Weekly Recap: 12/5-12/11

Leading off

AA Council-5: Democrats now have a candidate in this competitive county council district on the Broadneck Peninsula. Navy veteran and engineer Carl Neimeyer has filed to challenge first-term councilwoman Amanda Fiedler.

Feidler was elected in 2018 by running as a moderate and defeating the far-right incumbent Michael Peroutka in the Republican primary, 53-47%. Since being elected, Feidler has voted consistently with the Republicans on the council, voting against increasing funding to teachers and first responders and voting to reject millions of dollars in state grants for COVID relief.

District 5’s current configuration includes Millersville, Severna Park, Arnold, and Cape Saint Claire. This affluent area has historically been very conservative, and the last time a Democrat was elected to the council from here was Carole Baker in 1986. This is the Democrats’ longest electoral drought in any council district, but there are signs that the area’s conservative bent may be waning somewhat. After 1994, Republican candidates routinely swept the Broadneck precincts. But in 2016, Hillary Clinton won in Cape and parts of Arnold. Four years later, Joe Biden won the district by a large margin, 54-42%, and swept all precincts on the peninsula. The Republicans’ vote share in county council elections have been slipping recently, as well:

• 2006: Cathy Vitale (R-inc) 73.9%, Tito Baca (D) 26.0%
• 2010: Dick Ladd (R) 62.8%, Paul Rudolph (D) 36.9%
• 2014: Michael Anthony Peroutka (R) 52.8%, Patrick Armstrong (D) 46.6%
• 2018: Amanda Fiedler (R) 54.2%, Dawn Gough Myers (D) 45.7%

Fiedler has the advantages of incumbency and the potential that an unpopular Democratic president will drag their party down across the board. But Democrats are hopeful that long-term trends in the area will put their candidate over the top in this newly competitive district.

AA County

Senate-33: Republican Stacie MacDonald had applied for the vacancy in the House of Delegates caused by Michael Malone’s appointment to a judgeship, but she was ultimately not selected. She had filed to run for a full term in the House regardless of whether she was appointed to serve out the remainder of Malone’s term, but now she has changed her filing to challenge incumbent Senator Ed Reilly in the Republican primary.

Is Reilly perceived as potentially vulnerable to a well-funded challenger? After being appointed to this seat in 2009, Reilly immediately faced a strong primary challenge from Delegate James King to win a full term in 2010. Reilly defeated King 52-41% and has never faced a primary opponent since then. Reilly is one of the most reliably conservative members of the Senate, so it’s hard to imagine he’d face a successful challenge from the right. MacDonald, who could self-fund a successful campaign and came 325 votes short of winning the Republican primary for the House of Delegates in 2018, may also be betting that her home on Broadneck will be separated from Reilly’s home in Crofton after redistricting.

Delegate-30B: Educator and south county community leader Courtney Buiniskis has filed to run for Delegate as a Democrat.

Delegate-31B: Travis Lerol has filed to run for the House of Delegates in this conservative Pasadena district as a Libertarian. It’s unclear what effect the presence of a third party candidate on the ballot will have on the final result, but it’s highly possible that he will win some votes that typically have gone to the two Republican incumbents, Nic Kipke and Brian Chisholm.

Around the state

Senate-3: Small business owner and community activist Jay Mason will compete for the Democratic nomination for State Senate in this open Frederick county seat. Incumbent Ron Young (D) is retiring from this district centered on the city of Frederick and its southern suburbs. Mason will face Delegate Karen Lewis Young in the Democratic primary next year. So far, Angela McIntosh has the Republican field to herself.

Senate-20: After briefly flirting with a run for Attorney General, Senator Will Smith (D) has decided to run for re-election instead.

House-40: Nonprofit director Kathy Shulman is running for Delegate in District 40, which is currently located in western Baltimore City but will likely be vastly reconfigured after redistricting. Shulman will join incumbent Delegates Marlon Amprey and Frank Conaway in the Democratic primary. District 40 also has a third delegate, Melissa Wells, who has yet to file for re-election.

House-46: Mark Edelson has officially filed his paperwork to run for Delegate in the southern Baltimore-based District 46. Edelson won 17.3% of the vote in a crowded Democratic primary for Baltimore City’s then-open District 1 on the city council in 2016. This showing was good enough for third place. Edelson was later elected to the Democratic Central Committee in 2018.

There is an open seat here as Del. Brooke Lierman is running for Comptroller and Edelson will join a crowded Democratic field in this safely blue district. Incumbents Luke Clippinger and Robbyn Lewis have both filed for re-election. Newcomers Augusta Yeager Christensen and Vince Williams are also running here.