Maryland House of Delegates Minority Leader Anthony J. “Tony” O’Donnell is the Republican Party’s candidate in the state’s Fifth Congressional District. O’Donnell was first elected to the legislature in 1994, winning by a handful of votes. Late last year he announced his intention to challenge the U.S. House of Representatives’ current minority whip, Democrat Steny Hoyer, for the congressional seat. Hoyer has been the district’s congressional representative since the early 1980s. The Bay Net contacted O’Donnell, offering him a chance to talk about the campaign. The interview took place at O’Donnell’s campaign headquarters in Prince Frederick. Some of the recorded conversation has been edited for length.
TBN: Why are you running?
O’DONNELL: I really believe this country is on the wrong track and if we don’t get some things right we could lose this country. There’s no guarantee it will remain the preeminent nation of the world, a beacon of freedom in the world. Specifically, I am referring to the national debt. If we go bankrupt as a nation we can’t afford any of the things we prioritize and cherish as a free society. We won’t be able to afford our military or the military installations that support it, including PAX River Naval Air Station or the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Indian Head or Dahlgren. We won’t be able to afford the space program support at NASA Goddard at Greenbelt. We won’t be able to support the Census Bureau and all of the federal employees who work there. This national debt threatens everything, including our federal workforce and its retirees. I believe our congressman has been there too long. He is more consumed with gaining political power and getting Nancy Pelosi back in the speaker’s seat than he is about fixing some of these very difficult problems of this nation. He’s had his chance, his sun is setting. We need somebody who’s going to go there and not engage in ‘who is going to be speaker and who’s not.’ Not asking the first question ‘what political advantage do I get’ but asking the first question ‘what’s in the best interest of the nation?’ not ‘what’s in my best own political interest?’ I think that’s where Steny Hoyer is. He is not the same guy who was elected to office 45 years ago. He’s been in Congress 31 years. I think it’s time to change.
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