Friday, November 2, 2012

Prince George's Democratic Central Committee Chooses Greg Hall over Terry Speigner to Replace Delegate Tiffany Alston

UPDATE: An anonymous source adds a great deal of color to the battle for the D24 vacancy. Apparently, this was a battle between the good guys and the bad guys (see below):
ANONYMOUS SOURCE: There is sooooo much you're missing about what went down Friday night- this was a proxy fight between the progressives (Joanne Benson, SEIU, Wil Campos and Victor Ramirez) versus the old boys *corrupt* network (Camille Exum, al Wynn, Michael Vaughn and Carolyn Howard)- Arms were twisted, mud was thrown- they ALMOST prevailed by Terry Speigner taking the extraordinary step of VOTING for HIMSELF, but that one act was so offensive that one or two key people defected to our side and for once, the good guys won one !

Tonight the Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee (PGDCC) met to appoint a replacement for District 24 Delegate Tiffany Alston. We previously noted that the PGDCC chair himself, Terry Speigner, had been openly campaigning for the job. But the Prince George's Young Democrats earlier today joined others in endorsing one of Speigner's competitors, Greg Hall. The Washington Post is now reporting that Greg Hall has prevailed and was appointed to the D24 seat earlier tonight (excerpt below):
WASHINGTON POST: Prince George’s County Democrats on Friday selected businessman Greg Hall to replace Tiffany Alston in the Maryland House of Delegates. Alston, a first-term Democrat, was suspended from the legislature last month after she was sentenced for misconduct in office....

Hall’s nomination by the 24-member Democratic Central Committee after voting Friday night requires the approval of Gov. Martin O’Malley (D). The vote was 12 to 10, according to Terry Speigner, chairman of the committee, who said he was runner-up....

Earlier today, the Prince George's Young Democrats sent out an email endorsing Greg Hall for the D24 appointment. Their message also contained a few items from Hall's resume. See an excerpt from their email blast below:
PRINCE GEORGE'S YOUNG DEMOCRATS: Good Evening Juice, As you may know Tiffany Alston, former MD Delegate representing the 24th legislative district, has been suspended from office after entering a plea agreement to settle two separate criminal cases. The Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee will make a formal recommendation to fill the vacant seat, to Governor Martin O'Mally, who will most likely confirm the recommendation. Greg Hall, a former Prince George's County Young Democrats President and a major supporter of ours is in the running -- And now PGCYD is supporting Greg Hall!

This isn’t Mr. Hall's first time seeking office. In November of 2010 he sought to represent the 24th legislative district as delegate and earned over 3,000 votes from the Prince George’s County populace. Mr. Hall came close to victory with a shy margin.Greg Hall is a community activist, an entrepreneur, and a devoted citizen focused on the success and growth of the 24th legislative district. Additionally, he’s worked with the environmental and business communities to identify new opportunities for economic growth in the district....
Respectfully,

Prince George's County Young Democrats Executive Board

Maryland Juice previously shared our uneasy feeling that there was a conflict of interest in allowing a candidate for the appointment to also run the candidate selection process -- and as it turns out, the vote was indeed very close! Also, now that the race is over, Maryland Juice must admit that someone had been slipping us negative information about Greg Hall. In other words, this race was getting hot!

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