La Plata, MD – With almost 94 percent of all votes recorded in Charles County, it is safe to say that the Democrats have once again walked away with control.
The only Republican in the Charles County election to walk away with success was the incumbent Governor Larry Hogan, who managed to defeat challenger Ben Jealous in the county by the slim margin of 20 votes. Although that margin will alter after all absentee and provisional ballots have been counted, the Republican Governor has been mathematically confirmed to a second term after receiving bipartisan support statewide.
However, some other notable changes in Democratic power should be mentioned following these elections. The most unexpected shift came when six-term State Senator Thomas M. “Mac” Middleton was defeated by Arthur Ellis in the Democratic Primary by a slim margin. Ellis (pictured above, riding in the Nov. 4 parade in La Plata) went on to handily defeat Republican Senate Candidate Bill Dotson with 66 percent of the total votes. This is despite the fact that Ellis did not show up for any of the four debates/forums and has vague platforms listed for most issues. Additionally, just days before the election, a video began circling on Facebook of Ellis stating on camera that he attended all debates/forums when he actually attended none of them. See that video here.
Elected to The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), are some new faces going into their next session. First, the new president of the BOCC is the familiar face of Reuben B. Collins II. Some may remember Collins from back in 2006 when he served for eight straight years as the Charles County Commissioner representing District 3. Collins overcame Peter Murphy in the Democratic Primary and went on to defeat Republican Henry Thompson by the margin of 23,000 votes.
In addition to the new BOCC President, Districts 1 and 2 will also have new elected officials. In District 1, Gilbert “B.J.” Bowling won commissioner Ken Robinson’s vacant seat. Robinson decided not to seek a third term. Bowling was easily elected over Republican candidate Joe Crawford, receiving over 40,000 votes or 73.3 percent of the total.
Similarly in District 2, Thomasina “Sina” Coates found herself taking the seat held by Debra Davis, who went on to successfully pursue one of the three available District 28 seats in the Maryland House of Delegates. Coates annihilated the Green Party candidate Stanley R. Hayes, receiving 81.8 percent of the votes.
The two incumbent Democratic commissioners have maintained there seats on the board. In District 3, Amanda Stewart [D] ran an uncontested race where she received 97.2 percent of votes. In District 4, Bobby Rucci, who served as the vice president of the BOCC, defeated Republican candidate James Ashburn by a margin of almost 30,000 votes.
Following his landslide victory, Commissioner Rucci told TheBayNet.com, “It feels good to win again, now lets get back to work.” He also emphasized how excited he is to work with the new board that is coming in.
In the race for the three District 28 House of Delegates seats, Democrats won by a large margin. Davis receive more votes for a Maryland House of Delegates seat than any other District 28 candidate, racking up over 32,000 votes. Democrats Edith J. Patterson and C. T. Wilson walked away in similar fashions, receiving over 31,000 votes each.
All other races across the county were won by uncontested Democratic candidates. This included Loraine Davies Hennessy being elected to Register of Wills, Sherri Hancock being elected as Clerk of the Circuit Court, Tony Covington being elected as Charles County States Attorney, and Troy Berry being elected as sheriff.
With such wide margins of success from the Democratic Party, it leaves little wonder why there is often such a heavy stress on the primary elections in Charles County.
