Votes Counted, Republicans Win

Well, it seems that, in the final analysis, Anne Arundel County may have been one of the few localities to buck the State and National trends. After the final vote tally, Republicans picked up one seat in the House of Delegates, one Senate seat, and the County Executive seat.

In the second closest House of Delegates race, absentee and provisional ballots boosted jewelry store owner Ron George over former County Councilwoman and environmental advocate Barbara Samorajczyk in District 30. It's a shame that the people of Anne Arundel County won't have Samorajczyk's continued keen eye looking to protect their quality of life, but my sense is that George will be a considerable improvement over Herb McMillan, who relished his role battling Democrats in the House.

Far worse news is that Delegate Don Dwyer has edged out Delegate Joan Cadden for the third and final House seat in District 31. The Republicans also picked up the District 31 Senate seat formerly held by retiring Democrat Phil Jimeno. As Dwyer aims for greater depths of ineffectiveness, waging culture war against contrived boogeymen, we lose Cadden, a faithful environmental watchdog in an increasingly conservative district.

Newly elected Republicans, Steve Schuh and Nic Kipke are unknown quantities, but both seem like reasonable people. They would do well to seek Cadden's consultation to bring themselves up to speed on local environmental and land use issues.

As for the Republican resurgence in Anne Arundel County, the next four years will tell us quite a lot about where their priorities lie, and in the House and Senate, whether or not they can function effectively while holding almost no power in State government.