ENDORSEMENT: David Lashar for Governor
David Lashar will hold the line against taxes, job-killing programs, and the expansion of state government and will do so in a way that does not infringe upon the rights of Marylanders.
I want to highlight something that I wrote in my piece in The Banner last Monday:
Heading toward this year’s general election, neither Wes Moore nor Dan Cox has firmly established himself as a candidate in the hearts and minds of Maryland’s electorate — in part because neither is a statewide incumbent. These candidates, however, are fortunate; they are backed by high-dollar donors, national organizations and large caches of grassroots volunteers backing their campaigns.
That lack of establishment of their positions in the hearts and minds of Maryland’s electorate is important. Because once you start to look at Dan Cox and Wes Moore, you realize that neither of them is fit to serve as Maryland’s Governor.
As far as Dan Cox goes, what more can be said that hasn’t already been said? Cox may be trying to cover his tracks, but he remains a far-right, election-denying, coup-justifying, conspiracy theorist who prioritizes being a Donald Trump bootlicker over the state of Maryland.
Wes Moore is not much to write home about either. While he may be the candidate from central casting with all of the Hollywood connections. he remains a radically extreme candidate with a history of lies, issue flip-flops, and a potentially fabricated backstory. Wes Moore’s agenda is a radical left-wing agenda that will take Maryland further down the slippery slope of socialism and bankruptcy. There is not a single issue on which Wes Moore would agree with the majority of Marylanders.
The election of Wes Moore will Make Maryland California…again.
The major parties have nominated two radical extremists who remain far outside of the mainstream of Maryland society. Neither Dan Cox nor Wes Moore represents Maryland’s political or moral values.
There is, however, a better choice.
Libertarian candidate David Lashar has more relevant public service experience than either Dan Cox or Wes Moore. His career started as a policy analyst in the House of Representatives with a focus on infrastructure and transportation issues. Lashar then left congress and worked in private business, focusing on manufacturing and IT. Lashar then served in meaningful executive leadership roles at the Maryland Department of Health, serving as the Chief Information Officer and serving simultaneously as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff of the Department.
At a time when Marylanders are worried about infrastructure, transportation, jobs, and health care, Lashar is the only candidate in the field with experience in any of them. And a time when Maryland needs experienced leadership at the ship of state, Lashar’s public and private sector experience far exceeds Cox’s experience as a Delegate or running a tiny law firm or Moore’s experience as a policy fellow or running a non-profit. It’s not even close.
On the issues, Lashar is more like average Marylanders than either Cox or Moore could ever be. Just look at the core issues Lashar lists on his website.
Do Lashar and I agree on every issue? Of course not and in fact I disagree with him on a few significant policy issues as I do the other candidates. But I also know that Lashar is spot on when it comes to school choice, tax relief, term limits, the restraint of emergency powers, gun laws, and free speech among other issues. At the end of the day, I know that a Lashar Administration would hold the line on taxes, reject the radical expansion of abortion rights, socialized health care, and a whole host of other Democratic priorities.
Beyond that, I know that the state government would not expand were Lashar to win. Both Dan Cox and Wes Moore want to grow the size and scope of state government. Cox wants to expand state government in service of his Trumpist statism. Moore wants to expand state government in service of the implementation of socialism. In either case, you wind up with an expansion of state government that will further infringe upon your rights.
David Lashar does not bring that. David Lashar will hold the line against taxes, job-killing programs, and the expansion of state government and will do so in a way that does not infringeupon the rights of Marylanders. That is why The Duckpin endorses David Lashar for Governor of Maryland.
Now, I can already hear the naysayers saying “Why would I waste my vote on Lashar, he can’t win?”
Are you sure about that?
Are the odds against Lashar? Of course. At the last campaign finance filing, Lashar had less than $10,000 in the bank. He is severely underfunded. He has received little media coverage. He has little in the way of campaign organization.
But Jesse Ventura had a lot of those disadvantages too in 1998 when he was elected popular with voters. Voters were looking for something else. And while Ventura had additional advantages that Lashar did not have such as his celebrity cache, he did offer something different than what the two major parties were offering.
Take a look against at Lashar’s issues. You’ll quickly realize that is where most Marylanders are when it comes to a lot of important issues. Compared to Cox and Moore, it is Lashar who is the mainstream candidate. And when you consider that 453,695 went to the polls in the primary and voted for neither guy, the concept that Lashar may be the mainstream choice on the issues becomes a little clearer. That’s 55% of the primary electorate who voted for somebody other than the two major party nominees.
If there were any year for a third-party candidate to catch lightning in a battle, it is 2022 with the way this election has turned out so far. As we occasionally say in these parts…..why not?