There are some in Howard County who are clutching their pearls with such vigor I’m concerned they may asphyxiate themselves.
I’m referring to the self-righteous, gasping reaction over the weekend to District 1 Board of Education candidate Matthew Molyett’s announcement that he had received the endorsement of the District 12 Team (Senator Clarence Lam and Delegates Eric Ebersole, Jessica Feldmark, and Terri Hill), who also endorsed Jen Mallo for District 4 earlier this year. BOE member Vicky Cutroneo took to Facebook to express her “sadness” over partisan endorsements in the nonpartisan BOE race, her groupies lapping up her tears in earnest. Republican County Councilman David Yungmann from District 5 dropped a comment on a similar thread in the cesspool that is Howard County Neighbors United, saying “Someone should educate voters on what candidates have received endorsements and money from party insiders or elected officials and those who have not. It seems to be isolated to a few candidates and we’ve witnessed the damage it does to the BOE.”
Lol wut.
I can understand arguments against partisan involvement in the BOE, but these woebegone comments are comically absurd coming from Ms. Cutroneo and Mr. Yungmann. As requested, allow me to educate voters on the reality of Howard County GOP involvement in BOE races.
When Christina Delmont-Small and Ms. Cutroneo ran for BOE in 2016, they ran together as a candidate slate. Their chairperson was Howard County Republican Central Committee member Bob Gillette, and their treasurer was none other than Mr. Yungmann himself, an RCC member at the time. Notable partisan donations to the Cutroneo/Delmont-Small campaign include GOP County Council D1 candidate Kevin Schmidt’s campaign, the Modern Republicans of Howard County, and a significant donation from GOP District 9A Delegate Warren Miller’s campaign. For his efforts toward the BOE races in 2016, the Howard County GOP honored Mr. Yungmann with the GOP Man of the Year award, which he received while donning his trusty MAGA ballcap.
Fast-forward to 2020, and now Ms. Delmont-Small is running for re-election to the BOE in District 1. Did you know that her campaign manager, anti-DREAMer Chris Oxenham, is a former Republican Central Committee Vice Chair and the founder of the right-wing Reopen Howard County movement, who held a rally in historic Ellicott City back in May? Did you know that in this election cycle, Ms. Delmont-Small received another significant donation from Delegate Miller and the campaign of GOP former District 9B Delegate Bob Flanagan? Do you suppose it’s a coincidence that Ms. Delmont-Small’s campaign kickoff was attended by GOP notables such as GOP former County Executive Allan Kittleman and Trump supporters such as Mr. Yungmann, Delegate Miller, former District 4 County Council candidate Lisa Kim, and District 9A Delegate Trent Kittleman?
No, this is not a coincidence. Nor is it new; a quick perusal of the campaign finance database reveals that former CE Kittleman and other partisan elected officials and candidates have a history of donating money from their campaigns to BOE races. This farcical despair on the part of Ms. Cutroneo and Mr. Yungmann tells me that either they have a selective memory, or they think voters do.
Perhaps we should ask Mr. Yungmann to answer his own question as to which candidates have received money from elected officials, given that he donated to the BOE campaigns for Yun Lu, Gene Ryan, and Sezin Palmer. I have a feeling that’s no coincidence either.