Following nearly 18 months of speculation about which office he would run for in 2022, Del. Carl L. Anderton Jr. (R-Lower Shore) said Monday he would seek re-election to a third term in Annapolis – and pass on a bid to become Wicomico County executive, at least for the near-term future.
Anderton — whose District 38B includes portions of Salisbury as well as the town of Delmar, where he was previously mayor — said issues arising out of the pandemic had played a major role in his decision.
“We still have people who need help. I don’t want to abandon anybody, because when you become [county] executive, you can’t go help those folks like you do now,” he said in a telephone interview, adding: “If we had the slate cleared of all the constituent cases, that might be a different situation.”
He continued: “Not to quote a song, but it is well with my soul to go ahead and work in Annapolis for my neighbors a little while longer. I know a lot of folks who are probably going to be upset by that, but I think the folks in the district will probably be happy about that.”
Anderton indicated he remains very interested in a run for county executive in the future — as soon as four years from now. “I can’t stress enough that the way folks in the county have reached out asking me to run for executive — it’s really amazing,” he said. “It’s something I’ll never forget.”
When Wicomico County Executive Robert L. “Bob” Culver Jr. (R) died of cancer in July 2020, Anderton quickly applied to fill the vacancy — and was seen as the early frontrunner. But his bid for the appointment was blocked when a bare majority of the seven-member county council — including three of the four Republican members of that body — voted against his appointment.
What ensued was a weeks-long political stalemate over who would fill the vacant post, with the council finally breaking the deadlock by naming the county’s director of administration, John D. Psota, as acting county executive pending the 2022 election. Psota announced late last year that he would seek the Republican nomination for a four-year term in the post.
Since failing to win the appointment as county executive, Anderton had held open the possibility of running for the job this year. A former president of the Maryland Municipal League, he scored a major political upset in 2014 when he ousted Democratic Del. Norman H. Conway, then chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
I don’t know much about him. Haven’t seen any scandals yet.
Why??????
He sees that Bruce Bereano is funding Psota’s campaign — $2,500 so far.
The County Executive job should go to Wayne King someone who cares about Salisbury and the Eastern Shore not just Annapolis he’s another Jake Day it’s always about anywhere but giving back to us. Hope he looses.