March 19, 2024
Annapolis, US 35 F

Democratic Central Committee selects Annapolis Alderwoman Shaneka Henson to succeed Busch

Tonight, 12 of the 13 members of the Anne Arundel County Democratic Central Committee selected Shaneka Henson, the Annapolis Ward 6 Alderwoman to succeed the late Michael Busch who represented Anne Arundel County for 32 years as Delegate to the General Assembly.

The meeting convened at 6:00 pm at the Village Commons Community Center in Gambrills  to publicly review the qualifications of 14 applicants hoping to fill the seat.

  • Jared Littmann
  • Henry Green
  • Brooks Schandelmeier
  • Chrissy Holt
  • Siena Scott
  • Michael Miller
  • Monica Lindsey
  • Gregory Stewart
  • Vickie Gipson
  • Shaneka Henson
  • Aron Axe
  • Sheila Finlayson
  • Keith Vernon
  • Ryan Chitwood

The meeting began with the candidates pitching themselves to the committee. Each was then presented with 5 identical questions.  Public comments were allowed, however they were held until the end of the interview process requiring supporters to wait until the meeting was nearly concluded. The candidates were isolated in a room and only one candidate was allowed in front of the committee at a time.

The questions were (paraphrased):

  1. Describe the political landscape in District 30-A and what are the top 3 issues you would address at the state level?
  2. Do you plan to run in 2022? If so, what is your strategy to raise money? How much? When would you launch the campaign?
  3. How will you champion women, minorities, and social justice issues?
  4. What committee(s) would you like to serve on and why?
  5. Why should we vote for you over the other candidates?

There were approximately 85 people in attendance including Senator Sarah Elfreth, Delegate Alice Cain, and Delegate Sid Saab among other local, and state elected and party officials.

After the interviews, the committee allowed the public to offer endorsements in 90 second increments. Senator Elfreth and Delegate Cain took the microphone and spoke about their desires for a delegate to round out the team.  They heard from approximately 9 people.

At the end of the public testimony, the committee went into an executive session to deliberate at 10:09 pm. Committee chairman Patrick Armstrong said that the selection must be by a majority of votes and when they come back, each member will vote for a candidate. Armstrong cautioned that it will take a majority (7) votes for the selection so there may be multiple rounds of voting.

They returned at 11:29pm and after two rounds of voting  Shaneka Henson had been selected by the majority of the committee members. Each member revealed his or her vote. The first round of voting was 5-Henson, 3-Miller, 2-Finlayson, 1-Schandelmeier.  The second round was 11-Henson, 1-Finlayson, 0-Miller.

Current State Senator Sarah Elfreth and Delegate Alice Cain had actively endorsed Henson very early in the process. We wrote an opinion piece about the process which drew harsh criticism from committee members as well as Cain and Elfreth; yet was lauded by several applicants for the seat as well as readers of Eye On Annapolis. In the end, there will be no way to tell if this was a predetermined outcome without being privy to conversations between the involved parties.

The committee will now send the name to Governor Hogan for approval after a background check is completed. Hogan actually makes the appointment and he can either accept it or reject it. Typically a Governor will accept the name put forth by the committee.

Once appointed. Mayor Buckley will have 5 days to officially proclaim a vacancy in the Ward 6 seat. Once that happens, the City must hold a special PRIMARY election just for that Ward at least 23 days after the Mayor’s proclamation of vacancy, but no more than 30 days. Assuming that the Governor makes the appointment by May 1, the primary election will be held sometime in late May.  Once the primary is done, the City must hold a special GENERAL election to fill the seat. This election must be more than 21 days after the primary, but no more than 30 days. With the same assumptions, the general election will be held in late June.

 

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