Make no mistake, a vote for Johnny O is a vote for Vicki Almond

OP-ED

The stakes couldn’t be higher. We are in a fight to take back our County from the powerful developers, attorneys and political oligarchy that have been running the show very badly for years.

Poll results at the end of May showed Jim Brochin as the front-runner in the Democratic primary for Baltimore County Executive, Vicki Almond in second place and John Olszewski Jr. (Johnny O) a distant third. Immediately slate and super PAC-funded attacks on the front-runner Brochin began pouring into voters’ mailboxes, continuing to this day.

Why? Because Jim Brochin is the only candidate that has made stopping the pay-to-play system that threatens the political oligarchy of powerful developers, attorneys and politicians his campaign rallying cry. Jim Brochin’s message of reform and his vision of a great quality of life and a great education system fueling a great economy is resonating with voters, and the defenders of business-as-usual are fighting back with their big money.

Undecided and “Anyone But Vicki” voters might be influenced by the misleading and unfair attacks from the powerful men behind the curtain who will go to any lengths to maintain control of the County government. Johnny O may appeal to voters who do not realize his self-proclaimed Progressive title is obviously a relatively recent creation from his marketing team that is not supported by his voting history. Johnny O may seem like a viable alternative to a candidate that has been cast as a tool of the NRA by a false smear campaign. But Johnny O voted against common-sense gun control legislation that Jim Brochin voted for and Johnny O has the most recent (2014) NRA rating of “A” while Jim Brochin’s from that year is an “F.”

Save Baltimore County 2018 implores you not to throw your vote away on the last place candidate (Johnny O), or worse, help an unqualified and hopelessly compromised candidate (Almond) slip into the winning spot by dividing the vote against her. You may have decided you would never vote for Almond, but by voting for Johnny O, you almost surely would be. If you still think Johnny O is the better candidate, we beg you to reconsider: Don’t make the mistake of letting the pursuit of perfect result in the worst-case scenario.

We already went through that in the presidential election in 2016.

-Mark Lee
Save Baltimore County 2018