Bongino Decides Not to Apply for Anne Arundel County Executive Position

The former candidate for U.S. Senate made the announcement on Monday afternoon on his Facebook page that he would not be running for county executive.

Republican Meeting To Discuss County Executive Process

The public is invited to ask questions and speak with potential candidates on Thursday night at the library in Odenton.

The West County Republican Club will host a special meeting on Thursday to discuss the process of appointing a new county executive in Anne Arundel County. The event is open to the public and will start at 6 p.m. Thursday at the West County Library in Odenton. According to the club's Facebook page, the appointment process will be discussed and there may be an opportunity for candidates to "interact with the public and respond to Republican questions." The Capital reported attendees will include Sen. Ed Reilly (R-Crofton) as moderator; Kendel Ehrlich, wife of former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.; Del. Steve Schuh (R-Gibson Island) and 2012 U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino. In an email to Patch last week, Bongino said he was "strongly …

•  8 Comments
• Photos (1)

Grasso To Announce Bid for County Executive Next Weekend

The councilman says he will run on a campaign of fiscal discipline and initiative.

Anne Arundel County Councilman John Grasso (R–2nd District) plans to officially announce a bid for county executive in 2014. He will formally begin the campaign on Dec. 9 at La Fontaine Bleue in Glen Burnie. Grasso, an outspoken business man who has lived in Anne Arundel County his entire life, said he wants to bring a non-politician to the county executive's office. "I'm a statesman, not a politician. What politicians do is announce in the last 24 hours that they're going to run," Grasso told Patch. Grasso may already have competition for the Republican nomination. Dan Bongino, a Severna Park resident and former Republican candidate for Maryland's U.S. Senate seat, announced last week he was considering a run for county executive. Bongino…

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

Dan Bongino Eyes 2014 Governor's Race

The 2012 Republican candidate for U.S. Senate is considering a run for governor.

The Republican who took on Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin and lost this election season is eyeing Maryland's 2014 governor's race as his next political move. Dan Bongino split the conservative vote 28 to 17 percent with independent Rob Sobhani earlier this month. Bongino said he thinks he could fare better in another statewide campaign. "We probably have the largest [Republican] fundraising base in the state," Bongino said. "We kept data on every door we knocked on, on every phone call we made. That's data that's easily reusable in a statewide campaign and certainly something we are thinking about." Bongino admitted to being an unknown when he launched his bid for Maryland's Senate seat in May 2011. Now he's got more than 7,000 donors, 11,000 …

•  5 Comments
• Photos (1)

Cardin Wins Maryland Senate Race

Associated Press called for incumbent Ben Cardin to win re-election minutes after the polls closed in Maryland.

Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin won re-election to the U.S. Senate, defeating Republican Dan Bongino and independent Rob Sobhani. Cardin received 53 percent of the vote, while Bongino had 28 percent and Sobhani had 17 percent just before midnight on Tuesday. Cardin celebrated his re-election with other prominent Democrats at a lounge in M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. In his victory speech, Cardin praised GOP candidate Bongino for running a clean campaign, while saying Sobhani did not. Sobhani, who had previously run as a Republican, reportedly spent more than $4 million to run as an independent and was criticized recently for his last-minute robocalls to potential voters. “I gained a great deal of respect for Dan Bongino,” Cardin said.  Bongino…

•  38 Comments
• Photos (2)

Senate Candidate Bongino Reflects on RNC

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino took a few moments to talk with Patch about his experience at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Dan Bongino took a few moments to talk with Patch about his experience at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Bongino lives in Severna Park, where he also established his campaign headquarters. He can often be spotted promoting his campaign along Ritchie Highway. His Favorite Speaker "I may be a little biased, but I thought Mia Love, who’s a personal friend and running for the House in Utah was an exceptional standout," Bongino said. "She gave an outstanding speech. She was just fantastic, and I think a lot of other people agreed."  Love, 36, is a Mormon and the Mayor of Saratoga Springs, UT. She spoke on Tuesday about her parents immigration and the American Dream, according to the Huffington …

• Photos (5)

Senate Candidate Bongino Hopes Facebook Will Bring Victory

The GOP candidate for U.S. Senate thinks his active social media presence will help close the gap against incumbent Sen. Ben Cardin this fall.

Republican Dan Bongino hopes a strong social media presence will help him overcome the fundraising deficit he has against incumbent Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), and ultimately catapult him to victory this November. "We knew from the beginning in our campaign that we would be fighting literally a machine," Bongino said. "A machine with money, access and a long history in Maryland." Real Clear Politics and Roll Call both mark Maryland's Senate race in their safely Democratic columns, and the state hasn't sent a Republican senator to Washington in 25 years. Cardin has raised more than $5 million to fund his re-election bid for the U.S. Senate in 2012. Bongino has raised just over $260,000, according to Open Secrets. That means the Severna Park …

•  4 Comments
• Photos (1)

Senate Candidate Dan Bongino Talks Issues

Patch asked the GOP hopeful for U.S. Senate where he stands on health care, the achievement gap, congressional redistricting and more.

Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino is hoping to defeat incumbent Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) this November.  The Severna Park Republican has an uphill battle in front of him with Cardin's seat marked safely Democratic by Real Clear Politics and Roll Call. Bongino, who was a virtual unknown until he won his party's primary in April, took a few moments to answer Patch's questions about where he stands on the issues. Health Care Bongino said he is firmly against President Barack Obama's health care legislation and will work with Republicans to repeal it. "Anyone who tells you that Republicans don't have a plan for health care reform is patently, flat out lying to you," Bongino said. "On our plan, you could cancel your insurance company and …

•  27 Comments
• Photos (4)

Broadneck Election Guide

Patch covers the candidates, incumbents and issues that will be affecting the Broadneck area and Anne Arundel County.

As we look forward to November’s elections, Broadneck Patch is devoted to bringing you the information you need about every race in town. Here's our start on the candidates and issues we'll be covering as November draws near. Bookmark this page for updates as they are posted. U.S. President President Barack Obama: Maryland is a reliably Democratic state for presidential candidates. Obama held a fundraiser in Owings Mills on June 12 as well as campaigned in Baltimore with Gov. Martin O'Malley. He visited Towson University for a basketball game in November 2011. Mitt Romney: The former Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential nominee visited Maryland in March. Remember the Etch A Sketch comment? That came on the day Romney visited Arbutus…

• Photos (1)

Getting to Know Dan Bongino

As the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, the Anne Arundel County resident will face Democrat incumbent Sen. Ben Cardin in the general election.

For Dan Bongino, the adage "been there, done that" applies. He's experienced White House parties, Air Force One and limousine rides with top officials and dignitaries. Bongino won the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in the primary election on Tuesday and will be running in November against Sen. Ben Cardin, a political power house with 45 years in Maryland politics and six years as a senator. As a former Secret Service agent with 11 years of experience protecting three different presidents, Bongino, 37, isn't interested in the perks that would come with being a U.S. senator. He's already been on the inside of the power circle—sort of like a fly on the wall—watching, observing and listening to how Washington, DC, operates. The …

•  12 Comments
• Photos (1)
• Videos (1)

Amy Leahy

9:26 am on Tuesday, May 22, 2012

If you know people in other parts of Maryland please get them on board with the Bongino team…especially if they are living in Democrat hold-out counties or Baltimore City.   more ›