Don Murphy

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Recruiting speakers for breakfast receptions can be a hectic activity for the chair of the Maryland delegation to the Republican National Convention, but the man with the job said he has it down to a science.

"We didn't have Governor Pawlenty until 45 minutes - maybe an hour ago," said Don Murphy, just moments after Pawlenty (R- Minn.) spoke at Wednesday's breakfast.

Murphy and a small group of delegates headed over to watch Morning Joe - MSNBC's morning show which is being shot in St. Paul - at about 4:45am. While there, they ran into Pawlenty. "We invited him to come on over," said Murphy, and the governor did.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The chair of the Maryland delegation to the Republican National Convention acted alone on Monday afternoon when he voted against the party’s rules committee report because he objects to the presidential primary schedule.

Don Murphy – who is also a former state Delegate – insists he didn’t cause a ruckus, but he remains passionately opposed to open primaries owning the first in the nation spots.

“I don’t believe open primaries should be the precedent. I don’t believe that we – the state of Maryland, which is a closed primary state – should have permanent status in the back of the bus,” Murphy told PolitickerMD.com.

The chair of the Maryland delegation to the Republican National Convention says he won't vote for a 2012 primary calendar that allows early states to hold primaries that allow independents to vote.

Republicans will be considering a complete revamping of their primary calendar at their national convention in two weeks and former state Del. Don Murphy (R-Baltimore County) is making his stance clear. He says outsiders are ruining the process.

"Allowing these open primary states to lead off the primary process will be the death of the two-party system," he told PolitickerMD.com. "The open status, to varying degrees, allows people who are not registered members of our parties, to participate in our nominating process. This makes these non-party members more relevant to the process than party activists here in Maryland."

Navigating around easy obstacles (and a bit of flexibility with Route 50's speed limit) made it a good week for some, while the failure of the rubber to meet the road caused a couple of flat tires. 

Pull over to Maryland's Winners and Losers for July 18, 2008. CLICK HERE.

The Maryland delegation to the Republican National Convention announced the chairs and committee assignments of the four standing committees on Tuesday.

Former state Del. Don Murphy will be leading the delegation as chair.

Everett Alvarez Jr., will serve as the delegations honorary chair. Alvarez served with John McCain in Vietnam.