Congratulations to MPFO supporters! In the September primary, your PAC weighed in on all swing races across the state, and fell short of tactical objectives by only one race. Not all districts had a contested primary, but MPFO's direct mail targeted gunowner-voters with a coordinated message and made the difference in more than a dozen races, where pro-gun delegates and senators will advance knowing we were there for them. (Look around and see if you find any other liberty operation fighting to swing votes in key races. Some gun clubs make endorsements that just reach their own members. Only MPFO is set up to reach a broader gunowning community, to help gun owners learn how to vote as gun people.)
Among the highlights: Delegate Neil Quinter – a chief sponsor of the semi-auto ban last term – is out. One week after he appeared at a press conference with Sarah Brady, MPFO blanketed gun-owning Democrats in his district with advice to channel all available votes to other candidates, locking out Quinter's bid to return. He lost by less than MPFO mailed . Those who beat him aren't particularly pro-gun, but MPFO's message is intended to be as plain as it is chilling: we're willing to concentrate resources to attack anyone who leads a charge against our rights.
In the bad news column, our friend Senator John Giannetti lost his primary race. While there is evidence our efforts blunted his challenger's blitzkrieg tactics, this key member of the Judicial Proceedings committee lost by more than we could swing, to an ultra-liberal hot to ban guns. Still, this is an evolving story. After changing parties, Giannetti accepted the GOP nomination to run for Senate. Yes, he gets a re-match. This will still be a hard fight, but that's better than no fight at all. Sadly, there were many districts where we didn't have a dog in the primary fight.
Today many races remain competitive, and the stakes are high. Anyone who hasn't noticed über-libs trying to take over the state Democratic party (and hence control of the General Assembly) isn't paying attention. To the horror of party moderates, liberal candidates are tripping over themselves attempting to outflank each other on the left, using issues like health care, taxes … and guns. The September 12 th primary saw a putsch in the Senate, as big-L liberals purged the party of whatever traces of moderation they could take out. Incumbent Senator Ida Ruben , herself no friend of gunowners, was defeated by a challenger out of Takoma Park who makes Ida look like Karl Rove. In Montgomery County the Brady Bunch's hardcore darling Mike Lenett took out long-time Democrat water carriers who thought it was their turn to move into Len Teitelbaum 's vacated seat. Reported above is Clintonista Jim Rosapepe winning what became the first round with John Giannetti. Since Sept 12 th , Hillary Clinton has appeared at a College Park fundraiser, raising $100,000 for gun grabbers in the state, then Barack Obama – liberal lightning rod from Illinois – appeared in support of the Democrats' federal candidates. All the more reason for us to stand strongly with pro-gunners in any party, and help them resist such purges before it all gets even more out of control.