Dunkirk, MD – Most of the students who graduated from Northern High School’s class of 2016 are trying to find their footing in life at an entry-level job, a trade or are preparing to enter their junior year of college. Matt Bennett falls into the latter category but, unlike his fellow graduates, his concerns encompass more than just beach trips, internships and summer jobs. Bennett has his eyes set on the future of Calvert County.
At just 20 years of age, Bennett is running for one of the two at-large commissioner seats in Calvert County. He ensured his inclusion on the November ballot after receiving 29.8 percent of the votes in June’s Democratic primary. Ahead of him was Greg Brown, who received 32.6 percent of the Democratic vote. Brown is Bennett’s former campaign manager and the individual who encouraged him to run in the first place.
Following the 2016 election, Brown stepped down from his post as chairman of the Calvert County Democratic Central Committee after reaching out to Bennett about running for commissioner. Bennett stated that Brown thought he “would be a great, unique, candidate. A fresh voice.” At some point, the two had a “falling out,” according to Bennett, but they both expressed no hard feelings towards one another. Bennett’s initial understanding was that Brown would step down as campaign manager and run for the District 2 commissioner spot. However, on the filing deadline Brown filed for the at-large race, unbeknownst to Bennett. Brown attributes his sudden switch to a meeting he had with Susie Hance-Wells, District 2’s Democratic county commissioner candidate. Following the meeting, Brown decided that he would much rather be commissioner along with Susie and saw the At-Large race as a means to knock the least amount of his fellow party members out of the commissioner race. Brown even went so far as to state that he has faith both Bennett and himself can win the two At-Large seats come November.
Bennet’s father, John Bennett, assumed the role of campaign manager, filling the gap left by Brown’s departure. Bennett stated that he wants to attribute “a lot of” his primary win to his father. Bennett expressed that his parents were supportive from the start and that being county commissioner is an opportunity of a lifetime.
Many would be quick to dismiss Bennett because of his youth but, in his eyes, youth is an asset. “In my opinion, Calvert County is a majority Republican county and Democrats aren’t going to win by running the same type of candidates.” The county’s five commissioner seats are currently all held by Republicans and Bennett sees himself as a candidate primed for disrupting the status quo. On his website, mattforcalvert.com, Bennett openly expresses that he is “a progressive and a Democrat.” In an interview with TheBayNet.com, he asserted, “I’m never going to hide who I am or what I believe in. Unlike a few candidates in the race who changed parties as soon as they wanted to get elected in Calvert County, I’m never going to disguise myself.”
However, Bennett does not see the issues that Calvert County faces as being partisan in nature. “This isn’t Trump versus Hillary, that’s not what being county commissioner is, this isn’t left versus right. I’m running under the Democratic ticket but my message is about ensuring that Calvert County is sustainable for generations to come.” He puts it succinctly as, “These are Calvert County problems with Calvert County solutions.”
Bennett conveys three of his “Calvert County Solutions” on his web site as “common sense investment,” “reasonable growth,” and “government accessibility.” Bennett emphasizes the county’s needs for teacher pay, school safety, handling the opioid crisis and rural preservation along with a desire to increase transparency within the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC).
Many of these points are similar sentiments also expressed by the other candidates but, come election day, there will no doubt be voters whose main contention with Bennett is his age. The framers of The Constitution shared a similar contention, evident by their inclusion of three different age requirements for president/vice president, senator and house representative. James Madison’s argument justifying this position can be found in The Federalist 62 where he expresses the need of senators to have a “greater extent of information and stability of character.” He calls this “senatorial trust.” Madison also states that “the senator should have reached a period of life most likely to supply these advantages.” Though there are no age requirements to be on the BOCC the argument behind the requirements could still apply in the minds of voters.
When asked how he would respond to criticism of his youth Bennett stated, “Democracy is for everybody. I don’t have an official campaign slogan yet but that’s one that I use a lot. Democracy is for people of all ages, races and religions. Local government isn’t just for old white guys, it’s for everybody.”
A lack of experience in government is another potential criticism Bennett faces. He responds to this critique by stating, “I believe that there is only one candidate, who’s not a sitting commissioner, that’s held public office before and none of the current commissioners were in public office before being elected as commissioner.”
A current University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) mathematics student, Bennett plans on continuing his education “I’m going to finish my degree. Being a commissioner is not supposed to be a full-time job. A couple of the commissioners own liquor stores and they’re not expected to give that up, so I shouldn’t be expected to give up my education.” However, Bennett acknowledges that he will more than likely be unable to attend full-time on campus this fall because of his campaign.
This is Matt Bennett’s first time running for public office. He expressed that he is not looking past the November election towards future political aspirations as he is unsure of “how healthy it is to look that far down the line.”
The Maryland General Election will take place Tuesday, November 6.
Contact Jerold Massey at jeroldmassie@gmail.com