Brian Chisholm for Delegate, District 31B

One of the most documented races that we have discussed has been the House of Delegates Race in District 31B. With two incumbents, eight candidates, and the specter of John Leopold floating over the field, it always lined up to be one of the more intriguing races in the state, though some of the candidates wanted to get silly about it

The first thing to know about the race is that House Minority Leader Nic Kipke is going to get re-elected. There is no doubt about Kipke’s popularity in the district, but he has made some pretty questionable votes over the years. There may be doubt among the editors as to if he should be re-elected, but there is no doubt among the editors that Kipke will return to Annapolis for another four years.


With the reality of Kipke’s re-eletion, that leaves seven people fighting for one-seat. The important thing in this race is for conservatives to coalesce around a candidate to prevent the embarrassment of Delegate Don Dwyer winning the primary. Delegate Dwyer’s problems are well-documented and the Editors have grave concerns that an apperance by Dwyer as the Republican nominee in November will both distract attention way from our message and open a window for a Democratic candidate to be elected in a district where they have no business being competitive. More importantly, we truly believe that Don Dwyer really needs to focus on himself and his recovery more than he does being a Delegate in Annapolis.


To that end, the editors of Red Maryland have endorsed Brian Chisholm for that seat.

On the issues Chisholm is also a full service conservative, pledging to oppose any and all new taxes and supporting accross the board tax cuts for the personal and corporate income tax. He is also a proponent of local control of schools, a defender of the Second Amendment, and for  the elimination of speed camera.

But this endorsement goes beyond issues. Brian Chisholm is not somebody who is a career politician or aspring to be a career politician. He’s an entrepreneur and businessman whose mortgage lending business specializes in loans veterans and servicemembers. He’s a family man, who in addition to living with his wife and kids, cares for his wife’s aunt, who has Down Syndrome. Brian himself had a chronic illness which has impaired his vision, losing the ability to see in his left eye and could still lose the vision in his right eye.


Let’s face it Brian Chisholm has other things he could be worried about, but still wants to serve the community. That’s admirable and one further reason why he is worthy of your support.

We aren’t the only ones supporting Brian Chisholm. He’s got the backing of another Red Maryland endorseeDan Bongino, too:



There are any number of reasons to eliminate  other candidates from consideration as well:

  • Paul Drgos: Drgos has been one of the few challengers to actually discuss issues in this race. His prior run for Congress as a Libertarian and recent return to the GOP concern us, but more critical for his campaign is the lack of fundraising to get his message out there.
  • Faith Loudon: We endorsed Faith for Congress last year, but her campaign has been almost non-existent in this Delegate race. She may be more focused on a bid to return to the Central Committee than being a Delegate.
  • Gus Kurtz: We talked about Kurtz before, in relation to his tiff with Meagan Simonaire. Kurtz  certainly is a Democrat of more recent vintage than he would have you believe, and his record of supporting Democrats is alarming. But a bigger problem is very simple: with Gus Kurtz, there isn’t a lot of there there.
  • Meagan Simonaire: Let’s be blunt about this: Meagan Simonaire has a sense of entitlement to this seat because her father is a State Senator. She seems to have no bones about trying to get elected on the basis of nepotism as opposed to achievement. No record of donations other than to herself and her father, no record of volunteering, no record of involvement. Meagan Simonaire represents the type of nepotism and inside baseball that Maryland Democrats have perfected. Why would Republicans want anything to do with that? Cases in point: 
    • The very large Meagan Simonaire sign on westbound Route 100 in Pasadena says “A Name You Trust”, which reminds me more of a scene from The Distinguished Gentleman than it does a reason to vote for a candidate; 
    • As Meagan Simonaire has been knocking on doors throughout the district, she is leaving not just her own literature, but business cards from her father as well. She makes appearances sign waving, but only with her father. 
  • David Therrien: Nobody has any idea who this dude is.

The fact of the matter is that the voters in Pasadena have the opportunity to send a real common-sense conservative to Annapolis this year, which is why the editors of Red Maryland endorse Brian Chisholm for Delegate in District 31B.



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