My parents taught me many things as I grew up. Of these many lessons, I learned to be humble. With that in mind I wish to express my congratulations to Dan Morhaim, Dana Stein and Jon Cardin for retaining their seats as the Delegates from Maryland Legislative District 11.
I have no excuses about how I ran my campaign. We had little money to invest into the race as a result of my continued unemployed status. I proved to myself and many others that my lack of employment is not due to laziness, lack of direction or an unwillingness to work hard. Instead I held strong to my values and principles and maintained a positive outlook on my future even faced with insurmountable odds.
My only regret in running my campaign was the lack of opportunities for the citizens in this district to hear from myself and the incumbent Delegates in a formal forum or debate. I had made myself available and was quite willing to participate in a public forum however it appears that my opponents may have feared the possibility of losing if a debate would have taken place. I had the pleasure of meeting each of the incumbent Delegates during the primary race, but when it came to the general election they nearly completely disappeared from the public eye.
It is my opinion that the citizens in this district and across the state should be demanding to hear from both sides in a public forum during the general election. For one side or the other to assume victory is within their grasp if they just hide away is disrespectful to the citizenry.
I pledge to the citizens of my home district (currently District 11) that I will be available to discuss issues and hold public town hall meeting over the next four years. I intend to make a formal decision to run for office again based on the results from these meetings. I look forward to meeting many more people and discussing the issues of the state and country in the near future.
Thank you to my wife, Kristen; my daughter, Kara; my campaign treasurer, Beverly Weinberg; and all of my supporters for all of your moral support, guidance and patience in having to deal with me over these past months.
I know it was difficult to run a race with nearly no money and less than a handful of volunteers, but hey we got nearly 13,000 votes…not too shabby if you ask me!
Steven J. Smith
Former Candidate for Delegate: MD District 11