The Nancy King – Saqib Ali District 39 Senate race was a real barn burner, but it was not the first marquee Senate race in that district. District 39 was originally located in Baltimore City, but in the wake of the 1990 Census, it became a new district in Montgomery County. It originally stretched from unincorporated Gaithersburg up to the Frederick County border and was much more rural and conservative than it is today.
The district’s inaugural Senate contest drew two formidable candidates: three-term Democratic Delegate Gene Counihan (who had represented District 15 and was redistricted) and Republican Patrick J. Hogan, an aide to Congresswoman Connie Morella. Counihan ran on a slate with three Democratic Delegate candidates, one of whom was MCEA Vice-President Charles Barkley. All four Democrats were defeated, with Counihan losing by just 8 points. But the Democrats came back and evicted all the Republican Delegates in 1998. Hogan changed his registration to Democrat in 2000, served seven more years before retiring and was replaced by Nancy King. Counihan became one of MoCo’s most respected private citizens, working with WMATA and WSSC and serving on numerous boards.
Here is Counihan’s walk piece from 1994.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Gene Counihan for Senate, 1994
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Nancy King Thanks Supporters, Praises Saqib Ali
Senator Nancy King (D-39) has sent the following statement to her supporters thanking them and reaching out to her primary opponent, Delegate Saqib Ali.
Thank You
Dear Friends,
The dust has settled, the votes are in and we made it across the finish line. We could not have done it without you! From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. After running a rigorous campaign over the past several months, I am truly honored to be the Democratic nominee for State Senate in the 39th District.
I can't begin to express my gratitude for all you've done to make our victory possible. Whether you knocked on doors, made phone calls, put up yard signs, or talked about the campaign with your neighbors and friends, every effort counted and we couldn't have done it without you.
I want to offer my best wishes to Delegate Saqib Ali. I admire Saqib's energy and enthusiasm and his passion for engaging people from all walks of life in the democratic process. I appreciate Saqib's support in the November general election and I hope he will continue to play an active role in our community.
I also want to extend congratulatory wishes to my teammates, Delegate Charles Barkley and Delegate Kirill Reznik, who also won the primary election. Additionally, I want to welcome Shane Robinson, the third Democratic nominee for the Maryland House of Delegates, to the District 39 Democratic Team. We look forward to working together to turn out voters in District 39 to secure a victory for the entire Democratic team. Our team would greatly appreciate your support over the next 41 days leading up to Election Day and we hope that we can count on your vote on November 2nd.
Again, thank you for your hard work and support during the primary election. I truly appreciate the chance to again serve the citizens of District 39 as your State Senator.
Sincerely,
-Nancy
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Saqib Ali's Concession Statement
Following is District 39 Senate challenger Saqib Ali's concession statement.
We came up just short... My thanks to you.
Dear Friend,
In April of this year I announced that I would vacate my seat in the House of Delegates to run for the State Senate. On Tuesday we had that Democratic primary election. And even though we ran a great grassroots campaign, our efforts came up just short. Senator Nancy King prevailed 51.63% - 48.37%. The difference was 223 votes (before absentee ballots are counted). My sincerest congratulations to Senator King on her victory. I will support her as she moves on to face a Republican challenger in November's general election.
I owe a huge debt of thanks to thousands of people who supported this campaign by voting, volunteering, donating and assisting in numerous other ways. Together we built an impressive grassroots force. We ran a substantial, issues-oriented campaign. This was a very hard-fought election. But all of us can hold our heads very high for putting forth the honorable and very valiant effort. I'm proud to have worked side-by-side with all these wonderful, idealistic and optimistic people. I can never say "Thank You" enough.
Right now I'm not sure what the future holds for me. I will take some time to pay attention to my (much neglected!) family and personal life. It has been the highest privilege to represent the residents of Maryland for the past 4 years and I look forward to serving out my current term as State Delegate until January. I do wish to stay in touch with all the friends I've met and made along the way.
Sincerely,
Saqib Ali
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Pictures of Senate 39
We were wise to pick the District 39 Senate race between incumbent Nancy King and challenger Saqib Ali as the number one primary to watch in the county. This contest has not disappointed us one bit! Here are the best photos of the politicking going on up there from the two candidates' Facebook pages.
Nancy cuts the ribbon at her campaign headquarters opening with Senator Rob Garagiola (D-15) and teammate Delegate Charles Barkley (D-39).
Saqib and friends on July 4th.
Nancy and friends get ready for a canvass in Montgomery Village in May.
Saqib's campaign office.
Saqib is not the only candidate in this race with young supporters. Check out these volunteers for Nancy.
The Ali Copter!
A jam-packed campaign coffee with Nancy.
A Saqib fundraiser on August 1.
Nancy campaigning at the Shady Grove Metro station with Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown and Delegates Kirill Reznik and Charles Barkley, all of whom have endorsed her.
No, the President is not endorsing Saqib, as Saqib himself pointed out. But it's still a cool pic!
Top Blog Posts, September 1 Through September 13
This month, MPW is on pace to receive at least 70,000 site visits and perhaps 200,000 page views, both runaway records in the history of this site. About a fifth of our traffic comes from search engine links, so when voters search for candidates online, they come here because information on them often does not exist anywhere else. When they have arrived over the last two weeks, here are the posts they have viewed more often than any others.
1. Light Saqib, Dark Saqib
2. Nuclear War in District 19
3. Illegal Sample Ballot Goes Out in Prince George’s County
4. Do You Believe Your Own Eyes?
5. Police Call for Investigation of Duchy Trachtenberg
6. Saqib and the Seven Dwarfs
7. MPW Reader Poll: Who is Running the Dirtiest Campaign in MoCo?
8. Did Marc Elrich Break the Ethics Law?
9. MCRG Claims Duchy Trachtenberg Misused Maryland NOW Money
10. Endorsements – Final Update
Draw your own conclusions on which candidates have been helped and which have been hurt by these choices of the readers.
The Meanest MoCo Primary of All Time, Part Two
Montgomery County is a special place. Its enlightened voters and their leaders are dedicated social progressives who work in harmony to promote justice and change. By standing together against reactionary elements, Montgomery County serves as a model for other liberal communities and is leading the way to a better future for all.
Yeah, riiight!
Deprived of competition from the GOP and, for the most part, meaningful policy differences, many of MoCo’s primaries have degenerated into slime-drenched mud wrestling. This blog has chronicled negative attacks in Council District 1, Council District 2, the Council At-Large race, the Senate races in Districts 14, 17, 19 and 39 and the House race in District 16. That’s the majority of contested primaries in this county, folks. Almost every kind of issue, and every means to convey it, has been thrown onto the butcher’s table for split and splatter. Party unity is an old maid’s dream as the daggers are drawn and the Iron Maidens are snapped shut. Somewhere in Dante’s Inferno, Lee Atwater is flapping his wings with glee.
In all the blood-soaked infamy, three events stand out from the rest. These are the three wildest negative attacks of the year, and three of the most unforgettable in MoCo of all time. Start your chainsaws!
The District 19 Reporter
Perhaps no MoCo character assassin has ever had a longer knife than Ginger Ramsey, a former employee of Senator Mike Lenett’s who started a one-person jihad to take him down a year ago. Ramsey’s efforts began as the anonymous “District 19 Reporter,” a venomous Lenett critic who sent out periodic emails skewering him on an endless variety of topics. Frustrated that she had not broken through to the press and fearful that she was viewed as a creation of challenger Roger Manno, Ramsey finally unmasked herself and was covered by the Gazette.
As Lenett’s former legislative aide, Ramsey was certainly in a position to know about his sins. But her year-long practice of using anonymous emails and her mixing in items like Lenett’s hair coloring and references to his children destroyed any credibility she may have had. Ramsey’s bitterly personal rantings actually made Lenett, who has since proven himself as one of the state’s most brutal politicians, appear to be something of a sympathetic figure. But that would not last.
Mike Lenett’s Nuke
Late in the campaign, we believed Lenett had a slight edge over Manno. He had dramatically outspent Manno and shared both a district and an Apple Ballot with former MCEA President Bonnie Cullison – thereby indirectly benefiting from the union’s efforts to elect her. Manno had struggled to concoct a rationale for Lenett’s removal and had sent out a comical negative mailer that looked like it might backfire in Leisure World. And Lenett did nothing to stop the rumors that the “District 19 Reporter” was a part of Manno’s campaign team – a totally unverifiable allegation that nevertheless helped the incumbent.
But Mike Lenett does nothing halfway, a personality trait that is both a blessing and a curse. And so to secure victory, he launched what will forever be known in MoCo as “the Nuke,” a fearsome website listing every single speck of dirt his operatives had dug up on Manno. Some of the points made by the Nuke were legitimate, such as questions about Manno’s ethics form disclosures. But they were peppered with purely personal criticisms of Manno’s original name, his history tending bar and playing blues and his wife’s professional career. The legitimate material was submerged by outrage against the personal attacks. And Lenett lost whatever sympathy he had earned as the victim of the District 19 Reporter. The race has gone from a leaner for Lenett to a toss-up that Manno could conceivably pull out.
Light Saqib, Dark Saqib
The original purpose of Senator Nancy King’s sixth anti-Saqib Ali mailer was to point out that Ali was no longer abiding by his 2006 pledge to not take PAC money. Indeed, Ali said on his website: I have pledged not to accept a single penny from any corporation or special interest Political Action Committee (PAC). It is the only course that will allow me to remain completely independent of special interests and entirely focused on the best interests of District 39 citizens and business owners. I urge my opponents to take a similar pledge.
Going after a politician for abandoning a campaign finance pledge is 100% legitimate. We have done that ourselves, notably when we spanked County Council candidate Ben Kramer HARD for violating his pledge not to take developer money last year. But then someone inside the King campaign made the disastrous decision to flip and darken an image of Ali and leave it on the same mailer page as the original image. That led several commenters, including Kim Propeack, Oscar Ramirez, Guled Kassim, Sam Arora and Council Member Valerie Ervin, to question that action. King’s campaign manager compounded the mistake by denying ANY photo alteration, a claim that no one viewing the pictures could ever believe. And King herself made it even worse by contradicting her manager.
And so an entirely legitimate argument against Ali has been eclipsed by suspicions of ill intent and serious questions about the credibility of King’s campaign. Now that the story has been picked up by the Washington Post, the Huffington Post and Fox 5 News, the image below has been immortalized in MoCo political folklore and as part of Senator King’s political legacy.
What do all three of the negative attacks above share in common? All of them may have had at least a tiny bit of truth buried under the sludge. But all went overboard through illegitimate methods (like anonymous emails or altered photos) or irrelevant personal attacks that looked petty and mean. Let this serve as a lesson for any candidate looking to go negative: make sure your facts are iron-clad and appropriate for consideration by the voters, and NEVER let problems with their mode of conveyance overwhelm the legitimate message they contain.
Four years from now, we’ll find out if the candidates learn anything from the mud-spewing hell pit of 2010. We are not optimistic that they will, but at least it will make for fun blogging!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Ali Releases Canvass Counts
Senator Nancy King’s campaign manager sent out an email claiming momentum for the incumbent, but challenger Saqib Ali has done better: he has released his actual door knock and phone call counts through Saturday. That data shows a VERY busy campaign.
Here are Ali’s door knocks as recorded in MDVAN, the party-supplied voter contact database that most Democratic candidates use.
Knocks
Not Home: 19,286
Refused: 1,604
Moved: 350
Deceased: 10
Canvassed: 7,632
Total: 29,815
Calls
Not Home: 22,440
Refused: 1,901
Deceased: 49
Canvassed: 3,959
Total: 34,608
Our political consultant spies comment that Ali’s contact rate (the percentage of attempts his canvassers actually reach voters) is a bit low, but they say his total number of attempts is excellent. Ali’s ground operation appears to be extremely active and that might make a difference in the election. Of course, we do not know King’s numbers. If her campaign releases them, we will print them for the sake of comparison.
Just one question: when does Saqib get any sleep? Heh… Get it?
Campaign Finance Fun Facts
Here’s a few tidbits from the immense State Board of Elections campaign finance database!
1. Marc Elrich has long disavowed development industry contributions and Duchy Trachtenberg told Progressive Neighbors that she was also turning them away. But Elrich took $3,000 from the Maryland Realtors PAC on 8/13/10 and Trachtenberg took $3,000 from them on the same day. Aren’t realtors part of the development industry since someone has to sell all those buildings the developers put up?
OK, reasonable people can disagree on that question, but Trachtenberg also took $1,000 on 5/11/10 from HBW Group of Rockville, a “commercial real estate and construction company.”
Now that is indisputably development money. So Trachtenberg snowed Progressive Neighbors and got away with it since they endorsed her. Do they have the balls to retract their endorsement or are they just going to lie down and get played?
2. Our informants are baffled by Duchy Trachtenberg’s spending. She started the year with $289,198 – far more than any other candidate and mostly raised out-of-state in four-digit checks. Since then, she has spent more on tracking polls and consulting ($35,000) than she has on printing, direct mail and postage ($33,817). Contrast her printing, mailing and postage total to those of Senator Mike Lenett ($129,378) and Delegate Saqib Ali ($104,876), each of whom is running in a district that is one-eighth of the county. Trachtenberg’s ads in Bethesda Magazine, Washington Jewish Week, Leisure World News and Takoma Park Voice – purchased for a combined cost of just $7,230 – have been no substitute for the robust mail program she could have afforded. She has done just one mass mailing and was, incredibly, beaten to the mailbox by Becky Wagner.
As of August 29, Trachtenberg was sitting on $209,629 with just sixteen days left to spend it. Television could consume that amount of money rapidly, but we have seen no sign of any such ads. And it’s getting late – VERY late. Some sources are speculating that she is so sure of victory that she is saving the money for a County Executive run. Unless she has a grand strategy that has not shown up in her finance reports, she could very well be the richest loser in MoCo history.
3. County Executive Ike Leggett and Marc Elrich have long been political allies even if they have had occasional disagreements. So Ike kicked in $2,500 to his campaign account on 8/19/10.
Well, just twelve days later, Elrich filed an affidavit to help 9:30 Club owner Seth Hurwitz obtain a temporary restraining order against Ike’s pet project, the Fillmore in Silver Spring. The Executive Branch was blindsided and immediately began investigating whether Elrich broke the ethics law by aiding a lawsuit against the county.
How’s that for gratitude? Is it too late for Ike to get his money back?
4. Speaking of the County Executive, he may not have a Democratic primary opponent or a slate, but he has given money to a number of candidates this year. They are:
Vanessa Atterbeary: $300 on 4/21/10 (given as an individual)
Bo Newsome: $6,000 on 7/8/10
Craig Rice: $3,000 on 7/12/10
Judy Docca: $1,000 on 8/2/10
Jay Hutchins: $1,000 on 8/3/10
Martin O’Malley: $4,000 on 8/10/10
Pat O’Neill: $1,000 on 8/11/10
Bonnie Cullison: $1,000 on 8/15/10
Marc Elrich: $2,500 on 8/19/10
Craig Rice: $250 on 8/22/10 (from Catherine Leggett)
Rona Kramer: $3,000 on 8/23/10
Mark Winston: $2,500 on 8/27/10
Bo Newsome: $250 on 8/29/10 (from Catherine Leggett)
One curiosity: A month after contributing to Atterbeary, Leggett endorsed the District 18 Democratic Team.
Another curiosity: Bo Newsome contributed $600 in “rent” to Leggett on 8/19/10.
5. Kyle Lierman reported having just $6,298 in the bank on 8/29/10. Ariana Kelly, his principal rival for the District 16 open Delegate seat, reported having $51,025. (That’s what self-financing can do for you!) Lierman had to replenish his coffers somehow, and we won’t find out how until after the election.
6. Senator Nancy King (D-39) paid $8,000 to Momentum Analysis of Washington, DC, the same polling firm that worked for Big Daddy’s tobacco-financed slate, on 8/12/10 as a “consulting fee.” The timing is interesting since the payment was made about two weeks before King launched her attack website against Ali. If this payment was indeed for a poll, did it say something that prompted King to go negative?
7. Here are the biggest recipients of campaign contributions (excluding loans) this year in MoCo.
Council Candidates
Hans Riemer: $171,392
Nancy Floreen: $146,838
George Leventhal: $111,338
Marc Elrich: $87,435
Craig Rice: $84,173
Senate Candidates
Nancy King: $116,105
Saqib Ali: $76,866
Brian Frosh: $54,623
Roger Manno: $53,769
Jamie Raskin: $51,251
Delegate Candidates
Kyle Lierman: $106,191
Mark Winston: $62,580
Hoan Dang: $56,723
Heather Mizeur: $55,718
Craig Zucker: $49,054
8. Here are the biggest spenders of campaign money this year.
Council Candidates
Becky Wagner: $126,119
Hans Riemer: $122,241
George Leventhal: $112,418
Nancy Floreen: $105,047
Duchy Trachtenberg: $94,709
Senate Candidates
Saqib Ali: $180,591
Mike Lenett: $174,185
Rob Garagiola: $134,139
Cheryl Kagan: $87,152
Nancy King: $84,322
Delegate Candidates
Vanessa Atterbeary: $129,780
Kyle Lierman: $99,893
Dana Beyer: $98,825
Hoan Dang: $89,195
Craig Zucker: $69,906
9. Here are the biggest self-funders of the cycle. This statistic includes contributions and loans to self from 2007 on, but does not include self-funding for the 2009 special election.
Council Candidates
Becky Wagner: $95,000 (from husband)
Hans Riemer: $50,000
Robin Ficker: $22,358
Jane de Winter: $17,115
Ilaya Hopkins: $12,500
Senate Candidates
Mike Lenett: $200,713
Rich Madaleno: $30,000
Michael Griffiths: $6,200
Delegate Candidates
Vanessa Atterbeary: $107,250
Ariana Kelly: $85,381 (includes $6,266 from husband)
Dana Beyer: $75,000
Charlie Chester: $55,000
Jay Hutchins: $47,772 (includes $2,635 from wife)
We’re sure there is a WHOLE lot more, but it’s time to go back to posting negative mail!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
SEIU Protests Misleading Puca Mailer
District 39 House candidate Tony Puca has an impressive roster of logos on his mailer. The problem is that he is listing them as "present and past endorsements," and almost all of them were made in the past, if ever.
SEIU Local 500 Executive Director Dave Rodich had this comment:
Tony Puca’s latest campaign piece appears intended to deliberately mislead voters in District 39 into believing that he has been endorsed for election by SEIU. He has not. He is using our logo without our permission. In fact, he has included the logos of several organizations who I know have not endorsed his candidacy.Meanwhile, Puca is complaining on his Facebook page that the mailer may not even be sent out until after the election. You can't... make... it... up!
We call on the voters of District 39 to see through this attempt by Mr. Puca to deceive them and to, instead, to support the outstanding candidates in District 39 who truly have been endorsed by our union: Delegates Charles Barkley, Kirill Reznik, delegate candidate Shane Robinson for election and, in the Senate Race, Senator Nancy King.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Nancy King's Campaign Claims Momentum
Nancy King's campaign manager, Amy Yockus Hartman, sent out the following email to supporters minutes ago.
Dear Friends,
With just about 60 hours until the polls open, our campaign has real momentum.
Nancy earned support from Montgomery County's teachers and retired teachers, police officers, and fire fighters. She secured endorsements from leading progressive organizations, including NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland, Equality Maryland, Maryland Association for Justice, SEIU Maryland & DC State Council, and Maryland State & DC AFL-CIO.
Governor Martin O'Malley and Lt. Governor Anthony Brown endorsed Nancy, because they rely on her in the fight to protect public education and make communities safer. Nancy secured support from County Executive Ike Leggett, State's Attorney John McCarthy, Sheriff Ray Kight, and School Board President Pat O'Neill. They know they can count on Nancy to deliver for Montgomery County.
The region's independent newspapers support Nancy. The Washington Post noted that Nancy has "the respect of colleagues who regard her as thoughtful." The Gazette said Nancy is "an advocate for the public school system and her efforts to preserve public school funding - including sponsoring a bill that waived the county's maintenance of effort penalties for fiscal 2010 - are commendable."
Nancy needs your help to ensure a victory on Tuesday. If you didn't vote early, please vote on Tuesday. The polls open at 7:00a.m. and close at 8:00p.m. If you're not sure where you vote, visit www.mdelections.com. If you have time to volunteer on Election Day, please sign up here or call our office at 301-926-9070.
Thank you for your strong support!
Sincerely,
Amy Yockus Hartman
Campaign Manager
Friday, September 10, 2010
Saqib Ali Responds to State Teachers
District 39 Senate challenger Saqib Ali has submitted the following comment on the mailer sent by the Maryland State Education Association (MSEA) criticizing his record.
#####
I was a bit surprised to find this mailer in my mailbox. I had been told repeatedly by representatives of the MCEA that the "teachers don't go negative." I guess that rule may have changed.
In any case, what is further off-putting about this email is that its claims are verifiably false. It says that I passed only 3 bills in for years. That is simply false. Below are 4 bills that I have passed. There's more, of course. But I'm just listing 4 to show that this flier is clearly meant to deceive:
Property Tax Credit - Replacement Home Purchased After Acquisition of Dwelling for Public Use
Maryland Department of Transportation - Evaluation of the Telework Partnership with Employers Initiative
Creation of a State Debt - Montgomery County - The Muslim Community Center Medical Clinic
Motor Vehicles - Towing and Towed Vehicles - Procedures and Equipment
Did they omit any supporting citations because they didn't want readers to fact-check? Seems likely.
Furthermore in the 2007 special session, I voted against the slots referendum, but in favor of the bill that delineated how slots would be run in case the referendum passed. Before the vote on the referendum, I got a call from Bonnie Cullison (at the time the head of the Montgomery County Teachers Union, MCEA) earnestly urging me to vote for the referendum. I voted against it anyway. But it seems to be bad form for the Maryland State Teachers Union (MSEA) to be harshly criticizing me for something that I didn't even do, but was being strongly urged to do by MCEA. I can only imagine the tough attack from MSEA if I had done what Bonnie asked me to do.
Unfortunately what we are seeing is truth being sacrificed for the sake of political favoritism. It's fine if the MSEA wants to support my opponent. That's their prerogative. However lying about someone's record in an attempt to sink their candidacy shouldn't be a part of any respectable organization's MO.
State Teachers Attack Saqib Ali
The Maryland State Education Association (MSEA) has authorized the following District 39 mailer praising Senator Nancy King, one of its endorsees, and attacking challenger Saqib Ali.
The teachers are justified in endorsing King. She is a former two-term School Board Member, occupies a critical seat on the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee and has almost always supported them. (Her 2008 co-sponsorship and vote for the private-school-financing BOAST bill was a rare exception.) But Ali was a 2006 teachers’ endorsee and, to our knowledge, has never voted against public education. If he had, such a vote would surely be listed in their literature. Is Ali really an appropriate target for an attack mailer?
Furthermore, one of MSEA’s criticisms of Ali in the mailer is that he voted for slots in 2007. (They inaccurately claim that he voted for the slots referendum when he actually voted only for the implementation bill.) Ali has been taken to task for that by an anti-slots lobbyist on this blog, but MSEA is in no position to do that. Under heavy pressure from Senator King’s slate teammate, Senate President Mike “Big Daddy” Miller, MSEA decided to support slots. They still have a lengthy page on their website devoted to defending slot machines. So in this mailer, they are actually blasting Ali for voting with them.
Here is the message that the state teachers are sending politicians across the state. You can be great on our issues but we will still go negative on you. And if you give us a tough vote, we will criticize you for that in a mailer to your constituents.
What a way to deal with politicians!
