What a Ballooning Republican Field Says About the "Frontrunners"
If fellow Republicans are not scared off by Dan Cox or Ed Hale, Democrats certainly won’t be.
Republican candidates for Governor of Maryland are coming out of the woodwork as we hit the home stretch before the February 24th filing deadline.
The field of filed candidates has now ballooned to seven, and that does not count former Democrat Ed Hale, who will presumably officially file as a candidate after the announcement of his Lieutenant Governor running mate on Thursday, or Delegate Christopher Bouchat, who announced last summer.
The Republican field now includes:
Bouchat
Carl A.Brunner, Jr.
L. D. Burkindine
Conspiracy theorist, 2022 nominee, and Former Delegate Dan Cox
Hale
2024 U.S Senate candidate John A. Myrick
Michael Oakes
Nancy Jane Taylor
Kurt Wedekind
I know what many of you are thinking right now.
And you’re not wrong. Other than Cox and Hale, these folks have little to no public profile. In Cox’s case, he is the only candidate with something resembling a pre-existing constituency.
But the fact that three candidates (Burkindine, Oakes, and Taylor) filed just in the last week speaks to a bigger problem facing Republican activists and voters, and helps to explain why Republicans will be choosing from the largest gubernatorial primary field in Maryland Republican Party history.
The problem? The “front-runners” for Governor, Dan Cox and Ed Hale, are thoroughly unimpressive candidates. Cox has failed spectacularly in every election he’s ever run in, save for his election as Delegate in 2018, during which he was practically dragged across the finish line by State Senator Mike Hough as a member of Hough’s slate. His ill-fated 2022 gubernatorial run did not impress many people, as evidenced by his shellacking in the 2024 Republican 6th District Congressional primary. While Cox is pretending to be a normal Republican in his campaign statements to date, these things still exist.
Hale, meanwhile, is merely a Democrat running as a Republican. His campaign website is quite short on ideas beyond Freeze and Reduce Fees, and “Independence from DC” and while it’s something, he dodges actual specifics.
That so many Republicans have decided to file for Governor late in the race is a sign not only that former MDGOP Executive Director Adam Wood was terrible at recruiting candidates to winnable races1, but that this Republican field for Governor is historically weak in a way that Republicans have not experienced since 1990 (or arguably even 1970).
Republican prospects were harmed when former Governor Larry Hogan took a pass on this race, as he was the one candidate who, without question, would beat Wes Moore. But unless State Senator Steve Hershey or some other competent candidate files in the next six days, Republicans are in deep trouble. Becuase if fellow Republicans are not scared off by Dan Cox or Ed Hale, Democrats certainly won’t be.
Nine candidates for Governor and presumably nine candidates for Lt. Governor, but zero for Comptroller or Attorney General? Hello, McFly?