Curious Affiliation Switch by QAC GOP Central Committee Member
Tuesday afternoon I received an email from the Chair of the Queen Anne’s County Republican Central Committee notifying QAC Republicans that central committee member Bob Foley, petitioned to be placed on the 2010 ballot to run as unaffiliated for Queen Anne’s County Commissioner, thereby disqualifying himself from serving on the QAC Republican Central Committee.
The Maryland State Board of Elections website shows Foley petitioned to get on the ballot as unaffiliated on July 2, 2010, then withdrew that petition and registered to run as a Republican on July 6.
The plot thickened after I obtained an email (names of carbon copied persons redacted) dated July 5 from Foley to Jack Broderick, a board member of the Democratic Club of Queen Anne’s County and candidate for county commissioner.
In the email, Foley writes:
Trending: Thank You
jack!! i will attend.. confirming our tel con today!! i have registered as an[Unaffiliated] candidate for QAC commissioner @ large!!. need an additional 120 signatures to comply with Bd of elections regulations…the form is atth’d to this e/m.. please secure some signatures for me..
thank you..bob Foley
ps.. anyone on my cc list that can help would be greatly appresiated…
Foley is confirming he will attend a late July fundraiser for Broderick in Kent Island, some sort of teleconference between them, and that he is 120 signatures short of the 315 required to get on the November general election ballot as unaffiliated.
It’s one thing to run unaffiliated. However, it is something else entirely to commiserate with Democrats and ask for their assistance. Furthermore, I can also confirm that some of the recipients on that “cc list” were official Queen Anne’s County government addresses and a state agency. Last time I checked candidates soliciting state or county government workers is a big no no.
To be sure, politics in Queen Anne’s County doesn’t always divide along strict party lines. The real divide, as I’ve come to learn, is between pro-growth advocates and no-growth conservationists. Generally speaking, Republicans fall into the pro-growth camp and Democrats compose the no-growth crowd. However, there are anti-growth Republicans and some Democrats who understand the need to spur economic growth in the county.
In the upcoming county commissioner’s election, Queen Anne’s residents will choose between economic growth, or continuing down the same course of economic contraction no-growthers have charted last eight years. If voters choose the latter, then expect larger budget deficits than the recent $17 million gap and substantial tax increases.
As I looked at Foley’s cc list I saw a who’s who of no-growthers, big spending Democrats and county officials who have set Queen Anne’s fiscal house in disorder. It appears Foley has cast his lot with those who would continue to shrink the county’s commercial tax base and hinder prospects for economic expansion and prosperity.
