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Montgomery County Republican Central Committee Elects Officers
The Montgomery County Republican Central Committee re-elected Chairman Mark Uncapher for a third one-year term at its annual organizational meeting November 10 in Rockville by a vote of 31-10, with 2 abstentions.
Other officers elected were: Mike Gibble to the position of First Vice Chair, Jeanette Radford to the position of Second Vice Chair, Lisa Neuder to the position of Secretary and David Cotter to the position of Treasurer. Approximately 40 guests observed the proceedings. Some of them participated in the question and answer session for chairman candidates.
Chairman Mark Uncapher stated, "Our new incoming leadership team is eager to use our new enlarged Central Committee structure to make our county party more effective in the future. I am gratified by the vote of confidence that all the incoming officers and I received from the Committee for doing this."
Montgomery County's Republican Central Committee has changed its size, increasing from 19 members to 48 members. The change was made in order to increase the opportunities for Montgomery County's grass roots Republicans to more actively participate in the party's affairs.
This change was made possible because in early May Governor O' Malley signed legislation allowing both the Montgomery County Republican and Democratic parties to adjust their Central Committees sizes. As a result of the new law, the size of the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee is no longer set by the state's election law. Instead, the Central Committees are allowed to set their size consistent with the requirements of their state party by-laws. The state Republican Party's rules allow a maximum of two central committee members for every resident member to the Maryland House of Delegates from a county. Because Montgomery County has 24 delegates, our Central Committee number can become 48.
The changes in the size of the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee should have no impact on other counties because the relative weight of each county central committee's vote within the state party has historically been determined by each county's party registration numbers in relation to the total state registration. The number of Central Committee members does not change that.
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Message from the Chairman:Blue State Blues
Sometimes it must seem that an advanced degree in  statistics is necessary to digest all of the post-election news analysis. On the other hand, the relevant numbers for Maryland's election are remarkable straight forward. From a Republican prospective, they are brutal. As of the end of October 2010, the percentage of Maryland voters who are Democrats - 56.4%; on Election Day the percentage Maryland votes for Martin O'Malley - 56.8%. Republicans candidates will be continue to be hard pressed to be successful at the statewide level or in the largest counties without being able to make substantial inroads among registered Democrats. Maryland is one of a very few states with majority Democratic enrollment. Consider the numbers in other Blue states. The Democratic enrollment share is 47% in New York, 42% in California, 37% in Massachusetts and 24% in New Jersey. (The New Jersey number is not a typo, Republicans are 18% of enrollment and Independents are 58%. Similarly in Massachusetts, Republicans are 12% and Independents are 50%.) Fewer Maryland voters register as independents compared with other states, making up just 16%. Perhaps our numbers are lower perhaps because our actual registration option of "Decline to State" is a less attractive choice than the "Independent" option offered elsewhere, Countless news and polling analysis of the recent election have tracked the dramatic swing of independents away from Democratic to Republican candidates. The reversal of the shift toward Democrats that took place in 2006 and 2008 among Independents is the key to the GOP's change in fortune. However here in Maryland, the Democratic vote, when unified, is by itself is enough for victory. In some Republican circles, the idea candidates need to appeal to "crossover" Democrats can be fairly controversial notion. In part this comes from the fear the suggestion implies that Republicans must compromise their core principles in order to win. Yet none would accuse Ronald Reagan of compromising his principles as he attracted the "Reagan Republicans." As the Great Communicator he had the gift for reaching voter's actual concerns, rather than dwelling on the issues that conservatives thought voters needed to hear about. Maryland Republicans wanted to believe that voters made a mistake in 2006 that needed to be undone this year. Allowing the 2010 Governor's race to be framed as a "rematch" simply did not resonate beyond our own base vote. Voters this year across the county were deeply pessimistic about the direction the country is going in. Despite repeated efforts by Obama and the Democrats to appeal to the "Spirit of 2008" and to demonize George Bush, voters instead wanted to focus on the here and now. Trying to get voters to focus on refighting old elections was a prescription for failure. Our Montgomery's Republican County Executive candidate Doug Rosenfeld ran several percentage points ahead of the Ehrlich ticket in the county. Despite having limited media coverage, Doug offered a cogent critique of the county's budget and service delivery failures. There are, of course, countless examples of Conservatives and Republicans winning in "Blue States." The Maryland Republican Party needs to learn their experiences and avoid repeating many of the mistakes we have made. Each of the Blue states I mentioned above - California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts have in recent history elected many more Republican Governors than Maryland has. The dramatic success our party had in state legislative races throughout the country contrasts with our mixed legislative record of losing two Senate seats, while gaining six delegates. Put another way and in very simple terms, in order to cut through our voter registration numbers, Maryland Republicans need to stop leaving voice mails with "our" message. Instead we need to engage a conversation in which we a better job of listening and engaging with what is actually on people's minds and what they expect from government. Mark Uncapher Montgomery Republican Chairman |
Meet the Montgomery County Republican Leadership Team
Mark Uncapher- Chairman Mark Uncapher has served as Montgomery County Republican Chairman since 2008. Previously he served as county party's finance chairman in 2004-6 and in 1999-2000. He moved to Maryland in 1995 when the Republicans last assumed the majority in the House in order to become Counsel for the Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and Technology of the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. Currently a lawyer in private practice focusing on government relations issues for technology companies, he previously was Senior Vice President & Counsel of a leading high tech trade association. Before coming to Maryland, he worked as a campaign aide and Assistant Counsel for New York State Comptroller Ned Regan, the only person ever to win four statewide elections Republican & Conservative Party lines. Mike Gibble - First Vice Chair
Mike Gibble's political ambitions began when he worked in the White House from 2002 to early 2004 as a deputy architect. His job was to coordinate all construction efforts and funding initiatives with the staff in the Bush Administration while maintaining state event, construction budgets and schedules.
Currently, Mike is partner of an award winning, multi-million dollar architecture firm and is developing a venture capital company in the efforts to purchase and invest in the industry's cutting edge technologies. Also, for the past year and a half he has been the president of the Montgomery County Young Republicans. While MC YR President he helped the MCYR's develop into the professionally, organized political action group it is today.
Jeanette Radford - Second Vice Chair
Jeanette currently serves as Director of Communications Operations for a conservative advocacy think tank, placing her in daily contact with members of the media - including national radio, print and television decision makers. Additionally she is Communications Chair on the Boards of the Chevy Chase Women's Republican Club and the Art Deco Society of Washington.
She previously served as a Schedule B appointee (subject matter expert) for internal communications at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and as a political appointee in the administration of President George W. Bush. Before accepting the appointment at the S.E.C., Jeanette was a member of the 2008 and 2009 Republican National Committee's Finance Department, which raised a combined total of $197 million.
Lisa is a tax lawyer who has previously served as a Legislative Counsel on Capitol Hill, where she drafted speeches, memos, and letters to constituents. She is also a published writer in the areas of tax and business law. During the past year, she was extensively involved in the Ehrlich campaign as a special events coordinator as well as an active volunteer. Lisa also campaigned for several local candidates in my district.
In addition to her JD from the University of Maryland, Lisa has a LLM - Taxation from Georgetown and an MBA from the University of Maryland's Smith School.
David Cotter - Treasurer
David Cotter's political background began on local campaigns in Oklahoma at age 12 and includes volunteering on almost every kind of campaign from local judicial races to district attorney, state representative, mayoral, gubernatorial, United States senatorial and presidential campaigns. Most recently, he served as the database manager for the Ehrlich-Kane campaign in Montgomery County. David is a professional fundraiser having worked for numerous nonprofits throughout the country, including a $135 million campaign for the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. At present, he is the Director of Development (chief fundraiser) for the American College of Medical Genetics Foundation in Bethesda.
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Montgomery County's New Central Committee
for 2010-2014
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Bad Business ModelOriginally published in the Frederick News-Post
by Marta Hummel Mossburg
NOVEMBER 17, 2010
Maryland will become Baltimore if it can't control spending. The state's biggest city has been losing population and business for years and takes a huge chunk of taxpayer revenue around the state as a result.
The city receives $1.03 for every dollar it sends to Annapolis in taxes, according to 2009's "The Balance Sheet." The report from the state's nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services analyzes how state tax dollars are allocated throughout Maryland's counties. On the other end, Talbot County gets 13 cents back for every dollar it contributes to the state; Worcester County gets 15 cents; and Montgomery County gets 18 cents back.Frederick County gets 38 cents back.
As the city lost revenue over the decades it compensated by raising taxes. Property taxes are the highest in the state by at least double. Blight in the form of thousands of vacant houses covers huge chunks of the city. And the only new business generated comes from government-sponsored projects and a small set of developers who receive massive tax breaks to build real estate that otherwise makes no sense.
With a projected $1.6 billion state deficit for this fiscal year and a $2.1 billion deficit for fiscal 2012, the high-tax route will be appealing. But state legislators and the governor must reject more government unless they want to become the state equivalent of one of Maryland's most underperforming locales.
Maryland already has higher taxes than surrounding states and is losing people to lower-tax venues. It also does everything in its power to turn business away with onerous regulation and tax rates. It is no coincidence that bidders for two of the state's five proposed slots locations are AWOL.
But unlike Baltimore, it may not be able to count on higher powers to bail it out with ever more government money. The House of Representatives reverts to Republican power next year. New members were elected under the banner of cutting the deficit and government spending. They may not be willing to bankroll Maryland and other states vacuuming federal dollars -- and the Free State takes a lot of them.
According to federal statistics, Maryland receives 50 percent more per capita from the federal government than other states and ranks third overall behind Virginia and Alaska in that category.
Defense spending accounts for a large chunk of federal contract dollars in the state and is the main reason procurement spending rose 35 percent in Maryland last year compared with 7 percent nationally. The problem: Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he wants to cut contractor spending. And billions flooding the state from the federal stimulus legislation will no longer be available.
Just because the Republican tidal wave hitting the rest of the country bypassed Maryland does not mean the state will avert repercussions from it. Federal legislators, unlike state legislators with Baltimore, have few political and emotional reasons to prop up a tiny state used to an outsize portion of the federal pie, especially with federal entitlement programs gobbling an ever larger share of the budget.
If Maryland wants to succeed, it must start generating money instead of siphoning it from other states. Creating a competitive tax structure in relation to other states and ending mandated spending increases for education are two places legislators can start when they return to session in January. Marta Mossburg is a senior fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute. She lives in Baltimore. E-mail her at mmossburg@mdpolicy.org. |
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Upcoming Events
Please also check events listings at www.mcgop.net
and www.mdgop.org
Note: This is a listing of all the events that we know of. It is not our intention to favor any one Republican candidate over the others. If you would like details about your next event to be featured in this section, please send the information to Jennifer Pasenelli - pasenelli@comcast.net |
Also: Our Organization Committee - which recruits for our precinct organization is looking to fill these volunteer positions:
Volunteer Welcome Chair- Responsible for contacting new volunteer prospects, identify activities for them to get involved with, communicate with volunteer contacts, follow-up up to make sure the volunteer "hand-off" to committee chairs and other leaders has been completed.
Contact Mark Uncapher Mark@uncapher.net
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