Opponents of Mayor Martin O?Malley said Monday that the departure of his campaign manager just four months before the gubernatorial primary was a “red flag? ? a sign that the campaign was not performing.
Audra Miller, spokeswoman for the Maryland Republican Party, said Jonathan Epstein?s departure is not a good sign for O?Malley. “The exodus of his top-ranking campaign person is a red flag,” she said.
Epstein, who had served as manager of the O?Malley campaign for nearly a year, is being replaced by Josh White, the former head of the Maryland Democratic Party and a well-known political insider in the state. “Essentially, it was the mutual decision that the campaign was going to move in a different direction,” said Rick Abbruzzese, spokesman for the O?Malley campaign.
Abbruzzese said Epstein is leaving the campaign in excellent shape. “We?re ahead in all the polls, and we have the lead in endorsements.”
But Jody Couser, spokeswoman for Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan?s campaign, said a recent poll indicates that Duncan is making gains against the mayor, a possible factor in Epstein?s departure. “The latest independent poll done by Gonzales shows Doug cutting O?Malley?s lead in half,” Couser said, also citing the recent endorsement by Progressive Maryland, a grassroots organization representing working families that has 25,000 members statewide. Miller said the shake up means the race between O?Malley and Duncan is getting closer: “Martin O?Malley has been unable to get the coronation he desired,” Miller said. But Abbruzzese said White will simply be building on the solid set-up work of Epstein, who helped the mayor build an advantage in the upcoming primary.
The campaign announced that Lucie Snodgrass, former director of governmental and community relations for Harford County and advisor to Sen. Barbara Mikulski, and Peter O?Malley, the mayor?s brother, will be joining the campaign. Both will serve as co-deputies of the campaign, Abbruzzese said.
