Why Not Lauren Arikan for Minority Leader?
District 7 Delegate may be best person to lead the Caucus forward
Maryland House Minority Leader Nic Kipke announced prior to the General Assembly session that he and Delegate Kathy Szeliga would be stepping down from their leadership posts following session. This means the Maryland House Republicans are going to need a new leader.
I think that leader should be Delegate Lauren Arikan.
Arikan, with mic, at the 2020 Red Maryland Leadership Conference.
Delegate Arikan is not the traditional choice for a Minority Leader. She hasn’t even completed her first term in the House of Delegates, hardly somebody who would be considered for leadership in the Caucus. But she remains the best choice for a variety of reasons.
She is a conservative’s conservative, with the conservatives to back it up;
She represents a suburban district in Baltimore and Harford Counties;
She’s a mom with kids at a time where it is critical that the GOP appeal to suburban women voters;
She is not a professional politician; instead she is a small business owner and a farmer;
And she can connect to the conservative base. When she appeared at last year’s Red Maryland Leadership Conference she was a huge hit among attendees.
At this point, it is important the Republicans across Maryland gear up for the 2022 elections and prepare not only to be effective legislators in Annapolis but also prepare to campaign vigorously for Republican candidates up and down the ballot. Surely, there will be other candidates who can effectively lead the caucus next year. But in my view, Lauren Arikan would be a home run that would put House Republicans in a position not only to defend conservative policies in Annapolis, but also to win at the ballot box.
In my view, electing Delegate Arikan as the minority leader is a can’t miss idea.
Any one who wants to lead the Republican Caucus needs to be willing to take a strong pro-life stance. No more political pragmatism at the expense of 30,000 lives each year and more than $10 million in tax dollars. We need leaders with principled convictions.