Tuesday, Maryland held its primary election. My wife and I were in line at 7 a.m. to cast our votes as residents of Maryland’s 6th Congressional district. Most of the votes we cast were symbolic. Maryland is not going to elect a Republican senator. The odds of a Republican being elected governor are slim. Some will point to Larry Hogan and say it can be done. For my money, the Maryland GOP would not have been worse off under an openly Democrat governor than a crypto-Democrat like Hogan. For us, the big votes on the ballot were for sheriff and county commissioners.
That said, I think there was a useful takeaway from yesterday’s voting. That lesson is the GOP and conservative electorate in Maryland have changed. It is more combative and less interested in the go-along-get-along happy-loser philosophy that has characterized it for the nearly two decades I’ve lived here.
The headline bout was between Dan Cox (you may have trouble using his name in the comments because Disqus thinks you’re trying to spell something else) and Kelly Schulz. Schulz had extensive endorsements from Larry Hogan, the GOP establishment, and a platoon of state legislators. I know some of the folks who endorsed Schulz and a lot more of the people who pimped her as “more electable” and derided Cox as a “Trumpist loon” and understand where they are coming from.
Dan Cox was endorsed by various county sheriffs and Maryland Right-to-Life (full disclosure: I’m a member and protest in front of abortion clinics). He was also endorsed by the shooting range where I’m a member. However, his biggest endorsement was from President Trump.
Working on the theory that Dan Cox was easier to beat than the female version of Larry Hogan, the Democrat Governor’s Association ran saturation play of this ad that endorses and attacks Cox.