If experience alone could win elections, David Craig would more than likely be Maryland’s next governor. A small town mayor (Havre de Grace), a big county executive (Harford), and add several terms as a delegate and in the state senate, plus his years as a public school teacher, and it’s hard to imagine a better training course for a chief executive of a very complex state. But as Craig knows all too well, experience alone is not the definitive trump card in the world of state politics. He faces a tough primary election this month against businessman Larry Hogan and an uphill battle against the Democrats in November.
The Spy sat down with the Republican gubernatorial primary candidate at Annie’s Paramount Steak House in Grasonville for a free-ranging conversation about his background, the world of Annapolis, and an extraordinary list of accomplishments he had while heading up Harford County. Craig also speaks candidly of the Detroit-like symptoms Maryland is showing, and his plan to eventually eliminate state personal income taxes.
The video is approximately eleven minutes long
Carol Voyles says
Editor,
David Craig would seem an ideal candidate for governor with his years of experience as an educator and legislator; but statements he has made are quite concerning.
He refers to Maryland in your interview as “pre-Detroit” and cites Texas as a model for taxation. According to the conservative-leaning Tax Foundation, Texas does have a whopping 3 percent lower total tax burden, but it also has a 28 percent lower median income, more poverty, double the chance of having no health insurance, and (despite the jobs created), an unemployment rate virtually identical to Maryland’s. Maryland, in fact, remains a regional leader for job creation.
Mr. Craig also advised us on a recent visit to the Eastern Shore to “ignore federal law,” citing the 10th Amendment while ignoring Article One, Section 1 and Section 8. He also suggested that, if elected, he would “do away with bridge tolls…phase out income taxes…repeal the gas tax…and eliminate taxes on all products manufactured in Maryland.” Kansas has pretty much followed his advice, and is facing a 45 percent budget shortfall, not funding its retirement accounts. and considering eliminating the state’s emergency fund.
In your interview he also stated that we were better off before we established the US Dept. of Education. Since 1867 it has made land grants for colleges and universities, funded the education of 8 million WWII vets, supported enhanced programs for science, math, and language, and provided funding for Head Start, school lunch programs, and financial assistance for over 15 million post-secondary students.
What could possibly go wrong with Mr. Craig’s plans? For one thing, how could we possibly get the “30 percent raise” he also suggested, when the total tax burden of states he admires, Texas and Delaware, are just 3 and 0.4 percent lower and Kansas now harbors such a significant shortfall?