The Latest From District 3B

As we have been reporting here, here and here, former Republican Delegate Rick Weldon has resigned his position in the House of Delegates. The Frederick and Washington County Republican Central committees will be picking his successor.

As we have said, this decision will be closely watched as the Maryland Republican Party heads into the 2010 election cycle.

Will these local party officials select someone who has a solid conservative pedigree or will the decision be dominated by local party politics with the result that a local political insider with no greater ideological loyalty than their own personal ambition will join the Republican caucus in Annapolis? What will this choice tell to activists as they are being asked to support GOP candidates in the coming year? Will this be a local version of the mistakes made by local party officials in NY-23?

We will know soon as the choice is likely to be made on or about January 6, 2010 with any candidates required to submit their application no later than December 29, 2009.

Trending: President Trump Must Be Reelected

As we predicted, additional potential candidates have come to the fore. One is former Frederick County Commissioner John Lovell. Mr. Lovell told the Frederick News Post that he wanted to be a “placeholder” and will not seek reelection in 2010. Good strategy since his last campaign resulted in him finishing 9th out of ten candidates for the Frederick County Board of Commissioners.

More disturbing about Mr. Lovell, though, is his past support for higher taxes, namely his vote for a hotel tax in Frederick County. This is exactly the mindset we need less of in Annapolis not more. How can the GOP make fiscal conservatism and opposition to the O’Malley tax increases central themes next year when their own local committee members choose tax raisers?

No doubt the fact that this process will play out during the holiday season will keep many from watching this process as closely as they should. That is why it is so critical that Maryland conservatives continue to inform themselves and let the Frederick County Republican Central Committee (http://www.frederickgop.org/ email them at info@frederickgop.org ) and Washington County Republican Central Committee (email their Chairman PaulaLampton@yahoo.com) know we are watching.

Again we invite the candidates for this appointment to address the readers of this blog.

You can read the FCRSCC announcement here.