A successor to challenge 1st District Congressman Andy Harris (R) this fall is being ironed out in a hurry — just a day after Democratic Candidate Wendy Rosen resigned amid allegations she committed voter fraud in two states — and with just 55 days left in the race.
The most likely successor is Rosen’s primary challenger Dr. John LaFerla, a local obstetrician who narrowly lost to Rosen by 58 votes in the April primary.
But the state party has yet to summon LaFerla.
“We believe John would be a strong candidate, the natural choice,” said Maryland Democratic Party Spokesman Matthew Verghese in a phone interview the Spy on Tuesday morning. But he said consultations with local party officials will be ongoing over the next few days to decide the best candidate. “We want to do this the right way with everyone consulted.”
“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to step up and represent the 1st District,” LaFerla told the Spy. “But I haven’t heard from the party yet.”
Kent Democrats rally behind LaFerla
The unanimous mood among Kent Democratic leaders on Tuesday was that LaFerla was the “no-brainer choice” to bring credibility back into the 1st District race.
“There is only one candidate who can hit the ground running and that is John LaFerla,” said Tom Martin, vice chair of the Kent County Democratic Central Committee. “He has district-wide name recognition, he has met and held meetings with residents in every county of the first congressional district, he personally knows all the chairs and most of the membership of the central committees.”
Martin said LaFerla’s history of organizational and fundraising support for the state party should seal the deal in choosing LaFerla to challenge Harris in November.
“I now ask the state party to make the logical decision with regard to the replacement candidate,” Martin said.
The state party is tasked with choosing a challenger to Harris after Rosen resigned Monday over allegations she voted both in Maryland and Florida in the 2006 and 2008 elections. The allegations were leveled by Maryland Democratic Party Chairwoman Yvette Lewis, who referred the matter to state and federal officials.
“Today, the Maryland Democratic Party took immediate and decisive action and demanded the withdrawal of Wendy Rosen as nominee for US Representative in the 1st Congressional District after allegations of electoral law violations were brought to our attention,” Lewis said in a press release on Monday. “In addition, at my direction, the Maryland Democratic Party submitted a letter to the Attorney General and State Prosecutor outlining all information regarding the alleged violations.”
“Any effort to corrupt or misuse the electoral process is reprehensible, wrong and must not be tolerated,” she said.
Sources with first-hand knowledge of the allegations said that Lewis learned of the voter fraud from a staffer on Rosen’s campaign.
LaFerla would not comment on accusations against Rosen and said his entire focus was mounting a strong challenge to Andy Harris.
Martin said bringing LaFerla back into the race would inspire debate on what is the most pressing civil rights issue of our time, health care.
“From a political perspective, I’d like to see John as the candidate. But as a simple citizen, I really want to see a debate between two medical doctors on this most pressing issue facing the country today,” Martin said. “Both men have views diametrically opposed to each other. LaFerla supports the president’s initiative but Harris would repeal all of the [Affordable Care Act]. Let the debate begin and let it be nationally televised. A Laferla-Harris race could be exciting, but more importantly it would be edifying. This country needs an informed debate on an issue that affects all of us, bar none.”
Democrats say Rosen fanned the flames for tighter GOP backed voter laws
Democratic leaders around the state were furious with Rosen as the allegations became red meat for Republicans nationwide who favor tougher voter ID laws.
“The Maryland Republican Party is happy to see Maryland’s Democrats publicly agree that voter fraud is wrong,” said Maryland GOP Executive Director David Ferguson. “Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi should not only investigate but also prosecute Wendy Rosen to the fullest extent of the law. This is another prime example of the prevalent culture of corruption in the Maryland Democrat Party.”
He went on, “If the Maryland Democrat Party is willing to push one of its own candidates out of the race due to voter fraud, I’m sure this means they will join us in an effort to purge the rolls across Maryland of illegal immigrants, the deceased, and those otherwise unqualified to vote. It is a sad state of affairs that Democrat voters considered Wendy Rosen to be their model citizen for the First District and represent them on November’s ballot. I am proud to be a member of a party that has long believed in fair elections and never aspired to ‘voting early and often.’ Republicans are leading the charge for election reform in Maryland and we look forward to making this State into a model for the rest of the Nation.”
But Verghese and other state party leaders said the GOP message on Rosen was misleading because current GOP proposals for strict voter ID laws could not have prevented Rosen from double-dipping.
“Even though we expect Republicans to use this unfortunate incident in their crusade to implement strict voter-ID requirement across the country, those types of laws simply would not have prevented Ms. Rosen’s alleged behavior,” Verghese said. “Those laws are geared toward restricting who can vote – often students, seniors and minorities – rather than preventing any wrong-doing. Democrats will still fight to make sure every vote is counted, every voter is respected and that every person has the confidence that their vote will matter.”
“Unfortunately, the Republicans are going to flog this issue for all it’s worth to further their voter suppression agenda,” Martin said. “And Rosen failed the most important test that any politician must pass, she failed to be honest with voters and she failed to be honest with herself.”
Rosen’s name will appear on the ballot because there is not enough time to remove it. Democratic leaders will instead get out the name of their write-in candidate when he or she is named.
Charlotte Hawes says
Remember to be kind???!!!!??!!
I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. How could someone be so duplicitous and so stupid and expect to get away with it? And she did it twice????? I am looking forward to a statement from her about how/why this happened. Or a denial.
For the first time in a long while I’m ashamed to call myself a Democrat.
Jack Offett says
Don’t be. Rosen was a charlatan. I heard speculation that it was a put up job. She ran a campaign almost solely on driving Dem women to vote for a woman over a man, even though Dr. LaFerla has spent his career providing important medical care to women.
Tell your friends to write in John LaFerla. Wendy certainly through the rest of the gals under the bus. If you voted for Wendy, you can correct your transgression by supporting the LaFerla write-in campaign.
kevin walsh says
Rosen is has damaging the Easaternshore !!
joe diamond says
This is Maryland. Cut the crap………………Spiro Agnew is watching and he is laughing.
Joe
Martha Holland says
For what it’s worth, I believe Wendy Rosen was a registered Republican in 2006 and 2008.
Lainey Harrison says
Exactly Martha! Let us not forget Wendy Rosen’s claim to us that she is/was a “Reformed Republican”.
Charlotte, do not be ashamed at all. She duped us. She never was a democrat.
I find it disgusting the GOP is trying to gain points for this. She was voting as a registered republican afterall when she committed her fraud.
Jack Offett says
While the Democratic Party may have a culture of trust in our fellow man (which is clearly missing in the Republican Party), but I have never experienced a culture of corruption. Of course, the Maryland Republican Party has no defense considering that senior officials of Bob Ehrlich’s re-election team (and former state officials) Paul Shurick and Julius Henson were convicted of some of the most insidious campaign corruption to be prosecuted in years in Maryland.
Keith Thompson says
In a way, I see this as an interesting parallel to the national GOP push to beat Obama at all costs to the point of nominating a candidate in Romney that doesn’t exactly fire up the hardcore rank and file but was viewed as having the best chance to beat the opponent regardless of his quality. Perhaps the “Vote Out Harris” mentality gave the Dems a candidate that didn’t sit well with the rank and file but was viewed as someone who could beat the opponent despite her apparent lack of quality.
The broader point that I’m making is that the choice of candidates in many electoral races are not made because people really believe in them but are made in order to simply defeat an opponent. The results are that we’re left with candidates that lack quality and political campaigns that wallow in negativity because they have nothing positive to offer. Perhaps Wendy Rosen can be viewed as a poster child for a poltical system that doesn’t work.
mary wood says
It used to be an honor to be elected to Congress. Thanks to the Rosen treachery it is a disgrace . Was she paid a portion of those PAC millions to make fools of those of us who would have been her constituents?
Keith Thompson says
Mary, I don’t think so. If anything, it seemed like that she wasn’t getting much PAC money at all as she didn’t seem to have much financial support from the party.
As for duping the Eastern Shore…keep in mind that a significant portion of the First Congressional District is not on the Eastern Shore which goes to show how little political influence the Eastern Shore actually has. It’s hard to have an influence when you don’t have enough of a population to get out the vote. How does the Upper Eastern Shore solve that problem?
Nancy Schwerzler says
For the first time ever in its nearly four year history, The Cecil Times– an independent, professionally produced news website overing Cecil County and Eastern Shore news– endorsed a political candidate when we supported Dr. LaFerla in the Democratic primary. We did so based upon our observations of the candidates in local debates and reviews of their campaign statements. Mrs. Rosen was unimpressive and left this veteran of political coverage at the local, state and national level dubious about her sincerity and abilities. These latest developments only underscore our respect for the integrity of Dr. LaFerla and our original belief that he would represent the First District with honor, integrity, intelligence and passion. Democrats deserve a candidate like Dr. LaFerla.– Nancy Schwerzler, editor and publisher, The Cecil Times
Keith Thompson says
Nancy, I had the chance to interview Dr. LaFerla at WCTR here in Chestertown not long after he announced his campaign. Since he is in Chestertown, it was rather convenient for the both of us, so it was natural to have him on. I think we made an attempt to get Wendy Rosen on but it didn’t happen (I was the musician playing at the Galena Blooms Fiesta that Wendy Rosen attended but I was too busy performing to meet or chat with her). We’ve regularly had Andy Harris on and he’s been far more accessible after getting elected than he was when he was running. My thoughts at the time was that Dr. LaFerla was sincere in his views, but a bit green and inexperienced in delivering them. That’s not surprising as I believe this was his first political run. I’m a registered Libertarian and I don’t live in the state much less the district so I don’t have a horse in the race, but I think it will be important for the Democrats to find a candidate (whether it’s LaFerla or not) and spend the next two years grooming him or her to be ready for the 2014 race. The most intriguing things about LaFerla is that he’s from the Eastern Shore and that he’s a doctor with a view on the healthcare debate that contrasts with Dr. Harris. Having two doctors facing each other in a Congressional race would be interesting.