When the Maryland General Assembly kicked off its 90-day session a week ago, two members of the House of Delegates from Baltimore County were missing.
One of them is a familiar name to people living in rural parts of the county — Del. Wade Kach, a fixture in the Maryland State House for four decades. The retired teacher just kept getting reelected.
The other missing delegate is not nearly as familiar — Chris Cavey.
Cavey served as a Baltimore County delegate for just 16 days. Clearly, some explanation is in order.
In 2012, state lawmakers and the governor re-drew legislative districts, as happens every 10 years.
Unsurprisingly, the dominant Democratic Party came up with district maps designed to make it difficult for incumbent Republicans to win reelection.
That included Wade Kach, whose single-member sub-district that extended as far south as the Emory Grove Methodist campgrounds and Main Street in Reisterstown, was eliminated. To win re-nomination, he'd be pitted against two other incumbent Republicans for just two seats.
Kach did the smart thing and ran for Baltimore County Council instead.
His name recognition and reputation as a diligent, moderate conservative helped him defeat one-term incumbent GOP Councilman Todd Huff of Lutherville.
Kach then won easily in November with 68 percent of the vote.
He was sworn in as a councilman in early December, leaving a void in the county's legislative delegation. By law, the Republican Central Committee for the county gets to appoint a replacement, with the governor's consent.
Enter, Chris Cavey.
The former insurance agent has been a longtime field worker for Republican candidates. He served as chair of the Baltimore County Republican Party for seven years and as first vice-chair of the state Republican Party for 7 1/2 years.
Last year, Cavey filed for the state Senate seat in the newly re-drawn District 42 — which eventually was won by incumbent Democrat Jim Brochin. Cavey withdrew in the spring, though, to help run Larry Hogan Jr.'s campaign for governor.
The Parkton resident had been active in Change Maryland, the grassroots, business-oriented group Hogan formed to build support prior to his running for governor in 2014.
Cavey, 59, eventually served as Hogan's campaign director last year, a job similar to his role as field operations director for Bob Ehrlich in the 2010 governor's race.
To thank Cavey for all his hard work, the county GOP Central Committee named him interim delegate to finish Kach's term. Gov. Martin O'Malley concurred.
When the new General Assembly was sworn in Jan. 14, Cavey's brief tenure in the House of Delegates came to an end.
Don't despair, though. Cavey knows he's slotted for a high-ranking post in the Hogan administration. He's earned it.
He made the most of his time in the General Assembly.
Hogan and Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford attended Cavey's swearing-in ceremony in the House chambers. The interim delegate's grandchildren held the Bible as he took the oath of office.
He personally responded to constituent phone calls and letters for those 16 days. He even issued a citation.
"It's a very nice thing for somebody who has chased this type of stuff for a long time," Cavey told the Washington Post.
He even was presented with a special lapel pin that identified Cavey as an official member of the Maryland House of Delegates.
Now that Chris Cavey's name has been entered in the legislative record book, he can turn to his next assignment — participating in the administrative side of things in Annapolis during Hogan's term as governor.
Barry Rascovar, a Reisterstown resident, writes a blog, http://www.politicalmaryland.com. He can be reached at brascovar@hotmail.com.
