GOP Chair Mooney now working for Bartlett; Jacobs trying to ‘ditch Dutch’

State Republican Party Chairman Alex Mooney is now working part time on the staff of U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett as community outreach director.

“It’s part time because I’m staying on as party chairman,” said Mooney, who was elected to the unpaid party post last year. He’s been on the job with Bartlett since early June. He’s working two or three days a week, and makes $3,000 a month.

Mooney’s first job out of Dartmouth College 20 years ago was working for Bartlett, and it’s been rumored for months that he would become Bartlett’s chief of staff. Mooney briefly flirted with the idea of running for Bartlett’s seat in the 6th Congressional District last year, when it was unclear that the 10-term incumbent was committed to seeking re-election in the newly gerrymandered district.

Mooney had been executive director of the National Journalism Center, a division of the Young America’s Foundation, providing conservative leaning training to aspiring journalists. He left that position at the end of May, giving up his long commute into downtown Washington from Frederick.

Mooney said he will have “nothing to do with the campaign. I thought that would create too much confusion.”

Mooney lost his state Senate seat to Democratic Sen. Ron Young in 2010.

 

Jacobs continues to raise funds to “dump Dutch”

“Dump Dutch” or “Ditch Dutch” — Republican state Sen. Nancy Jacobs isn’t sure which is the better slogan for her campaign to unseat five-term Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger.

She was at the Savage Mill in Howard County Thursday for a fundraiser attended by about 30 people. About 20 precincts in Howard County were added to the 2nd Congressional District in last year’s redistricting, so they’re new to Ruppersberger as well. The district stretches from Harford County, where Jacobs lives, through Baltimore County, Ruppersberger’s home turf, and into Anne Arundel and Howard counties.

Jacobs said Ruppersberger is out of touch with the district, and she is attending community meetings where people haven’t seen the congressman in years.

Ruppersberger last week gave up his seat on the House Armed Services Committee, even though the district includes Aberdeen Proving Ground and Fort George Meade, home of the National Security Agency. “They took that away from him,” Jacobs said.

Ruppersberger’s office said it was a routine move to allow the freshman member who succeeded Rep. Gabby Giffords to go on the committee, and he hopes to return to the House Appropriations Committee if the Democrats regain control of Congress. Giffords retired after being shot in the head in an assault that killed six others. The Hill newspaper called the move “the latest round of musical chairs.”

The congressman is still the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, with oversight of NSA and other intelligence agencies.

The fundraiser took place the evening of the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act. “I think the Supreme Court has handed Nancy an issue,” said former gubernatorial nominee Ellen Sauerbrey.

Rep. Andy Harris, R-1st, attended the fundraiser, continuing his strong support for her campaign to beat Ruppersberger and promising repeal of Obamacare, which Ruppersberger supported. “Dutch is a nice guy,” Harris said. “Look, the president is a nice guy. He just doesn’t know how to run a country.”

Jacobs estimated she raised about $140,000 in the second quarter, with campaign reports due in two weeks. On March 31, the last reporting deadline, Jacobs had $13,000 cash on hand, and Ruppersberger had $791,000.

–Len Lazarick
Len@MarylandReporter.com