Should Maryland GOP Dump Pelura?
July 8, 2009 by Cato
Filed under Conservatism, Maryland, Maryland Politics, Republican Campaigns
MDGOP chair Jim Pelura seems to have hit a trifecta. Republican members of the Maryland legislature aren’t too happy with him. Then Pelura was slammed by the party’s Executive Committee for firing MDGOP Executive Director Justin Ready without discussing it with them first. Now Pelura’s increasingly tyrannical behavior has managed to make the front page of the Washington Times with talk of ousting Pelura. I am reminded of he melt-down of former Republican Party of Virginia chair Jeff Frederick.
In all fairness to Pelura, Maryland House Minority Leader Anthony O’Donnell is not only wrong, but arrogant, if he believes that the MDGOP shouldn’t take a stand on core policy issues. However, if Pelura believes that the MDGOP should dictate policy to elected members of the state legislature then he is equally wrong.
As for Pelura’s unilateral firing of Ready, Pelura does have the authority to do so. It’s pretty foolish, but the MDGOP has chosen to make the Executive Director’s position one that serves at the pleasure of the chairman. Pelura’s sin appears to have been a political one. However, allowing the state chair to arbitrarily fire any staff member is just one sympton of a sickness that afflicts the MDGOP to the marrow.
While I certainly have no quarrel with Ready, his firing appears to be a straw man. The lack of a viable finance committee is a much bigger reason to oust Pelura. IF, as reported in the Washington Times, Pelura dumped Ready because he booked a speaker that the chairman didn’t like at an upcoming workshop, then too bad. Amend the party plan and learn from your mistakes. Such behavior is one reason why Pelura shouldn’t be re-elected as chairman, but it certainly isn’t a valid reason to oust him.
The fact that party officials are discussing this matter with the media goes to prove that the MDGOP isn’t a conservative organization. By definition, conservatives don’t do radical things. Of course, this helps to explain why the MDGOP is becoming less relevant by the day. Grassroots organizations like the non-partisan Americans for Prosperity and the GOP-centric Eastern Shore Republican Alliance are working to promote conservative (and hopefully Republican) issues and candidates (in the case of the ESRA) outside the structure of the MDGOP, which is little more than a country club.
The issue isn’t really whether or not to dump Jim Pelura. As long as the MDGOP leadership is more concerned about being big fish in a little pond it won’t really matter who sits in the big chair. Until all of the petty, self-serving interests holding sway in the MDGOP agree to restructure the party and get serious about winning elections, it really won’t matter who holds the Executive Director’s position. Until the party becomes interested in promoting conservative ideas and engaging the grassroots, it will continue to decline into irrelevance.
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Again and again we have heard the same tired re-frame – “Jim Pelura cannot raise money.” Say it enough times, you might just believe it.
Let’s look at the combined record for 2007 & 2008.
First, how do the State Republicans compare with the Maryland Democrats?
State Republican Party
Number of registered Republicans 909,000
Total contribution amount is $864,875.72
Average per registered Republican 95 cents
Democratic State Central Committee of Maryland
Number of registered Democrat 1,942,000
Total contribution amount is $1,907,259.56
Average per registered Democrat: 98 cents
Can this be? Are the State Republican Party is raising the same amount, relative to registration, as the Democrats? 98 cents vs. 95 cents? Seems to be the case.
Next let’s look at how the Republican State Party is doing compared with the counties, starting with principal Pelura critic Chris Cavey’s Baltimore County:
Baltimore County Republican Central Committee -
Number of registered Republicans 127,000
Total contribution amount is $88,512.74
Average per registered Republican 70 cents
Let’s see how other Republican Central Committees do compared to Baltimore County:
Anne Arundel County Republican Central Committee
Number of registered Republicans 117,000
Total contribution amount is $72,660.92
Average per registered Republican 61 cents
Carroll County Republican Central Committee
Number of registered Republicans 53,000
Total contribution amount is $56,582.47
Average per registered Republican $1.05
Charles County Central Committee
Number of registered Republican – 25,000
Total contribution amount is $21,222.10
Average per registered Republican 84 cents.
Frederick County Republican Central Committee
Number of registered Republicans 56,000
Total contribution amount is $35,324.00
Average per registered Republican 61 cents.
Harford County Republican Central Committee
Number of registered Republicans 61,000
Total contribution amount is $75,768.64
Average per registered Republican $1.22
Howard County Republican Central Committee
Number of registered Republican – 54,000
Total contribution amount is $108,377.17
Average per registered Republican: $2.00
Montgomery County Republican Central Committee
Number of Registered Republicans 123,000
Total contribution amount is $169,561.16
Average per registered Republican $1.37
Prince George’s County Republican Central Committee
Number of Registered Republicans 47,0000
Total contribution amount is $43,898.99
Average per registered Republican 91 cents
Draw you own conclusions.
Maryland State Board of Elections Database
http://www.mdelections.org/campaign-finance/party
Registration numbers:
http://www.elections.state.md.us/pdf/vrar/2009_06.pdf
Do you honestly believe that this is a strong argument? I guess the MDGOP is always to remain in the minority because it will always raise less money because there will always be fewer registered Republicans?
My biggest criticism of Pelura regarding money is that he failed to establish a Finance Committee, which he is required to do. Regardless, this statistical nonsense (no matter that I am sure it is true) does not lead to a solution for becoming the majority party in Maryland. BTW – by majority party I mean one that elects Republicans, not how many REGISTERED Republicans there are.
By your analysis, a county like Wicomico should be ruled exclusively by Dems because we are at a registration disadvantage. Yet, the county consistently votes GOP in most state and Federal races and has a nominal majority on its county council.