Will the real Republican conservative in the 1st Congressional District race please stand up?
In the contest to unseat nine-term Republican Rep. Wayne Gilchrest ? undeniably a moderate and to some opponents a liberal ? GOP Sens. Andy Harris, Baltimore and Harford counties, and E.J. Pipkin, Upper Shore, are vying to appeal to the party?s conservative base.
Another conservative, a little-known candidate named John Leo Walter, took his name off the ballot Thursday and threw his support to Harris. “I think Andy has the best shot” to defeat Gilchrest, Walter said. “This is about getting a conservative in office.”
With one fewer conservative on the ballot, “every single percent counts,” he added.
But Pipkin put his own spin on this minor development in the Feb. 12 primary, saying he is “the only choice for Eastern Shore conservatives.”
Pipkin, a wealthy Wall Street veteran who spent $2 million on a U.S. Senate race in 2004, entered the race two weeks ago, and touts himself as the only Eastern Shore Republican challenger to Gilchrest.
Slightly more than half the district?s voters live on the Eastern Shore, while the rest are in parts of Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Harford counties.
Incumbent Gilchrest is the ostensible target, but Harris and Pipkin have unleashed repeated attacks against each other over the last two weeks.
Harris sent out a mailer to Republican voters showing Gilchrest and Pipkin as “two tax-and-spend peas in a giant liberal pod.” Harris also has attacked Pipkin as “pro-choice” and someone in favor of same-sex marriage.
Pipkin said only he understands environmental issues important to residents on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. That?s why he supported the so-called flush tax to fund Bay restoration efforts, a tax increase for which Harris criticized him.
