District 14’s Goal: To Change the Political Landscape in 2018

By Patricia Fenati, LD 14 Chairman

District 14 makes up the entire east side of Montgomery County. It extends from the Frederick County line in the Northeastern part of the county along the Patuxent River which is on the Montgomery County - Howard County line to the Prince George’s County line in the Southeastern part of the county.

District 14 Republicans are definitely a hard working group. In 2014 we brought Governor Hogan to within 1.7 points of winning in our district which helped him get the votes he needed in Montgomery County to win statewide. Also, D 14’s senate and delegate candidates came closer to winning than any other Republicans for any office in the county.

Although we’re understandably proud of the results, we’re not resting on our laurels. In fact, we’re making plans to fire up 14 to change our district in 2018. This spring we participated in the Olney Parade and on May 31st we had a District 14 meeting at the Olney Community Center. Patrick O’Keefe presented the state party’s plan for data collection and described the information available to candidates for door-to- door canvassing.

Since we decided that the motto “Change Maryland Fourteen” was the most appropriate way to express the district vision, we set up a Facebook page, ChangeMDFourteen. We launched our booth events at the Sandy Spring Strawberry Festival in June. In July, District 14 was joined by other county Republicans in the Damascus Parade which was followed the next day by meeting the public at our booth at the Celebrate Damascus Festival. In September, we had a booth at the Damascus Community Fair and Burtonsville Day, which followed the Burtonsville Parade. District 14 booth events are always well received, and provide an excellent way to talk to like minded people and contact possible volunteers.

After using August and September for leadership meetings, we have set up an ambitious schedule for the coming year. District 14 is planning: A District 14 Town Hall 7:00 PM on November 16 at the Olney Community Room, 3300 Olney-Sandy Spring Road Olney, MD 20832. This is an open meeting and there is no cost to attend. Our speaker will be Senator Johnnie Salling, State Senator from the Dundalk District in Baltimore County. During just one election cycle in 2014, the Dundalk District replaced an all Democrat delegation in the General Assembly with a full Republican delegation. Senator Salling’s story should give our district food for thought as we head into the 2018 race.

We are planning other events in December, January and February. Our kickoff for the 2018 race will take place on March 14 th as we launch our Fire Up 14 Campaign. As part of Fire Up 14, we are planning to have a meeting or event on the 14th of every month between March and November. 

So far, District 14 has two candidates who have filed for state election in 2018. Robert Drozd is running for State Senate and Patricia Fenati has filed for State Delegate.

District 14 needs additional precinct chairs in the Damascus, Olney and Burtonsville areas. There is no doubt that 2018 will be an exciting year to be part of a robust, positive campaign to send our governor back to Annapolis and Change MD District 14. To become part of our Fire Up 14 team, please contact [email protected]

We invite all residents and friends of District 14 to attend our events. We send out notices for those events. If you do not get notices already, please contact [email protected] and look for events published on the www.MCGOP.com website.