State Sen. Sandra Schrader created a buzz in political circles about her plans when she made a “special announcement.”
“I?m going to have a new hair color by the end of the week,” she said to a crowd of 150 at Schooley Mill Park in southern Howard County.
But seriously, the Republican said, “I love this job” as the county?s “first and only woman senator.”
“I think I?m making a difference,” she said, adding she wants to keep doing just that.
Democratic County Executive James Robey is challenging Schrader, calling himself “a stronger voice, a better choice.”
But Schrader called Robey “a stronger voice for tax increases.”
“My opponent?s team voted for each of their tax increases” in the last four years, she said, amounting to $7.5 billion in hikes that failed to pass the General Assembly.
Robey is running with a delegate slate that includes Dels. Shane Pendergrass, D-District 13, and Frank Turner, D-District 13.
On the local level, Robey proposed, and County Council Member Guy Guzzone, D-District 3, supported, a 3 percent income tax increase.
“Revenues were increased ? Essential government services were at stake,” Robey said.
Taxes are one of the clear differences Republicans have with Robey. “We?ve always drawn the line at fiscal responsibility,” said former state Sen. Martin Madden, whom Schrader succeeded in office.
“One vote makes a difference in the Maryland Senate,” he said, pointing to two tax increases in the last two decades that passed by one vote.
“She is my tax stopper in Annapolis.” Schrader also is emphasizing education, the environment, business and people with disabilities.
With three Democratic delegates and a majority of registered Democrats, District 13 is considered one of the four or five swing districts in the state that could change hands in this election.
With only 14 Republicans in the 47-member Senate, “we need to hold onto everyone we have,” said Louis Pope, a constituent who represents Maryland on the Republican National Committee and was Howard County GOP chairman.
