminished by Democratic policies. "If this was four years ago, he'd be filling the convention center," said David Ferguson, executive director of the Maryland Republican Party, noting that Obama's second and larger fundraiser of the day will take place instead in an Inner Harbor hotel. The event is a fundraiser, not a rally.

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.

George Bush got clobbered in Maryland last Tuesday. That's bad news for the state's Republican Party, which has big plans for the 1994 general elections here. Without a president to provide patronage and popular support to help register new Republicans, the local GOP's hopes for future gains could dim quickly.But the Bush defeat -- one of the biggest routs he suffered in any state -- can be misleading. The president did take 19 of the state's 24 subdivisions. But he lost Howard County by 5,000 votes; Baltimore County by 16,000 votes; Montgomery County by 73,000; Prince George's County by 103,000 and Baltimore City by 140,000.

More than two weeks after Maryland Republicans met behind closed doors and voted to express "no confidence" in leader James Pelura, the state GOP chairman insists he's not going anywhere. And, he says, he has the votes to ensure that he isn't forced out. "I am not resigning," Pelura declared in an interview. While the executive committee, made up of 30 statewide and county officers, voted against Pelura during a July meeting, the only way to remove the party chairman is by a two-thirds' vote of the much larger state convention.

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.

Like a blinking, neon light on a dark, deserted highway, the image keeps flashing in memory: some 600 Maryland Republicans wildly cheering Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole at a rally Sunday at the Montgomery County fairgrounds.It was Mr. Dole's first campaign stop after his decisive victory in the South Carolina primary the day before. The passion of his reception in Maryland caught everyone by surprise -- even the candidate himself."Boy, we got a big crowd here," he told his backers, standing elbow-to-elbow, pressing in tightly toward the veteran campaigner.

THE MARYLAND Republican Party had its most profitable night ever last week, thanks to a GOP governor in Annapolis and the big money that is following him. The party's 13th annual Red, White and Blue dinner attracted a crowd more than four times larger than in past years, its ranks swelled by many Democrats who are investing in what increasingly looks like a two-party state. "I understand there are many Democrats in the room tonight," Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. told the 900 guests at the Inner Harbor Hyatt who helped the GOP raise more than $500,000 in so-called soft money, which can be used on salaries, polling and party-building activities.

The last thing you'd think Maryland's Republican party needs would be a nasty internecine fight, but that's what it got at its annual convention over the weekend. Rather than unity in the effort to overcome a massive voter registration disadvantage, chronic fundraising problems and a frequent lack of competitive candidates for state-wide offices, the party became focused on a divisive race for an obscure position: national committeewoman. In the end, Audrey Scott, a GOP stalwart who has held a variety of elected and appointed posts, including a stint as state Republican chairwoman, was defeated by a heretofore little known, 37-year-old Baltimore woman, Nicolee Ambrose.

Three Republican presidential candidates — Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich — are preparing to plant a flag in Maryland ahead of the state's April 3 primary, offering GOP voters here a rare chance to take part in a national political battle. Local campaign officials said they expect candidates will swing through the state early next week, following Saturday's primary in Louisiana. Maryland, which has 37 delegates to offer, votes the same day as Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin.

When Rep. Andy Harris spoke at a Cecil County senior center recently, the first slide he showed on the wall behind him was an ominous chart projecting exponential growth over the next seven decades. The slide's title: "Tidal wave of debt. " "This is a real crisis," the first-term Republican told the seniors in Elkton as he gestured toward the chart. "I didn't get sent to Washington to sit by idly while this happens. " After a months-long battle over government spending and budget deficits in Washington, Harris and Republicans nationwide are under renewed pressure from tea party and other conservative groups to take a tough stand against raising the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling — even if that means risking economic turmoil.

Just as one Maryland politician was elected to head the state Republican Party, another is in danger of losing his job running the national GOP. The simple thread that connects outgoing state Sen. Alex X. Mooney's election as chairman of the state party and former Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's uphill battle for a second term as head of the national party is money. Mr. Mooney laid out a plan for raising gobs of it, and Mr. Steele has seen fundraising lag and expenses rise at party headquarters.

Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. described his gubernatorial election loss this week as the close of a chapter in his life. It could also signal the end of an era for the Maryland GOP. As Republicans nationwide celebrated a historic victory in the midterm elections, GOP leaders in Maryland expressed worry that Ehrlich's loss Tuesday to Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley by twice the margin of his 2006 defeat would cement the party's minority...

The Obama administration unveiled a new strategy Monday for restoring the Chesapeake Bay that calls for stiffer controls on farm and urban runoff, but Republicans in Washington criticized legislation that would give the federal government more regulatory authority to clamp down on pollution in the nation's largest estuary. Acting in response to a presidential executive order declaring the bay "a national treasure," federal environmental agencies proposed a sweeping plan to re-energize the lagging restoration effort with more water quality regulations, financial and technical aid for farmers and plans to promote more voluntary cleanup efforts with creation of a "conservation corps."

IS THERE A place for moderate Republicans in Maryland? Doesn't seem so. Far-right conservatives have filled the top of the state GOP's ticket in recent elections, with moderates pushed to the sidelines. Or out of the arena. One moderate Republican, state Sen. Martin G. Madden, is leaving politics in December to pursue private-sector business interests. It's a loss to the GOP and everyone else who prefers accomplishment to partisan rhetoric. Mr. Madden would seem an ideal Republican candidate for the state's highest offices.

Richard D. Bennett, a Baltimore lawyer who put the Maryland Republican Party on solid financial footing in the last year, announced yesterday he is stepping down as chairman after the presidential election in November. Bennett, a moderate who has led the state GOP for just over a year, said he needed to devote more time to his law practice. "My plate is getting fuller and fuller and fuller," he said. "Increasingly, I've realized that something's got to give." Republican Party leaders were surprised by the announcement, which was faxed to many of them yesterday, and they praised his leadership.

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.

This week's resignation of James Pelura as chairman of the Maryland Republican Party offers the struggling organization an opportunity for a fresh start this fall. At least that's the cheeriest way to look at it. Mr. Pelura proved to be a divisive figure within the state GOP, and even his supporters came to acknowledge that rescuing the party required change at the top. Clearly, "rescue" is not too strong a term for what Mr. Pelura's successor will need to do. Since Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. lost his bid for a second term as governor in 2006, the state GOP has been foundering, not only financially but in voter registration and candidate recruitment as well.