Annapolis Capital Punishment

Tonight, Zina Pierre's official announcement at Eastport Elementary at 5:30 p.m. and then on to the Banneker-Douglass Museum...You'll soon be hearing more about Independent mayoral candidate Chris Fox....And as promised, a rundown on the aldermanic races....
One-Incumbent Dick Israel D in the race
Two-Incumbent Fred Paone R in the race
Three-Incumbent Classie Hoyle D in the race, Challenger Scott Bowling R
Four-Incumbent Sheila Finlayson D in the race
Five- Incumbent Dave Cordle running for mayor, seat open
Six- Incumbent Julie Stankivic leaving, Kenny Kirby D and Greg Stiverson R
Seven-Incumbent Sam Shropshire D running for mayor, Ian Pfeiffer D running for open seat
Eight-Incumbent Ross Arnett in the race

How about that Ninth Ward? You'll have to read The Capital every Wednesday to find out. (shameless self-promotion alert! alert! alert!)

My crystal ball says that Israel, Paone and Arnett are likely to hold their seats unless an unexpectedly strong challenger appears. I sure hope there will be challengers because then there will be more to write about...Bowling already is organizing a serious campaign against two-term incumbent Classie Hoyle who may be weakened due to her affiliation with Mayor Moyer and the same goes for Sheila Finlayson who barely got elected just two years ago. Bowling's fundraiser-kickoff last night at Paul's Homewood Cafe was a lively, well-organized and well-attended event that brought out many Republican leaders and activists. Among the packed crowd were Dave Cordle, Julie Stankivic, Frank Bradley, Chris Fox, Bill Kardash, Mike Dye, Randy Landis, Nancy Almgren and Greg Stiverson and many others....I spotted a Volvo station wagon (of all things...) at the restaurant with a sticker reading "They're Not Liberals. They're Socialists"...Well! Maybe some of us are , but I don't see that as such a bad thing. Here's my version of a sticker if I saw the world as black and white as that Volvo-driver. It would read "They're not Conservatives. They're Fascists". Of course, that would be silly--would it not? There are plenty of fine people who are registered Republicans in this town--many of whom I saw last night. It's those "Gods, Guns and Gays" kind that ruffle my feathers.... No word yet for certain on anything going on in Five except for rumors. Stiverson may not have party or demographics on his side in the Sixth, but I'll bet he'll be the one to beat because of strong citywide name recognition, a firm grasp of issues, an active and early campaign and what appears so far to be a weak Democratic opponent. Stiverson will have an event on May 21. Watch Pfeiffer in Seven, a former Congressional staffer and government affairs consultant who will likely mount a strong campaign.

Keep in mind that if the city manager referendum passes, the composition of city council becomes even more important. This year also may be a good opportunity for the Republicans to increase their seats. I have been trying to assess if the Greens have any electoral plans this year and so far the answer I get is no. However, I believe the relevance of political parties in our city government is less and less apparent and after we pass the city manager referendum, maybe we can work to eliminate partisan elections.

Below are photos from yesterday's Sip N' Blog--our largest ever with 20 folks in attendance. Featured guest was mayoral candidate and County Councilman Josh Cohen who risked a return to his former stomping ground in the Maritime Republic of Eastport--and was pleasantly surprised to find us a congenial and softball-lobbing crowd. Top photo shows left to right Ward Six aldermanic candidate Greg Stiverson, mayoral candidate Chris Fox, Ward Three aldermanic candidate Scott Bowling, Devin Heritage, Anastasia Hopkinson and Cohen.

Above: A show of bi-partisan love between political hopefuls and the local news media. Greg Stiverson, Chris Fox, Paul Foer aka "CP", Mayoral Candidate Gil Renaut, Cohen and Bowling. Geeze--we sure do look like the country club set. Thanks to the Cohen campaign for the photos.





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