Baltimore businessman Ed Hale has picked up the endorsement of several prominent Maryland Republicans as the June 23 primary election rapidly approaches. Delegate Kathy Szeliga (R - District 7a) and her district colleague Ryan Nawrocki (R) announced they are backing Hale at a press conference. Nawrocki picked up on one of Hale's signature issues, lowering utility bills, by noting that Governor Wes Moore's electric bill relief plan provides less than $13 a month to ratepayers. "Not even the price of a gumball," Nawrocki said.
Hale has also pulled off something of a coup in earning the endorsement of his biggest primary rival's own 2022 running mate. Gordana Schifanelli ran for lieutenant governor that year on a ticket with Dan Cox, who is running again this year with a different running mate, Rob Krop. Schifanelli not only isn't running alongside Cox this time, but has come out in support of Hale. An attorney from Queen Anne's County, Schifanelli retains a significant statewide following from that high-profile 2022 race and her own independent activism.
At a separate press conference, Schifanelli touted Hale's "wisdom, his experience, his knowledge in business." Referring to Hale's rags-to-riches success story, and the moribund state of the Maryland economy, Schifanelli responded to the biggest critique of Hale by his primary opponents: his recent party switch from Democrat to Republican. "I don't care if he was a Democrat, or if he's a Martian, for that matter, if he has experience to fix this economic disaster," she said. Szeliga also took that attack line head-on, recalling that Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump were once Democrats.
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