Earlier this week, Maryland Juice discussed some of our State's municipal elections. But we've now learned about the unusual political backstory to the nonpartisan Mayor's race in Aberdeen, Maryland. The Aberdeen Patch reported:
Beating his opponent by only 26 votes, Aberdeen Mayor Michael Bennett was reelected to his third term on Tuesday night after what he called "the dirtiest campaign" he had ever experienced. Bennett received 764 votes, barely ahead of the 738 votes cast for challenger Patrick McGrady....Ironically, Tea Party Congressman Andy Harris was out stumping for Mr. Bennett's attacker while similar news was circulating about his own travels on Delmarva NOW:
McGrady, a Republican, mounted a serious challenge against the Democratic incumbent in the nonpartisan election that took a bizarre last-minute twist when the city's ethics commission acted on a complaint McGrady filed against Bennett. On Oct. 14 the commission agreed with McGrady's complaint and stated that Bennett had violated ethics code by accepting a trip to Georgia paid for by Ripken Baseball.
"This is absolutely the dirtiest campaign I've ever been involved in, and I am dismayed that I have to go through the process of repairing damage to my name that an unscrupulous opponent wanted to put out there," Bennett said after the results were announced....
He said he will begin legal action on Monday against the city's ethics commission because "they've violated the process" and did not give him a hearing about McGrady's complaint.
