By Daniel Menefee
For MarylandReporter.com
Del. Steve Hershey
Gov. Martin O’Malley has appointed first-term Del. Stephen Hershey to fill the seat vacated by Sen. E.J. Pipkin in District 36 – breaking a tie among the GOP central committees of Caroline, Cecil, Kent and Queen Anne’s counties. They were split between Hershey and his colleague in the House of Delegates, Del. Mike Smigiel.
O’Malley said his decision was based on recognition of broader support for Hershey in District 36. He also said the choice should not have been his to make.
“I respect both Delegate Smigiel and Delegate Hershey,” O’Malley said in a press release Wednesday morning. “Filling a Republican vacancy is a matter that should have been resolved by the Republican Central Committees of the District. Rather than resolving their differences, the Republican Central Committee has forwarded two names to my desk.
Del. Mike Smigiel left with Del. Steve Hershey with Gov. Martin O’Malley, seated, at a May 2 bill signing.
“In discharging my Constitutional duty of selecting just one of these candidates, I am guided not by which candidate I would prefer, but rather by which candidate has demonstrated the broadest electoral support in the district. In both the Central Committee balloting and the last general election, Del. Hershey has demonstrated a broader base of support, and therefore, I have decided to appoint Delegate Hershey to fill this Senate vacancy.”
Weeks of internal struggle
The appointment of Hershey, R- Queen Anne’s, ends a six-week battle among the GOP central committees where U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, 1st District Republican, was accused of trying to kill support for Smigiel, R-Cecil, by pushing the nomination of former Republican Party State Chair Audrey Scott.
The news comes as a disappointment to Smigiel supporters who believe his three terms in the legislature made him the heir apparent to succeed Pipkin, his political ally also from Cecil County.
But the decision came as no surprise to either side of the aisle in Annapolis. Smigiel’s fiery brand of opposition to the administration’s tax and gun legislation has not won him the favor of O’Malley or leading Democrats in either chamber.
The decision was also no surprise to Smigiel.
“The decision is no surprise to me as I have sued the governor three times and called him a ‘tyrant’ on the floor of the House of Delegates,” Smigiel said in an interview Wednesday. “The governor either had to have a bad memory or a good sense of humor to have appointed me, and apparently he has neither. I sincerely doubt the citizens of District 36 will support O’Malley choosing their senator.”
Promise to work as team, but Smigiel will run for Senate
With appointment behind him, Hershey gave praise Del. Jay Jacobs, R- Kent, and Smigiel “for their promise that we will continue to support each other and work as a team for the best interests of the 36th District.”
“Although the Governor had to choose between the two names, the central committees performed admirably and ensured the 36th District, as well as the rest of the Eastern Shore, would be represented by a strong conservative who will continue to fight against the Democrat monopoly,” Hershey, R-Queen Anne’s, said in a phone call Wednesday. “Though we may differ in style and delivery, our principles and conservative beliefs are quite similar.”
Smigiel confirmed on Wednesday that he would run for the seat regardless of who won the appointment.
This story ran in the ChestertownSpy.com
Here is an earlier story that gives more background.
The establishment wins again. I guess it wasn’t Smigiel’s “turn”. The Republican Party in Maryland has become a joke.
Besides O’Malley is too busy bashing Rick Perry. O’Malley sucks blood from the economy.
Is this process a joke. He appointed Hershey because he looks too good.
Anyone who believes what O’Malley said about his appointment here has got to be pretty gullible. At any rate, the fun is just beginning in LD36, where the same four Republican Central Committees will now each have to present a name to the governor to fill the vacancy in the House of Delegates created by the elevation of Steve Hershey (who resides in Queen Anne’s County) to the Senate. Despite the strange tradition of residency districts, these Central Committees are not legally required to limit their choices to residents of Queen Anne’s. They could theoretically each back someone from their own county and leave the ultimate choice again to the Democratic governor. Beyond that lies a fierce Republican primary election between newly-crowned Hershey and his quite unhappy challenger (Mike Smigiel). The intra-party combat might be fierce enough to give a Democrat a chance at winning the Senate seat, but I doubt it.
The state of Maryland has changed since 2010 and gone insane.