In my years of public service-from serving with the New Market Fire Department to now, serving as the Senate Minority Leader, I have learned a great deal. One of the most important lessons I have learned: while anyone can point a finger and criticize, it takes a true leader to find solutions and get answers. I have decided to seek re-election to the Maryland State Senate representing District 4 again, and am proud to stand behind my record of conservative leadership over the last twenty years.

Another candidate running for the District 4 Senate seat has tried and will continue trying to convince you that I am not Republican enough, not conservative enough for your support. To give credence to this claim, you’ve been asked to examine a handful of the tens of thousands of votes I have cast during my time serving the fourth District. You’ll be asked to ignore two decades of hands-on constituent service, to overlook nearly three decades of party commitment and leadership.

I don’t subscribe to the standard approach to campaigning for political office. I won’t ask you to ignore my record; rather, I suggest you examine my service in full. Look at every vote, read every local endorsement, learn about every policy committee and issue task force I have served on. Consider how this considerable effort and growth over the decades stacks up to the claims of someone who has only been in office for three years, someone who is still learning what it means to represent thousands of citizens.

From Mount Airy to Emmitsburg & Thurmont, from Johnsville to Brunswick, the people lining up to endorse my reelection include Mayors, Councilmen, business owners, farmers, first responders, faith groups, youth sports organizations, veterans and retirees. The true blessing of my continuous service has been the ability to touch tens of thousands of people's lives by making Maryland’s state government rise to meet their needs and expectations.

When I’m working for you in Annapolis, I am not led by what a party says. I am motivated by an understanding of how state issues impact Frederick and Carroll County, and what that means for my constituents. I do not vote out of any special interests. I do not subscribe to the all-or-nothing Party idea that has so visibly divided the government at the state and national levels. I vote based on my conscience and the knowledge of what I’ve learned from talking to thousands of folks just like you and me.

When does this matter? It matters every single day. Throughout this General Assembly Session alone I will be leading the Senate Republican Caucus as the Senate Minority Leader in the fight to investigate the failed state healthcare exchange. I will coordinate the fight against the damaging across-the-board implementation of an increase in the minimum wage. At the same time, I will be leading the fight to protect critical investments in Frederick and Carroll County. I will fight for investments in our towns and cities, I will fight to protect agriculture from environmental over-regulation, and I will be diligently working to obtain crucial transportation infrastructure investments.

As this election year continues on, I encourage you to compare my accomplishments with that of my opponent, rather than listen to the empty political rhetoric that is too often heard in the race for election. Remember this tried-and-true political adage: Any fool can make a pledge; it takes a leader to get things done. Now ask yourself, which one of us is a pledge-signer, and which of us is a leader?