NOTTINGHAM, MD—At its regularly scheduled meeting on June 13, the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee (BCRCC) formally voted to condemn ‘candidate Pat McDonough for the theft of an opponent’s campaign sign.
Darren Badillo brought the accusation to the committee in May after he received photographic evidence of McDonough placing a Badillo sign in his vehicle. Badillo and McDonough are both seeking the Republican nomination for Baltimore County Executive.
McDonough acknowledged said theft on multiple news programs which prompted the BCRCC Chair Kathleen Smero to convene a meeting of the Administration and Ethics Subcommittee to consider a response. A Resolution was drafted by the subcommittee and passed by the full ‘committee in executive session after both candidates addressed the members in open session.
After passage, the Resolution was read in open session but has not yet been released to the public after threat of a lawsuit against the Republican Party by McDonough.
“If we don’t stand up to dirty politics within our own party, we have no right to stand up to it by Democrats,” said Ray Boccelli, Chair of the Administration and Ethics Subcommittee. “This wasn’t just an assault on a campaign, this was an assault on the First Amendment,” he concluded,
“We have done all we are authorized to do,” said BCRCC Chair Smero, “The rest is up to law enforcement and the voters.”
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