Being party chair in MD is kinda like being Captain of the Titanic, post-iceberg. Was his seat safe?
Mooney is getting all the endorsements, including from L. Ron. barf. But also good endorsements.
I don’t know much about the other candidates. Former U.S. International Trade Commissioner Charlotte Lane appears to be his strongest challenger. Several others, Steve Harrison former State Senator. Ken Reed, Ron Walters. I don’t know how the locals feel about the carpetbagger issue.
I forget to mention Kwansman, the guy this thread is about. He seems okay. I read he tried to get third parties kicked off the ballot, which is good, the Libertarian helped Kilpatrick to a 48% win. He was just elected to the State House in 2012, looking to move up fast. His foes are House Speaker Andy Tobin and Rancher Gary Kiehne.
Mooney was running for his 4th term. For him to lose as he did in the year that he did was really amazing (his was one of 4 seats that were lost in the State Senate by a handful of single digit %). It was bizarre that he was promoted to State Chairman immediately after he lost. I think he was just biding his time to succeed Roscoe Bartlett, but the 2012 redistricting put a halt to that. He soon left the job because he was considered ineffective.
Curiously, he didn’t move far away, just a half-hour drive from Frederick to the opposite side of the Potomac River (Falling Waters), so he’s also far more “Maryland-centered” in a district that stretches clear to Southern Ohio.
As for the other candidates, Lane is trending towards her late 60s and was claimed to be pro-abort and anti-2A. I don’t have a clear choice amongst those runnings. It may end up being Mooney, but I’m troubled by his withdrawal across the Potomac rather than standing up and fighting in Maryland.
Kwansman sounds good, but would he have a better chance of knocking off Kilpatrick than would Speaker Tobin? If Kilpatrick holds on this November, we may be stuck with her until 2022.