For Immediate Release 11/7/2018
Annapolis, MD— On Tuesday, the Maryland Democratic Party celebrated a number of wins in conservative strongholds across Maryland. The victories came on the heels of a year-long effort to organize Democrats in places like Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore by hiring full time regional organizers and investing more time and resources into creating a strong State Central Committee infrastructure in every county.
Democratic Party staff and volunteers made 12,057 contact attempts on the doors, over the phone, and via text message in the final three days of these municipal elections for a Get Out The Vote (GOTV) push. The Party also provided technical support such as voter targeting for candidates seeking to turn Red seats Blue.
As a result of this strategy, Democrats successfully defended Salisbury Mayor Jake Day and his governing majority on the Salisbury City Council. The Party worked with Councilwoman Angela Blake to defeat a current member of Rep. Andy Harris’ staff by just 141 votes in Council District 5. And the Party won a council seat by supporting Councilwoman-elect Michele Gregoy, who is also a Democratic Central Committee member for Wicomico County, and its former Chair.
In Kent County, Democrats Tom Herz and Meghan Efland won seats in Wards 2 and 4 of the Chestertown Town Council. Both council seats were previously held by Republicans. Herz— a first time candidate for public office— defeated eight-year incumbent Linda Kuiper by a three to one margin. Herz will discuss his victory, his experience working with the Party, and the issues on which he ran on next week’s episode of the MD Dems Podcast.
The GOP suffered major losses in Harford County’s Bel Air where Democrats swept all three Town Commissioner seats that were up for election. As a result, a majority of the Commissioners will now be women and each of the new Commissioners will replace a Republican predecessor.
The Party intends to build up Maryland’s Democratic bench through municipal elections and challenging the GOP in general assembly races in Eastern and Western Maryland. The goal is to get new Democrats in office and defend them once elected. The Party plans to harness the momentum of the 2019 municipal victories and carry those increasing levels of enthusiasm, engagement, and organization into the 2020 and 2022 campaigns to take back the White House and Maryland’s Governor’s Mansion.
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