Olszewski, right, talks with Tom Hall
John Olszewski Jr., a former state delegate who is now running to be the next Baltimore County executive, said on Monday that he got it wrong in 2013 when he voted against legislation banning assault rifles and tightening gun restrictions. He made the comments on WYPR’s “Midday” program.
He is running as a progressive, but his pro-gun votes have been questioned by voters — some of whom support Sen. Jim Brochin, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination in the race.
In 2013, Brochin voted in favor of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s Firearm Safety Act even though his district — Maryland’s 42nd — had just been re-drawn to include a wide swath of northern Baltimore County, which tends to be more conservative than the southern part of the district.
“I’m not naïve. I know that politically, this wasn’t the smartest move, but I’ve got to do what I think is right,” he told The Baltimore Sun at the time. “I can’t think about the political consequences.”
Olszewski, who represented Dundalk in the General Assembly, made a different choice, and WYPR listeners raised the issue today.
“Hi Johnny. I noticed you have an ‘A’ rating from the NRA, you voted against the Firearm Safety Act of 2013, and you also voted to allow domestic abusers to keep their guns,” said one Facebook comment that host Tom Hall read on the air. “In addition, you have an ‘A’ rating from the Right to Life organization, you are pro-life and you are denying my right to terminate a pregnancy if something goes wrong. How does this make you a progressive?”
(Olzewski actually has a 30% overall approval rating from Maryland Right to Life; he got a 100% rating in 2009 because of a vote on “ethical” stem cell use in research, and a 50% rating in 2014 for supporting legislation to eliminate taxpayer funding of third-trimester abortions. Three other years he received a 0% rating. In a 2010 questionnaire asking if he was pro-choice or pro-life, Olszewski said, “I believe that we must do all that we can to prevent unplanned pregnancies. Rather than focusing energies in an argument about ‘pro life/pro choice,’ we should focus instead on eliminating the need for that choice in the first place.”
Brochin has always had a 0% approval from Maryland Right to Life and has been endorsed repeatedly by the pro-choice group NARAL.)
Olszewski told the Facebook commenter, and a caller with a similar question, that he is not afraid to admit that he got something wrong.
“In light of the things I’ve seen since some of the votes I’ve taken, particularly as it relates to firearms … I can look back and say, ‘I may have gotten that one wrong,'” he said.
He added that he would oppose any move to arm teachers and that he wants to invest in school safety and school counselors.
In a follow-up interview with the Flyer, Olszewski said, “It’s important that leaders are able to reflect on their positions and evolve. I can say I got that one wrong. As county executive, I will be focused on making sure all families are safe, and I will be supporting additional reforms in the future.”
Olszewski received a 93% from the National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund in 2014, and an 8% in 2010. Brochin received a 7% rating from the NRA in 2014, a 92% rating in 2010, and a “B” in 2002.
Olszewski noted that Brochin, in 2017, was initially against legislation making it a criminal offense to carry a gun on a college campus, telling The Baltimore Sun that his constituents “would hang me.” Brochin eventually voted in favor of the legislation, but the bill did not get out of a conference committee and died.
Sen. Jim Brochin
“Mr. Olszewski’s 2013 vote to allow assault weapons in Maryland was more than wrong. It was unconscionable. A man had just murdered 20 elementary school students and 6 staff members at Sandy Hook, but apparently that wasn’t enough to convince Mr. Olszewski to join his fellow Maryland Democrats in banning assault weapons,” said Cathi Forbes, a Towson resident and Brochin supporter.
“It’s nice that he isn’t afraid to admit when he’s wrong, but the fact that he is only now coming to that conclusion calls into question his judgment, and his motivation,” she said.
Brochin accepted $2,250 from the NRA between 2006 and 2010, but has taken no money from them since then.
Olszewski and Brochin are running against Councilwoman Vicki Almond for the Democratic nomination. Al Redmer, the state insurance commissioner, and Del. Pat McDonough (who also voted against the Firearm Safety Act in 2013) are vying for the Republican nomination. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the county by 2-to-1. The primary is June 26.
More articles about the candidates can be found here.
-Kris Henry,
The Towson Flyer
Olszewski could hardly buck the Dundalk crowd and vote for sensible gun laws, but now he has to try to appeal to a wider electorate. Hard to straddle the middle of the road, isn’t it?