WYPR: Giannetti MD-SEN 21 to Run as Republican Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

State Senator John Giannetti (21-Laurel) will run as the Republican nominee to hold the seat he now occupies as a Democrat, after losing a bitter primary challenge to Jim Rosapepe.Maryland law does not allow petition signature candidates to file this late, but does permit a party to replace a nominee who bows out or becomes ineligible. WYPR reported that the GOP nominee agreed to do that.This is big especially because Senate President Mike Miller has been a major backer of Giannetti for a long time. I look forward to reading the news reports in real detail.

UPDATE: From the Baltimore Sun, September 27, 2006:

Sen. John A. Giannetti Jr., 42, a lawyer elected in 2002 as a Democrat, said last night that he has become a Republican and has the paperwork to prove it. He was carrying it with him at a Republican fundraising dinner in Baltimore.

"I give the Republican Party all the credit," he said. "They are very tenacious. They made several different offers to me, and I turned them down. Finally, they convinced me they would welcome me with open arms."

...

"I declined the nomination in favor of John," [GOP Sen-21 nominee John] Stafford said earlier yesterday, noting Giannetti's credentials as an opponent of abortion and gay marriage [emphasis Crablaw]. "I think he has a better chance of winning as the incumbent and being able to appeal to the same kind of decent Democratic voters that I can appeal to."

...

In a brief telephone interview in the afternoon, Giannetti said: "I am still a Democrat until the right set of conditions occur."

...

Stafford said Republican leaders are supportive of Giannetti because he sided with Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in opposing an assault-weapons ban and in his views on abortion and marriage. Giannetti has also supported the governor on slots, the Intercounty Connector and on a takeover of some Baltimore schools.

These geniuses endorsed primary loser Giannetti over big winner Rosapepe in 21, and endorsed Ida Ruben over outspoken same-sex marriage advocate and overwhelmingly victorious Jamie Raskin for Senate in 20. The victors in each race are more pro-gay marriage than the EQMD endorsed losers. Someone in legislative affairs at Equality Maryland needs to get fired. Better yet, maybe people should donate directly to candidates and ignore single issue advocacy groups altogether - a repeated theme in Moulitsas and Armstrong's Crashing the Gate, my copy of which has arrived for imminent book review if I can get half a night's sleep and half a night's blogging in without 3 year-old banshee interference.

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