The Anne Arundel group of
the Sierra Club has endorsed 14 candidates in the September 12 primary
election for county and state offices, following several weeks of candidate
interviews. Panels comprised of at least three club activists interviewed
more than two dozen candidates, Democrat, Republican and Green Party,
for county executive and county council, and for state delegate and state
senator from the county’s four main state senatorial districts: 30, 31,
32 and 33.
Virtually all known candidates were sent questionnaires asking
for their positions on environmental and related issues, and all who
responded – many did not –- were asked to participate in interviews
that ran from 30 to 45 minutes each.
Candidates won the group’s endorsement after passing muster on
a variety of fronts, including their past records, their views on issues
ranging from support for storm water management initiatives to overdevelopment
and other concerns, their priorities, their commitment to waging a serious
campaign, and their campaign resources.
Group Chair Ann Wolfe, commenting on the process, said: “We believe
every person we’ve endorsed will work toward the environmental goals
of the Sierra Club. We urge that all environmentalists support these
concerned and qualified candidates.” She noted that the group did
not make endorsements in several contests. In some cases, she said
no candidates worthy of endorsement presented themselves, while in other
cases, multiple good candidates were competing. In both scenarios,
she said, the end result was the decision not to endorse in the primary.
When dealing with state offices (delegate and senator), the Sierra
Club worked closely with the Maryland League of Conservation Voters
(LCV), and an LCV representative was included on the interview panel.
The questionnaire for county executive and council candidates was developed
by the Anne Arundel group; for state delegate and senator, by the state
Sierra Club, LCV and Clean Water Action.
The process began in May with the distribution of questionnaires
to candidates and ended July 15, when the Maryland Chapter of the club
signed off (as is required by the club’s rules) on the Anne Arundel group’s
decisions.
Ten activists participated in the interview process. They
were: David Prosten, chair of the group’s political committee; Joan Willey,
Earl Bradley, Sue Youngs, Ann Wolfe, Liz Vanden Heuvel, Judy Mauriello,
Susan Cochran, Ed Sabin, and Ellen Peppin. In some cases where individual
club activists had publicly supported one or more of the candidates,
the activists did not participate in the associated interviews or vote
on that candidate's endorsement. |
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Sierra
Club Endorsements
Anne Arundel County Executive
George Johnson (D)
Anne Arundel County Council
District 4: Jamie Benoit (D)
District 5: Cathy Vitale (R)
District 6: Josh Cohen (D)
State Delegates
District 30
Mike Busch (D)
Virginia Clagett (D)
Barbara Samorajczyk (D)
District 31
Joan Cadden (D)
Craig Reynolds (D)
District 32
Pam Beidle (D)
Mary Ann Love (D)
Ted Sophocleus (D)
District 33B
Mike Shay (D)
State Senate
District 33
Scott Hymes (D) |
