Schifanelli Blasts Dan Cox, Andy and Nicole Harris

The failed Lieutenant Governor Candidate is attacking everybody, takes no blame for anything

Failed Lieutenant Governor Candidate and failed Maryland GOP Chair Candidate Gordan Schifanelli blasted Dan Cox in the pages of the Washington Post the morning after promising she would “never” say anything negative about him in public.

In a story by Peter Jamison posted this morning, Schifanelli accused Cox of “infantile tantrums” among other things:

Many Maryland politics-watchers did a double-take last month when Cox endorsed Harris instead of Schifanelli, who had run alongside him as a candidate for lieutenant governor. But Schifanelli herself said in an interview that it came as no surprise.

“That’s who Dan Cox is,” she said, describing her former running mate as someone who frequently changes his allegiances and positions. “It’s a behavioral issue.”

Schifanelli said Cox frequently bristled at her lack of submissiveness during the campaign and that his move to back Harris arose from an “infantile tantrum” over their huge loss, which she said he blamed on her.

“The bottom line is, it was all my fault that he lost the election, because of my insubordination, among other things,” Schifanelli said, describing Cox’s views. Their relationship soured well before the general election, she said, and for much of the campaign the running mates rarely spoke to each other.

Schifanelli’s very public comments to the Post differ little from her comments via email to a local Central Committee member.

In an email obtained by The Duckpin, Schifanelli expanded upon her thoughts on Cox. Much like Schifanelli’s disastrously produced propaganda effort, the nightmarish grammar and spelling are from the original:

Dan Cox is free to endorse whoever he wants.

Nicole Harris did not bust her back for him or drive 79,000 miles to help him won’t he Primary.

I spent 18 months working for Dan Cox: Fundraising for him and literally taking him to the high donor private companies and fundraisers. I did not work on any job (unlike Dan who was a delegate and earned income as a delegate) other than committed 100% of my time to this Campaing. Dan Cox did not appreciate my work and was angry for my relentless appearances in any and all events and my refusal to cancel events in the last minute. He interpreted that as insubordination. I was running Lt. Governor campaing independently, representing our Campaing honorably before republicans and democrats alike not willing to cancel any event which he did not agree with.

The notion that I conceded the race is false. Equally as the notion that I represented illegal criminal aliens. (As an attorney I have the right to represent any person in Maryland courts but I have never had a client who was illegal criminal alien).

After the election, I Tweeted: “Congratulations to WesMoore/Aruna Miller and I sincerely hope that they will leave no one behind” because that is the right thing to do. When you lose the election in this number you congratulate the team that won especially knowing how many Republicans voted for them and how hard Hogan fought Agaist Cox/Schifanelli. We lost. Period.

I have personal integrity and I do speak on my behalf without anyone censuring my speech.

Furthermore, Dan Cox was not running my Campaing and I was not running his Campaing. Very early on he explained to me that we have 2 separate campaigns and that I am responsible to my own Campaing and his wife was running his Campaing as she did for the past 26 years.

Since I was not the politician I understood that to be the case. In fact, I did have my campaing, I was responsible for filing the campaing reports and fundraising and messaging. I gave my 110% and 2 years worth of work to promote our message of freedom.

This tells us what we already knew: that Dan Cox made a major mistake in picking an absolute nobody out of obscurity as his running mate. Schifanelli as his running mate seemed to cause Cox more problems than it solved.

Schifanelli then goes on to take on Andy Harris and Nicole Harris for their campaign work and work on behalf of the party:

Nicole Harris can fundraise at any time and can be helpful if she indeed has experience in fundraising but having said that let’s look at the numbers:

1. Andy Harris’s race has been going in the sharp decline: In 2016 Andy was at 78% vote. I’m 2018 he was down to 68%. In 2020 Andy finished with 58% and in 2022 he was at 54%. Why? Heather Mizor raised $2.3 mill. Nicole Harris raised $700,000.

Someone better check the Campaing Finance reports before saying who has experience in what.

The Chair is responsible to promote the party.

The Fundraising Subcommittee is responsible for Fundraising and Chair can help but you have No Party if you have no members and 1 donor: Andy Harris. These Maryland Dynasties should end at some point.

If Nicole wants to help, I will be happy to appoint her to lead the Fundraising efforts if she really wants to help.

Here Schifanelli makes it seem like Andy Harris should be chided for supporting the Maryland Republican Party and that Nicole Harris is solely responsible for Andy Harris’s campaign fundraising. But this makes no sense. Say what you will about Andy Harris (and I have said plenty) but the man has done more to raise money for the Republican Party than almost any other elected official in the state.

(Also Schifanelli’s percentage of Haris’s votes and her interpretation thereof is completely made up: Harris had 67% in 2016, 60% in 2018, and 63% in 2020. The 54% in 2022 was accurate but it was in a newly drawn district).

Having blasted The Harris Family, Schifanelli goes back to blasting Cox:

Therefore: Dan Cox is responsible for his own image and his behavior. He doesn’t run my campaing or can censure my speech. I gave him the same courtesy. I have not said one negative thing about him in public and will never do.

He can endorse Nicole and you all can draw your own conclusions about him, me and Nicole.

That Schifanelli told a Central Committee member that she had “not said one negative thing about him in public and will never do” knowing that she had spoken to The Washington Post and spoken about him negatively speaks volumes about how untrustworthy Schifanelli is. But we already knew that.

For somebody who said “I told everyone I will not be accepting nominations from the floor, because I am not a floor mop,” Schifanelli sure is acting like somebody continuing to seek the nomination and trying to settle a number of scores along the way.