A “Women for Ehrlich” rally is scheduled for the Timonium Fairgrounds Saturday with Gov. Robert Ehrlich?s wife, Kendel, as the main cheerleader. The Examiner sat down recently with Kendel Ehrlich to discuss her role as first lady.
Prior to moving to Annapolis, you had a fairly modest townhouse in Timonium and suddenly you move into a huge place and you?re surrounded by troopers and chefs and butlers and staff. How did you adjust?
In the beginning, it really is a huge adjustment, particularly to the troopers. To be followed 24 hours a day is something to get used to. Immediately after Bob got elected, we stayed in the Hyatt that evening, then the next morning we got in the back of a car. They had taken all of Bob?s keys and my keys. And we started whispering to one another [laughs] because there were two other people in the car. It made the roads a little safer for those on Maryland highways, at least for the governor?s part of his driving. [laughs] He?s a great governor, but he?s not the greatest driver.
You?re on all the time.
People see me as a mom around town. They see me run. We joined the local pool. It?s where we are in our lives. We?re parents of young children. I really believe that we need to continue to be like everybody else. We go to the mall, we go to California Pizza Kitchen. It?s important in keeping the keeping the kids very normal.
After you attended the announcement of the BGE agreement, there was a story describing you as part of negotiations.
I?m certainly very involved in the politics, but I?ve never really been intimately involved in any policy. It?s really about my husband liking me to be with him on big occasions.
Are you an adviser? You were not engaged in negotiations?
I do not get involved in negotiations. I?m usually not even in the State House. Do I advise my husband? Sure. We are very close in all this, and I certainly give opinions, and he solicits opinions about certain things. That?s what they are ? they?re opinions. I am like another person in hisworld ? he?s got a great staff, and that staff also has differing opinions. He usually solicits those ideas and makes a decision. Is it every day? No. Normally we are treading water to get through our schedule on any given day. He is often in one direction, and I am in another.
Do you think in general you?ve been treated fairly by the media?
What I find a little more disturbing are the good things that have been done that are not covered.
Like what?
This state is in great financial shape. A 3.4 percent unemployment rate, which is extremely low. Turning a deficit around. A lot goes into turning a $4 billion deficit into a $2 billion surplus. It?s the really good things that have occurred during this administration that have not been put on the front page.
What about the stories about your Comcast employment?
I?ve been employed by Comcast for nine years. I?ve had a long-term relationship with them, both on a contract basis and as an employee. As a spouse of a Republican, I should be able to work too outside the home. That relationship has been project-oriented and has been able to fit into my schedule. What you don?t want to do is become a campaign issue. In all my Comcast work, when it?s been close to election time, then I take a leave of absence, which is almost coming up for me to do again.
You?ve long had a strong commitment to drug education. Did that come out of your public defender work?
Public defender and prosecuting. Most of the people in the criminal justice system usually have two qualities. One is that they?ve dropped out of school, and the other is that they?re addicted. As a result of that, I?ve always felt the need to talk about that and really help get some good information out about it.
Why does Bob Ehrlich have a gender gap problem?
All Republicans have a gender gap issue. When I first met my husband, I was a Democrat. I became a Republican after being a public defender for a long period of time. What I realized was no matter how much help I provided someone, until they made up their mind to help themselves, I was just sort of a cog in the wheel. I really felt the Republican Party represented me a little bit more with the idea of personal responsibility. Certainly giving aid to the people that need it. But not for them to be dependent on it. That?s really what made me a Republican.
I think there a lot of women out there who actually identify with Republican ideals, but feel that the Democratic Party is the party that helps people. I just disagree with that premise.
About the first lady
» Born Kendel Sibiski, Oct. 8, 1961
Education: Grew up youngest of three children in Lutherville; Dulaney Valley High School (co-captain, lacrosse); B.S. (Criminal justice), University of Delaware; J.D., University of Baltimore Law School
» Career: Paralegal, Venable, Baetjer & Howard; state public defender, Annapolis; counsel, Youth Services International; prosecutor, Harford County; contractor, Comcast Corp
» Family: Married Robert Ehrlich, July 24, 1993; son Drew Robert Ehrlich, born July 24, 1999; son Joshua Taylor Ehrlich, born March 6, 2004
