Alan Banov Replies to Karen Czapanskiy

This is in response to my friend and colleague, Karen Czapanskiy, with whom I agree more than disagree, and in further support of Al Carr.

Karen, I cannot impugn the informed conviction of any supporters of any of the candidates for the District 18 delegate seat.

In the past two factors that I have looked at, in an attempt to be democratic, in voting to fill General Assembly vacancies are:

1) How well has the candidate done in prior primaries?

and

2) How much support does the candidate have from the electorate in her/his district? (I was impressed with Jane when she brought a list of approximately (my recollection) 500 names of District 18 Democrats to us when we selected her to replace John Hurson, and other candidates similarly have brought in such lists.)

Here I do not assume that those speaking out for Al Carr at the District 18 forum Sunday night and in e-mails to the MCDCC do not know him or who his opponents are. Al has run twice before, including once in a primary, and through his campaigning throughout the district and in his public service in District 18, he has informed District 18 Democrats about his qualifications and how he would do in Annapolis.

I decided to vote for Al some time ago, but, if I hadn’t, I would be impressed that I have received endorsements from at least 28 e-mails and several paper letters from individual Democrats throughout the district. That should account for something.

Nor do I assume that our collective grief over Jane's tragic death would have any bearing on Al's support. Rather, I would assume that the District 18 Dems who are writing us know enough about all the candidates to make an intelligent choice. As a long-time resident of District 18, I know how literate our citizens are in politics, as well as how admired Al is. Even if Ms. Pelles had entered the race a week earlier, I don’t think it would have reduced Al’s hard-core support among his fellow District 18 Dems, who know him as a town councilman, Democratic Party precinct official, and District 18 Caucus board member.

Finally, in further support of Al, I think Ms. Pelles has a very good resume for the work she has been doing, but many of us who have labored in District 18 politics for years have not heard of her or seen her contributions IN THIS DISTRICT. Other than being on “the founding Board of the Montgomery County African American Democratic Club,” and its corresponding secretary, I don’t see anything on her resume or bio to indicate that she has run for any office in District 18 or has helped the County Party in District 18 or elsewhere. By contrast, through his campaigning, politicking, and legislative work IN DISTRICT 18 over the years, Al has made a strong positive impression on rank and file Dems in the District. I am certain that if an election were held today in the District, as a pop quiz, without any further campaigning or publicity, Al would easily win a majority of votes over Roz. My hunch is being confirmed by the vote in this blog, which has Al ahead with over 50% of the votes.

Alan Banov, Kensington
speaking for myself, not MCCDC