The three seats were won by Dr. Andy Harris in the 9th District (Baltimore County), Alex Mooney in District 3 (Frederick County), and Bob Hooper in District 35 (Harford and northern Cecil counties).
The victory by Andy Harris was easily the most significant in that he defeated pro-abortion Senate Minority Leader Vernon Boozer in the September 15 Republican Primary.
Boozer was Maryland's highest elected Republican official, and had been in Annapolis seemingly forever, first in the House of Delegates, and later in the State Senate.
Boozer was so entrenched that nobody of significance had challenged his seat in either the primary or the general election for the last several terms. He was considered unbeatable!
Andy Harris, a successful OB-anesthesiologist, had never run for public office. The Harris upset victory, what led up to it, and how it happened, are fascinating must reading for all pro-lifers.
To understand the import of the Harris victory, think back to the 1960s and early '70s, when four-term New York pro-abortion Gov. Nelson Rockefeller was at the zenith of his power.
He had done everything within his power to make New York City the abortion mecca of America by promoting and signing a law legalizing abortion on demand through the twentieth week.
Imagine if an unknown New York pro-life activist had challenged Rockefeller in one of those gubernatorial primaries and somehow, wonder of wonders, defeated him!
That's almost exactly what happened here in Maryland when Andy Harris knocked off Vernon Boozer.
It all started in March when Andy read an article in the Washington Post documenting how Boozer had personally engineered and implemented the demise of the proposed partial-birth abortion ban.
Harris, a good Catholic and pro-lifer, said it was one of the three defining events in his lifetime, in which he immediately knew what needed to be done. Stated simply, he, or somebody else with better credentials and more experience, must run against Boozer in the September 15 primary.
Andy began contacting other Republicans to see if anyone planned to run against Boozer. He couldn't find anyone who was willing to challenge the seemingly unbeatable incumbent; all considered such a run futile.
In May Andy watched Fr. Frank Pavone, president of Priests for Life, in his program, 'Defending Life,' on EWTN. Father stated that committed pro-life Catholics have a serious obligation to run for public office if our country is ever to eradicate the terrible evil of abortion.
Andy was deeply moved by Father Pavone's words and took them as confirmation that he should indeed run against Boozer.
About that same time, I received a phone call from Andy. It was my first contact with him. He asked what groups like Defend Life could do to help his pro-life candidacy.
I was impressed by what he was saying, and told him we would help him as individuals. I asked him what really made him tick.
Andy replied, 'Jack, I think what really makes me tick is that my grandfather, my great-grandfather and my great-great-grandfather were all Ukrainian Catholic priests!'
I knew that was possible, because Ukrainian priests are allowed to marry. I was even more in awe of Andy when I realized that nobody in the world has suffered more for their faith than the Ukrainian Catholics. What great roots to have for doing battle against all the evils that plague America in 1998!
Andy's mother and father came to America after the war, his mother from the Ukraine, and his father from Hungary. (His father was a doctor who had served in a prison camp.)
The elder Dr. Harris and his wife settled in Long Island and raised three children, one of whom was Andy, inculcating those good Catholic values they had learned in Hungary and the Ukraine.
Andy kicked off his primary campaign against Vernon Boozer at the Fourth of July parade in Towson, along with 15 volunteers wearing the now-familiar yellow and blue 'Harris for Senate' T-shirts.
While working the parade crowd, Harris met Democrat Anthony Blades, whom he later defeated in a landslide in the November 3 general election.
Blades, sitting in a lawn chair and enjoying the parade, said to Andy, 'Oh, you're one of the guys I'm running against.'
Andy thought to himself, 'This is just the kind of candidate I'd like to run against,' noting that Blades was watching the parade, not working the crowd.
Some important aspects of Andy's successful campaign against Boozer were:
I'll never forget walking into Andy's election night party at his home in Cockeysville at about 9 p.m. September 15.
The first person I saw was Joe, Andy's oldest son, who is a freshman at Calvert Hall. I asked him how we were doing. You can't imagine the thrill I felt when he said his father had won!
There were a lot of happy pro-life faces there that night, many who had worked tirelessly in the various trenches of the movement for many years. At last they had something tangible to celebrate!
Andy's subsequent smashing 62-38 percent landslide victory in the general election over hapless Anthony Blades, who couldn't decide whether he was pro-life or pro-abortion, was actually anti-climactic.
A few of the heroic pro-life volunteers who worked unceasingly for Andy's election include: Sheila Wharam, Catherine Connolly, Nick and Anita Dieter, Don Cora, Jim Althoff, Ed 'Yard Sign' Chavatel, Bill Frank, John Garurick, Sandy Korzick, Pat Karey, Joan Ferris and Dee Schneid.
Deo gratias!
Copyright © 1996 -1998. Defend Life. All Rights Reserved.
Please feel free to email us at defendl@defendlife.org.