Presenting himself as “an Eastern Shore conservative,” state Sen. E.J. Pipkin on Thursday jumped into the increasingly crowded Republican primary to unseat nine-term Congressman Wayne Gilchrest.
“We need to change how things are being done in Washington,” Pipkin told a small crowd at Grasonville restaurant, one of four news conferences he held in the 1st Congressional District that includes parts of Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Harford counties, as well the entire Eastern Shore. “I believe we need a congressman who understands the local issues.”
Gilchrest also faces a well-financed challenge by state Sen. Andy Harris, who represents parts of Baltimore and Harford counties. Pipkin was the only one of the seven other GOP senators who represent parts of the Gilchrest district who had not endorsed Harris.
“I think Wayne is a good man,” Pipkin said, “but I think he?s just fallen out of touch with his district.”
The Harris campaign branded Pipkin and Gilchrest as “two tax-and-spend peas in a liberal pod.”
Pipkin called the accusation “ridiculous.”
“I led the fight against the tax increases,” Pipkin said. “I put my name on a billion dollars in spending cuts.”
Pipkin said that at the federal level, he will work to eliminate wasteful spending, abolish the estate tax, stop illegal immigration, protect Second Amendment rights to gun ownership and “fully fund our troops so we can win the war against terror.”
Harris campaign manager Chris Meekins released a comparison of the two senators? records that highlighted Pipkin?s votes for the O?Malley budget earlier this year and his support for Gov. Robert Ehrlich?s flush tax.
Pipkin called the tax used to fund improved sewage treatment “the best plan for Chesapeake Bay restoration in 100 years,” one supported by the Eastern Shore.
Despite his late entry into the race, with the Feb. 12 primary only 10 weeks away, he said the campaign has been nine years in the making, starting with his fight as a private citizen to stop dumping of dredge spoil from Baltimore harbor into bay channels.
Sen. E.J. Pipkin
» Age: 51; born Nov. 1, 1956
» Education: Dundalk High School; Salisbury State College; Roanoke College, B.A.; University of Virginia, M.A. in business
» Family: Wife Alisa, children Carter, Meredith and Tyler
