The Time to Vote Third Party

The opinions presented below are those of Matthew Newman and do not necessarily reflect those of the staff of Red Maryland or its editors. The 2nd District primary is a competitive primary. The editors of Red Maryland have not made an endorsement in this primary at this time.

In 2004, I was faced with a dilemma in my vote for Congress. I had two main choices – generic liberal in Doris Kelly (D) or incumbent Congressman John Sweeney (R). It was a known secret that the man had alcohol problems and issues with his wife. Domestic violence charges came public in two years later in 2006. Sweeney was later arrested for a DWI in 2007. Suffice it to say, I had concerns about Sweeney. I ended up voting third party for an independent who’s entire platform comprised of wanting to lower alcohol taxes. That, frankly, to me was better than the alternatives.

In 2006 I was again faced with an issue. For Attorney General, the Democrats put up Andrew Cuomo. I was absolutely not voting for the liberal Cuomo who had issues in HUD which disqualified the man for the post. The Republicans put up Jeanine Pirro. Pirro had conveniently knew nothing about her husband’s mob ties, ties to shady land dealers, or tax evasion while serving as Westchester County District Attorney. She was also under federal investigation at the time for illegal wiretapping of…her husband, who she assumed was cheating on her. She originally was running for US Senate in 2006, but eventually dropped out. Before dropping out, her platform was that of a pro-choice, center left Republican. Here was a TV ad which ran against her before she dropped out of the GOP Senate primary:

I had absolutely no reason to trust either candidate, so I voted for the Libertarian nominee for Attorney General and encouraged others to do the same. In 2006 I also voted for Conservative Party insurgent candidate for US Senate Marilyn O’Grady based on the issues I already mentioned about Republican Howard Mills. (The pro-choice Mills was later caught keeping his political accounts open, fundraising, and using it for personal gain).

I have already made it clear I won’t vote for Donald Trump in the general election, but there is another who I would not vote for and would seek a third party alternative, and that is Pat McDonough.

McDonough is a Republican delegate in Baltimore and Harford Counties; he is currently running for Congress in my District (District 2). If he secures the Republican nomination, I will not vote for him. My reasons will follow. In 2014, he worked with other members of the Harford County delegation to try to pack the Republican Party Central Committee of Harford County in order to have more influence and power over replacement members. This is disqualifying in and of itself, in my opinion, but there is more than that. He spent much of 2011 disparaging the eventual GOP nominee for US Senate Dan Bongino. He has a series of campaign finance violations which should give voters pause. He uses racially tinged rhetoric to get his points across, turning off voters. He was absent during gun rights hearings in 2013 on the committee which he sits. And he constantly has announced bids for higher office to gain attention, only to pull his name at the last minute.

In short – he uses racially motivated rhetoric, he’s not loyal to solid conservatives, he’s had campaign finance violations, wanted to pack a GOP central committee with loyalists, and he’s untrustworthy. I will not vote for Pat McDonough for Congress should he receive the nomination and will continue my tradition of voting third party when a reasonable conservative alternative does not exist on the ballot as a Republican. Here’s hoping, once more, it does not come to that.

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Cross posted to MDMRN.com.