Nancy Jacobs

GRASONVILLE -- If Republican Andy Harris loses his bid for U.S. Congress it's not a good sign of things to come, according to state Sen. Nancy Jacobs (R- Edgewood/ Abingdon).

"But Andy's not gonna lose it," Jacobs told PolitickerMD.com on Tuesday at Harris's Crab House, where Harris will be having his Election Night party.

Jacobs said a win for Harris was a "precursor for 2010."

She didn't say if she felt former Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R-Baltimore) would challenge now-Gov. Martin O'Malley to a rematch, but said "I think he'll run for something."

House and Senate Republicans are opposing November's constitutional amendment that would authorize early voting in Maryland, claiming it's ripe for fraud, an unfunded mandate and unnecessary since the state already has an absentee ballot program.

But House and Senate Democrats are calling the argument ridiculous.

State Senate Republicans are taking shots at Gov. Martin O'Malley's (D-Baltimore) fiscal policies, following Tuesday's caucus meeting.

"Governor O'Malley's proposal to now cut one-quarter billion dollars from a budget only three months old will wreak havoc to state employees and those who depend upon state services for their livelihood," state Senate Minority Leader Allan Kittleman (R-West Friendship) said in a statement.

The caucus argued that contrary to conventional wisdom, former Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R-Baltimore) was not to blame for the so-called fiscal crisis. They say Ehrlich secured a $1.2 billion surplus as protection against future budget shortfalls.

Maryland's Senate Republican Caucus re-organized its leadership on Tuesday.

State Sen. Allan Kittleman (R-West Friendship) got bumped up from minority whip to minority leader and state Sen. Nancy Jacobs (R) will reside as the caucuses new minority whip.

One GOPer thinks the race to succeed state Senate Minority Leader David Brinkley is already decided.

Senate Minority Leader David Brinkley (R-New Market)State Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley (R-New Market) has announced he will step down from his leadership post, possibly as soon as next month, when Senate Republicans are set to re-organize.

"When it comes time for election, I'll let someone else take it over," Brinkley told the Baltimore Sun. "I've got plenty on my plate."

Brinkley's future as a leader in Annapolis was called into question in June, when a domestic disturbance at his home and his chief of staff's temporary leave caused uneasines in a GOP caucus that prides itself on family values.

Senate Republicans might hold a re-organizing meeting as early as September. Minority Whip Allan Kittleman (R-West Friendship) and Nancy Jacobs (R-Edgewood/Abingdon) are considered top contenders for the job.

Some are saying our post on the spat between Cecil Senators E.J. Pipkin and Nancy Jacobs over “Special Taxing Districts” (STDs) should have included a couple of other facts. Like why, if Pipkin supposedly opposed new taxation in light of the Special Session, did he and Del. Mike Smigiel suggest STDs for Commercial Enterprise?

A fight over new “Special Taxing Districts” between Cecil County Senators Nancy Jacobs and E.J. Pipkin is likely to break out in the Budget and Tax committee today.

The long and short of it is that Pipkin is in opposition to levying these taxes (especially after the Special Session), while Jacobs supports them (though adopting the more ambiguous language of “Cecil County Special Infrastructure and Development District legislation”).

Pipkin ad: An identical ad was placed against Sen. JacobsSen. Colburn Responds

On Friday, the congressional campaign of state Sen. E.J. Pipkin placed newspaper ads in the districts of Republican state Senators Richard Colburn and Nancy Jacobs to draw attention to their votes in support of Gov. Martin O'Malley's budget, which Pipkin also voted for.

Pipkin's budget vote has been repeatedly attacked by the campaign and allies of his GOP primary rival state Sen. Andy Harris. Colburn and Jacobs are supporters of Harris, who voted against the budget.

Both Harris and Pipkin are trying to unseat incumbent Rep. Wayne Gilchrest for the Republican nomination in the First Congressional District.

The purpose of the ad distribution, according to a press release from the Pipkin campaign, was to "highlight a problem with the Harris campaign."