Gardner, Delauter, and Jenkins Among the General Election Winners
James Rada, Jr.
Statewide, the biggest takeaway from the November 4, 2014, election was the win of Republican Larry Hogan in a heavily Democratic state to become the next governor of Maryland. Frederick County’s election was a historic one, as representatives were selected for the county’s new form of government.
Voter turnout in the county was 51.36 percent. Among the local voting precincts, voter turnout ranged from 41.06 percent at Thurmont Middle School to 51.78 percent at Woodsboro Elementary School.
The new county officers will be sworn in on December 1, 2014.
Jan Gardner (D) defeated Blaine Young (R) to become the first Frederick County Executive. Gardner won 53.82 percent of the vote, while Young finished with 45.82 percent. Although Gardner had a strong victory overall, she did not win in any of the local districts. Her best showing was at the Woodsboro Elementary polls, where she won 44.59 percent of the vote.
Gardner, who will oversee county operations, establish policies, and propose budgets, will be working with a majority Republican county council. The Republican candidates won four of the seven seats, including the two at-large seats and the District 5 seat. The Council’s job is to initiate legislation for Frederick County. It meets for only forty-five days each year.
Kirby Delauter (R) defeated Mark Long (D), 54.72 percent to 45.13 percent, to win the District 5 seat. Delauter won a majority of votes at all the local polling places, including 67.89 percent of the votes cast at Sabillasville Elementary School.
Republicans Billy Shreve and Bud Otis defeated Democrats Susan Jessee and Linda Norris for the two at-large county council seats. The Republicans also won their contests at all of the local polling places.
Incumbent Sheriff Chuck Jenkins (R) easily won re-election over Karl Bickel (D), 62.79 percent to 37.06 percent. Jenkins performed even stronger locally, where he won between 75 to 83 percent of the vote, depending on the polling place.
Four seats on the Frederick County Board of Education were open in this election. Liz Barrett (15.52 percent), Brad Young (14.20 percent), Colleen Cusimano (13.55 percent), and April Miller (12.92 percent) were the top vote getters.
For the District 4 State Senator seat, Michael Hough (R) won 66.7 percent of the vote to defeat Dan Rupli (D) who earned 33.08 percent of the vote.
The three seats open for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 4 are also all filled by Republicans. Kelly Schulz (30.89 percent), Kathy Afzali (28.49 percent), and David Vogt, III (24.69 percent) defeated Democrat Gene Stanton (15.63 percent). Stanton was the lone Democrat running for the position.
For a complete listing of the 2014 General Election results, including the final results in Frederick County, either by county or polling location, visit the Frederick County Board of Elections web page at www.frederickcountymd.gov/index.aspx. You can also find the official final results when they are posted.
