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Martell challenges entrenched anti-lifer

Rick Martel, the Republican candidate for the Maryland Senate in District 12, differs sharply on pro-life issues from the incumbent Democratic state senator, Edward Kasemeyer.

In the last session of the General Assembly, Kasemeyer voted in favor of the bill to fund embryonic stem cell research.

“Embryonic stem cell research is just a precursor to cloning,” said Martel.

“There is no evidence that it cures disease, but there is evidence that adult stem cell research does.

“If we err, we should err on the side of caution,” he concluded.

Kasemeyer’s vote on stem cell research is just the tip of the iceberg:  his consistent anti-life voting record has earned him a 100 per cent approval rating from Planned Parenthood of Maryland.

In contrast, Martel told Defend Life in a September 10 interview, “I’m a respect life candidate – not only for the unborn, but at all stages of life.  We need to lessen the violence in our society, and respect the rights of the elderly until natural death.”

If Roe v Wade is overturned, causing abortion regulation to revert back to the states, pro-life leaders will be needed in the State Senate, said Martel.

The 48-year-old attorney from Catonsville kicked off his campaign with a July 27 speech outside his law office in Arbutus, where he was endorsed by Gov. Robert Ehrlich.

After that, he said, as with all campaigns, his began with a period of fund-raising.

“We raised $35,000 in the first 40 days of the campaign,” he recalled.

On August 25 he began a rigorous effort “to get my name out in the community” through neighborhood canvassing in Catonsville, Arbutus, Elkridge and Columbia.

Martel, a first-time candidate, clearly has an uphill battle.  His opponent has the name recognition that comes from 20 years in the General Assembly.

Moreover, Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1 in District 12.

Yet, Rick noted, “The district voted almost 70 per cent in favor of Governor Ehrlich” in the 2002 elections.

In his door-to-door campaign, he said, he has found that “People are very upset with the Maryland legislature – the polarization that went on as soon as Ehrlich was elected.

“[Senate President] Mike Miller and [House Speaker] Michael Busch lined up their troops, circled the wagons, and blocked Ehrlich on issues like slots, the Wal-Mart bill and the BGE rate hike.”

Kasemeyer voted 41 times to override the governor’s vetoes in the last General Assembly session, Martel noted.

“Partisan politics was put above the good of Maryland citizens,” he charged.

Martel said that he comes from a blue-collar family and was a Democrat for 30 years.

“I worked since I was 14, as a caddie and in a grocery store, and I worked my way through college and law school.

“I’m very much in favor of the working man.  But I believe the Democratic Party has left me behind.”

Martel is one of several candidates receiving financial support from the Maryland GOP, which wants to increase the number of Republicans in the State Senate from 14 to 19, providing Governor Ehrlich with a veto-proof senate.

“If the people are going to vote to send Ehrlich back to Annapolis, then they need to vote for me to give the governor’s programs a chance,” he said.

Martel received his bachelor’s degree, with a double major in political science and economics, from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 1980.

He is a graduate of the University of Baltimore School of Law and was admitted to the state bar in 1983.

Rick provides pro bono legal help through the Homeless Persons Project at the Helping Up Mission in Baltimore.

He and his wife Kim have been married 26 years and have five children and one grandchild.  Their children have attended Lamb of God School in Halethorpe, Mount de Sales Academy and Mount St. Joseph High School.

The Martels are parishioners at St. Agnes Church in Catonsville.