Hard Work Pays Off, Gilchrest is Gone
Feb 13, 2008 Political
The polls in Maryland closed 90 minutes late to allow people affected by an ice storm the opportunity to vote so results were late coming in. As it looks right now, Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland’s 1st Congressional District has been defeated by State Senator Andy Harris. The absentee and provisional ballots need to be counted but I do not think there are enough of them in total to make a difference.
Regular readers will remember that I have not been happy with Congressman Gilchrest and that I had regularly corresponded with him in the last two years. I found some of his letters to me to be condescending and came off as if I did not understand the issues or how hard the job is. I made up my mind that I had had enough of him and that I would actively work to defeat him in the primaries if there was a better person challenging him. Andy Harris was that person. For his part, Mr. Gilchrest blew off the challenge in the early going by indicating that he has had challenges before. When it became apparent that he had a fight on his hands he started accepting PAC money to fight back.
This time, he lost. Andy Harris ran a good campaign though I believe all of the people vying for the seat embellished (or outright lied) a bit in their ads. I have not had the time to check each and every claim but out of those that I did, Harris was the most accurate. I made sure that all my contacts in the District knew about Andy and I made sure that my family all voted for him as well. Yesterday those efforts paid off.
I wish Mr. Gilchrest well. I thank him for his service to our country in both the Congress and in the US Marine Corps (he fought in Vietnam). He seems like a likable guy but his time has come. He spent too much time in DC and he voted with the Pelosi crowd far too often to be ignored. He claims that he always voted his conscience but it was obvious to me that he voted against the wishes of his constituents more often than not. As a Representative, his job was to represent and it seemed he stopped doing that.
Change is good and our next hurdle will be to get Harris elected in the general election. He will be a great asset to the District and he will conduct his work based on sound conservative principles.
Now, if the rest of the country can start turning over the long serving members and get some fresh blood in there we might be on a path to a better government. It is beyond me how so many people can run around praising the Barack star and his message of change and then vote for the same old moldy members of Congress.
People, change starts in the Congress and if we change them out every once in a while our system will be much better. A little grassroots work can get this accomplished. The 1st Congressional District in Maryland is proof that we can truly effect change if we set our minds to it.
Congratulations Mr. Harris. Now, on to the general election.
UPDATE: I have waited for Mr. Gilchrest to concede before posting this but he has yet to do so even though Mr. Harris has a 10 point (>7000 vote) lead. I am certain there will be no change in the outcome and can no longer wait for Mr. Gilchrest.