McDonough calls Jacobs A 'Puppet' Candidate

Republican State Sen. Nancy Jacobs is expected to announce her candidacy for congress in Essex this morning but one Baltimore County delegate is less than impressed.

In fact, Del. Pat McDonough said he and some other Republicans won't likely vote for the four-term senator from Harford County. He also had a few choice words for another Republican, Rep. Andy Harris, who the delegate said is responsible for getting Jacobs to run and splitting Republican voters.

"We won't be supporting her," McDonough said on Wednesday. "We're waiting for another candidate."

Jacobs is that she will seek the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent Democrat Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger in November.

McDonough did not elaborate on who else was not supporting Jacobs or who the identity of the candidate he believed would be announcing later.

McDonough said his primary problem with Jacobs is her support of a bill that grants in-state tuition to illegal immigrants during Gov. Robert Ehrlich's term in office.

Ehrlich ultimately vetoed the bill. Jacobs voted against the bill last year.

McDonough calls that waffling.

"We  don't know if she goes to Washington which Nancy Jacobs will actually be in Congress," said McDonough, adding that there were other issues dividing him from Jacobs. He declined to immediately elaborate.

Not that McDonough thinks she can win. The delegate said Jacobs, in her state senate district,  currently represents 11 percent of Ruppersberger's congressional district.

"The part of the district she represents she loses—I don't see that she has any base," said McDonough.

McDonough criticized Rep. Andy Harris, a freshman Republican, for lining up Jacobs to run.

"She's a puppet for Harris," McDonough said. "She wasn't even talking about running until he talked to her."

Larry Smith, a Timonium resident and member of Harris' congressional staff, is also running for the Republican nomination in the district Ruppersberger represents.

Contested primaries split Republican votes, said McDonough.

"(Harris) should pay attention to his own district," said McDonough.

Kathy Szeliga, a Republican delegate who represents the same district as McDonough and is Harris' campaign manager, said Harris "is no puppet master."

"Nancy Jacobs is a strong, independent Republican woman who makes her own decisions," said Szeliga.

Jacobs did meet with Harris as part of her exploratory process but Harris did not push her to run, said Szeliga.

"Andy is not out seeking candidates," she said.

Szeliga said she will personally endorse Jacobs once the senator formally announces her candidacy.

"She's tough on crime, she led the charge on Jessica's law, she's worked on gang issues and she was the first woman to become minority leader," Szeliga said.

As for Smith, Szeliga said "he's a great guy but he doesn't have the campaign or legislative experience Nancy Jacobs does—it isn't personal about Larry Smith."

Szeliga said Harris will likely "have a conversation" with Smith about his campaign but declined to say what that conversation might entail.

"Andy's not going to be someone who's putting candidates in or out," she said.