GOP Central Committee Drama: So Many Candidates, So Few Seats
Election 2010 in Cecil County is shaping up to have much of the drama, and a lot of the silliness, of a soap opera or one of those cheesy reality shows that you snicker at but continue to watch anyway. After all, we don’t have any movie theaters in Cecil County, no local TV and even the “local” radio station is really located in Harford County. So local politics provides some of our most interesting entertainment.
The Republican Central Committee drama that unfolded on Tuesday as the filing deadline approached is a case in point. As the day began, only a few candidates had filed. Then suddently a steady trickle became a torrent of candidates for the nine available seats. By the end of the day, 22 candidates had filed.
The candidates generally fall into three categories: incumbents and ‘mainstream’ Republicans, the Young Republicans Club aligned with Sen. E.J. Pipkin (R-36) and Del. Michael Smigiel (R-36), and “Tea Party” advocates. Some candidates fall into more than one category, but in general here is the lineup:
INCUMBENTS: (6 + 1)
Joe Carabetta, current chairman of the GOP Central Committee and a longtime Republican activist in the county; Robert Amato, current vice chairman of the committee; James W. Hutchinson, current secretary of the committee; Allen Andrichyn, member; Brad L. Carrillo, Jr., member; and F. Gaylord Moody III, member. (Moody has also filed to run for the GOP nomination for Register of Wills.)
Tina Sharp, a longtime county Republican and former unsuccessful candidate for clerk of the court, could be viewed as compatible with this group.
YOUNG REPUBLICAN CLUB: (7)
Ted Patterson, president of the YR; Chris Zeauskas, vice president of YR; Mike Dawson, political director of YR; Michael Dunn, co-founder of YR and longtime legislative aide to Del. Smigiel; Carrie L. Taylor, YR activist who took over as president of the county’s Republican Women’s Club a few months ago; Joseph M. Tropp, vice-chairman of ROC (“Republicans of Cecil County”), a “new” group that lives on the YR website with overlapping officers; and County Commissioner Jim Mullin (R-1st) who says YR volunteers helped him win his 2008 election. (A lot of money from fellow Republican Commissioner Rebecca Demmler didn’t hurt either.)
Patterson, Zeauskas, Dawkins, Dunn and Taylor are all running for other elected posts in addition to their candidacy for the GOP committee. Patterson is running for a state delegate seat while Taylor has filed for county Treasurer. The other three are running for county commissioner seats.
TEA PARTY: (5)
Donna Caudell, a founder of the “Cecil County Patriots” that is the local arm of the “Tea Party” movement; her sister, Jackie Gregory; Harry Hite III; Tom Kenny; and Peter Oliphant, who has also been active in the Jim Rutledge GOP campaign for Senate.
Then there are some who don’t fit neatly into one category. Ted Kolodzey started out as a Young Republican but drifted away from that group and has also been active with the Tea Party, but is increasingly focused on his own campaign for the Republican nomination for county Commissioner in District 3.
Devon Perry, a 19 year old student at Towson University, is a graduate of Elkton Christian academy where he played football, according to his MySpace page, which doesn’t mention any political leanings. Anneliese Johnson of Rising Sun is also an unknown factor. [UPDATE: In an interview with Cecil Times, Johnson identified herself as a 30-year old mother of three young children, an honors graduate of Towson University and studying for a master’s degree in social science at Towson. She decided to run because she is “interested in public policy” issues, although “I’m not so comfortable with the politician aspects” and campaigning for a political post.]
The YR gang will no doubt be running as a “slate.” The incumbent group has made no decisions on whether to run as a ‘slate,’ sources said. But each camp would have to pick up two of the ‘wild cards’ to round out their ticket. Kolodzey seems to be a potential choice for the incumbent camp. And the YR’ers would likely try to pull from the Tea Party camp.
Who thought a simple party committee election could have such drama?
Yes the Republican Central Committee race will be interesting. I left the Cecil Republican Party and moved to work within the Harford County Rt 40 Republican Club. The Rt 40 Club is all inclusive and works with groups having the same overview of much less federal and state spending, lower taxes including property taxes and smaller government. I got the feeling that the Cecil Republican organization was more elitist in nature and those of us who are more street active, as I am with my Standing for Freedom on two corners, 4 nights a week and TEA Party activities, are a bit of an embarrassment to have around.
Just a few corrections. I’m running in the 3rd district, and I’m Tea Party all the way!
Ted,
Sorry for the District number error. We’ve corrected it.