Congressional District 2 Primary Has Been Uneventful
-photo credit Kim Klacik campaign page-
One of the biggest disappointments of this election season is both primary races in Maryland Congressional District 2.
When Democratic Congressman C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger announced he won’t seek reelection, I thought candidates on both sides on the aisle would line up and these Democratic and Republican primaries would rival Congressional District 6.
As we mentioned in 2022, this seat is in play for Republicans because of redistricting.
Despite the Republican Gubernatorial candidate getting crushed, the left using abortion to fear monger and mail-in ballots breaking four to one for Democrats, Republican Nicolee Ambrose received over 40 percent in the 2022 CD2 race. That is the best a Republican has performed against Ruppersberger since his first Congressional race against Helen Bentley in 2002.
Many thought that a sitting Republican elected official (such as Delegate Pat McDonough in 2016 and Sen. Johnny Ray Salling in 2020) would run for this seat as there is no election for the General Assembly in 2024. WCBM talk show host Kim Klacik is the only high-profile candidate in the race. Klacik had little to no chance against Kweisi Mfume in Congressional District 7 in 2020 but still raised $8 million.
Klacik has only raised under $40,000 this year. Many thought she was the “Larry Hogan” of this race (predominate favorite) but she has not ran with the same passion as she did in 2020. Is she taken the primary for granted? With the other two GOP candidates both combining to raise less than $14,000, maybe it is a safe bet. Either way, the GOP candidate has a shot in November. Adding Carroll County to the district has helped Republicans.
On the Democratic side, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski jumped into the race along with Delegate Harry Bhandari. We all know about the Olszewski machine and Bhandari is a strong candidate. He has raised a lot of money over the years and has a strong volunteer base. I thought this Olszewski vs. Bhandari race was going to be the equivalent of other strong Democratic battles such as David Trone vs. Angela Alsobrooks or Sarah Elfreth vs. Harry Dunn. Two heavyweights going at it in Baltimore County and Carroll County, but it appears to be one-sided.
Olszewski has a strong social media presence, picked up key endorsements – including one from Bhandari’s district running mate Carl Jackson- and has his signs plastered at local businesses. Now I don’t live in the district (just drive through certain parts) so I don’t know how many mailers Bhandari sent out or how much door knocking the Bhandari team has done.
Bhandari got off to a late start as he couldn’t campaign or raise money until he was out of session on April 9.
But it has been over a month and there has been no Bhandari buzz. Was Bhandari asked to run so it appears Olszewski wasn’t getting a coronation from the Democratic party?
Bhandari officially announced his intentions right after Ruppersberger stepped down. Olszewski announced a few days later and filed at the end of January. Perhaps Bhandari announced and didn’t realize Olszewski was getting in the race. Now he is backing down in the race? That is doubtful since I’m sure Bhandari knew Olszewski was going for this seat before he announced.
