Ficker is a longtime Republican activist. He has run for office many times in the last 50 years, winning once: he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1978, where he served one term. He has since run for Congress, County Executive, County Council, and U.S. Senate numerous times.
Ficker has often made his platform running statewide primarily about cutting the state sales tax by two percent. It will be interesting to see how Ficker proposes to do that considering the heavily Democratic makeup of the General Assembly, that would have to propose such a cut.
Ficker will start this race as a major underdog. Other candidates speculated to be considering a run include Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford, Harford County Executive Barry Glassman, Secretary of Commerce Kelly Schulz, and former Lt. Governor and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.