Despite urgings by fellow members of Congress, Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest will not run as an independent for Maryland's 1st Congressional District after losing in a rather lopsided contest to state Sen. Andy Harris.
Why?
Well, Maryland law, for one. Unlike in Connecticut, where Sen. Joe Lieberman filed as an independent and defeated Ned Lamont, the same man who had beat him in the Democratic primary, Maryland has a "sore loser" law that keeps candidates from appearing on the general election ballot for ANY race if they lose in a primary.
Gilchrest's campaign manager and chief of staff Tony Caligiuri said that six months ago, several political consultants advised the nine-term congressman to run as an independent because he would have a better chance for re-election than running in a contested Republican primary.
Gilchrest declined, Caligiuri said.
"His supporters are Republican and he's spent his whole career in the party. He didn't want to betray the folks supporting him. He decided to persevere."
As for hiring lawyers to explore the possibility of skirting the sore loser law, Caligiuri said Gilchrest isn't interested.
"He respects the decision of voters," he said.
