Thursday, July 4, 2013

DISTRICT 15 UPDATE: Del. Brian Feldman & Councilmember Craig Rice Letters to MCDCC // PLUS: GOP Lit & More on Race

Happy Independence Day!  But as you watch fireworks and parades & nosh on BBQ today, don't forget the revolutionary spirit that birthed our nation.  Indeed, in today's political culture, we could use far more independence to achieve social and economic justice. With that being said, we hope you enjoy our post below on this holiday!

Below Maryland Juice provides a few recent exhibits regarding the District 15 State Senate seat being vacated by Rob Garagiola. Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) members will select a replacement for Garagiola, and it appears they are receiving numerous communications from politicos in the area.

Below we print a letter from Delegate Brian Feldman, who is seeking the Senate appointment, along with a letter from MoCo Councilmember Craig Rice endorsing Feldman for the seat. We also include additional dialogue from some District 15 Democrats complaining about one of the endorsements that has been issued. Lastly, at the bottom of this post, you can see a Montgomery County Republican Party lit piece that is being dropped around District 15 neighborhoods, attacking the three incumbent D15 Delegates: Brian Feldman, Kathleen Dumais, and Aruna Miller.

JUICE #1: DEL. BRIAN FELDMAN'S APPEAL TO THE MCDCC FOR THE D15 SENATE SEAT - In the letter below, Delegate Feldman makes his case to MCDCC members for an appointment to the Maryland State Senate. He highlights a range of endorsements from high profile MoCo Democrats, including statewide officeholders and members of Congress. Feldman also notes that he might be the only candidate in the race that has faced the D15 voters before. Check out his full comments below:



JUICE #2: MOCO COUNCILMEMBER CRAIG RICE'S LETTER TO THE MCDCC ENDORSING DEL. BRIAN FELDMAN - In the letter below, Montgomery County Councilmember Craig Rice endorses Delegate Brian Feldman for the District 15 Senate vacancy. Rice previously served with Feldman as a Delegate in District 15. Check out his comments below:



JUICE #3: MORE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE DISTRICT 15 CAUCUS ENDORSEMENT OF BRIAN FELDMAN - The District 15 vacancy has generated interest from numerous MoCo insiders and triggered a dialogue within the party about the role of diversity in vacancy appointments. But one endorsement in particular seems to be drawing the ire of party activists. The District 15 Democratic Caucus, a group that functions independently of the MCDCC, recently proclaimed a unanimous endorsement of Feldman for the D15 Senate seat. But since then a few D15 residents have complained that they were not given an opportunity to weigh in on the D15 Caucus endorsement. Bethesda Magazine's Lou Peck dug into the controversy with a series of interviews in an article today (excerpt below):
BETHESDA MAGAZINE: [A] letter from leaders of the District 15 Democratic Caucus, declaring their “unanimous support” for Feldman, was met with protests from some party activists in the district, who complained that minorities were excluded from the process. “Until I received an email about it, I was not aware the [caucus’] letter had gone out,” said Vernon Ricks, a Potomac resident who is a board member of the county’s NAACP chapter....

Daphne Bloomberg, immediate past chair of the District 15 Democratic Caucus, said the decision to endorse Feldman had been made unanimously by all eight board members, not just the four on the caucus’ executive board. She added that two District 15 members of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee—including Sharon Bland, who is African-American—had been consulted and assented in the move. Bloomberg characterized the controversy as a “non-issue”....
Nevertheless, yet another resident has weighed in on the D15 Caucus endorsement, as Maryland Juice recently received a draft of an incendiary letter that to the editor that was submitted to The Gazette from D15 resident Jason Tsai (excerpt below):
JASON TSAI: As a registered Democrat in District 15, I am surprised to learn that the District 15 Democratic Caucus has already thrown their support behind a replacement in a process that is more similar to Chicago in the 1960s than Montgomery County in the 2010s.... it was disappointing to learn that the District 15 Democratic Caucus bosses apparently already have — as they say in Chicago — their “guy.”

Yikes!

JUICE #4: MOCO REPUBLICAN LIT PIECE ATTACKS DISTRICT 15 DEMOCRATIC DELEGATES - To round out this update, an anonymous source provided Maryland Juice with the following literature that Montgomery County Republicans are distributing in District 15 neighborhoods. The GOP piece below attacks the incumbent Democratic Delegates Brian Feldman, Kathleen Dumais and Aruna Miller. The party seems to think it can still play in District 15:

No comments:

Post a Comment