To hear owners of small businesses talk, Gov. Robert Ehrlich has been their only protector from the General Assembly wolf at their door.
“Many of my customers are small- business owners,” said Michael Kostinsky, owner of Sorrento?s eatery in Arubutus. “Their feeling is there is no one else to vote for. ? In 30 years, I?ve never had a governor take my interests seriously.”
That?s why Kostinsky hosted a campaign endorsement Wednesday afternoon from the National Federation of Independent Business for Ehrlich and his running mate, Kristen Cox. NFIB represents about 4,000 small employers in Maryland.
“He has stood up for us and we?re just here to stand up for him,” Kostinsky said on the sidewalk outside his large pizza and sub shop.
“I?ve been proud to carry the banner of NFIB for 20 years,” said Ehrlich, who grew up a few blocks away and remembered the “hundreds if not thousands” of meals he had eaten there.
“Small-business people don?t have time to run down to Annapolis,” Ehrlich said, urging the owners to elect Republican legislators. “Most of the jobs come from the Sorrentos of the world. ? We need to stop [Assembly leaders] Mike Miller and Mike Busch and their campaign against small business owners.”
Scott Harding, an electrical contractor in Rockville with 48 employees, agreed. “It?s basically been an anti-business climate,” Harding said, recalling a tax on health maintenance organizations that was immediately passed on to employers. “They took something that was really expensive already and added a tax to it.”
NFIB endorsements are determined by a direct vote of their members, unlike other business and labor organizations, which endorse by committee. Hardin said it was “a very democratic process.” He said he felt better-represented by NFIB than by Chambers of Commerce.
Joe Bohm, a general contractor with 105 employees in Crofton, said, “We?re affected by all the same things. ? The governor has been playing a defensive game” for the last four years.
