Steve Burns
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) Ads and quotes from Democratic Congressmen Chris Van Hollen and Donna Edwards have been plastered all over D.C. media for months. However, there are 14 Republicans also vying to succeed Senator Barbara Mikulski in the U.S. Senate. The two frontrunners, Delegate Kathy Szeliga and attorney Chrys Kefalas, both pointed to Governor Larry Hogan’s win as evidence a conservative can claim victory in deep-blue Maryland.
“I am the highest-ranking Republican woman in the State of Maryland, and I’m very proud to work with Larry Hogan to do things like repealing the Rain Tax, cutting tolls, and reducing government spending,” Szeliga told WMAL. “I think people across our state, and definitely across the country, have realized it’s time to put some businesspeople in office. People who have balanced a budget, and know what it means to create a job.”
Szeliga serves as the House Minority Whip, serving in the House since 2011. Prior to that, she said she and her husband built a small construction company. She said she also comes from a military family.
“It’s just so disturbing when we open the paper and read about our military men and women who are not getting the heathcare services they need. I’d like to work on that,” she said. She also mentioned rolling back regulations to help spur job growth as a top priority.
Szeliga has finished first in most recent polling of Maryland Republicans, with Kefalas not far behind.
“Like Larry Hogan, I have a business background, starting in the family restaurant, working my way up to be an executive at the National Association of Manufacturers,” Kefalas told WMAL. “And like Governor Hogan, I served in the Erlich Administration. I was Bob Ehrlich’s counsel, working on a number of criminal justice reforms.” He went on to work in Attorney General Eric Holder’s office before taking a job at NAM.
Kefalas called Hogan a personal friend, and said he wants to “replicate” what Hogan did, including winning over disaffected Democrats.
“Republicans, if I’m nominated, will have a candidate who can defeat Donna Edwards or Chris Van Hollen,” he said. “(I can) get more Democratic voters to cross over and join us on this mission to create more jobs, lower taxes, and strengthen our national defense.”
Szeliga said anyone satisfied with the last seven years should vote for Van Hollen or Edwards, but otherwise it’s time for “new faces and new ideas.”
“It’s great that (Van Hollen and Edwards) are just beating each other up every day,” Szeliga said. “Seeing which one is more liberal than the other.”
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