Maryland: First District

Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R)

Wayne Gilchrest (R) Elected 1990, 9th term up
Born:	04-15-1946, Rahway, NJ
Home:	Kennedyville
Education:	Wesley Col., A.A. 1971, DE St. Col., B.A. 1973, Loyola Col., 1984
Religion:	Methodist
Marital Status:	married (Barbara)
Military Career:	Marine Corps, 1964–68 (Vietnam).
Professional Career:	High schl. teacher, 1973–86; Natl. Forest Service worker, Bitterroot Natl. Forest, 1986.
DC Office	2245 RHOB, 20515 202-225-5311 Fax: 202-225-0254 Website: gilchrest.house.gov
State Offices	Bel Air:410-838-2517; Chestertown:410-778-9407; Salisbury:410-749-3184;
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Chesapeake Bay, technically not a bay but an estuary, was the central focus of the most thickly settled of the 13 colonies, and today remains a central focus for much of modern Maryland and a backwater where an older civilization lives on. The first British here were amazed at the Chesapeake’s oysters and terrapin turtles and crabs and rockfish. But pollution, agricultural runoff and disease have vastly depleted their populations, and only a few watermen still make livings bringing them to shore. This was an estuary civilization in colonial days, with every little hamlet tied together by the highways of bays and creeks and inlets off the Chesapeake. The streets and docks of Chestertown, Oxford, St. Michaels and Cambridge still look something like what they did when George Washington slept there.

In post-colonial times, when most Americans were caught up in the romance of westward movement, these estuaries and peninsulas were mostly forgotten, off the main lines of railroads and highways, left behind by thousands moving west. In the 160 years between 1790 and 1950, the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland only doubled in population, perhaps the slowest growth rate on the Eastern Seaboard. Over the past half-century much of the Chesapeake has changed beyond recognition, as the Eastern Shore has grown vigorously, with second-home buyers, retirees and commuters across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. This is a land of genteel estates fronting the water and of Frank Perdue’s thriving chicken empire around Salisbury, of Easton’s Waterfowl Festival and St. Michaels’s Oysterfest, and the swarms of motorboats and sailing ships making their way up and down the inlets or under the twin spans of the Bay Bridge. This growth has forced people along the Bay to confront issues that once would have been unimaginable here, such as high-rise condominiums obscuring the sunrise in an old fishing village like Crisfield.

The 1st Congressional District of Maryland includes all nine counties of the Eastern Shore. It extends across the Bay and grabs parts of Harford, Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties to strip Republican strongholds from the congressional districts which once contained them. The Baltimore and Harford County suburbs north of Baltimore are as solidly Republican as any part of Maryland. Although it is hard to avoid thinking of this district as the Eastern Shore district, nearly half the votes are cast on the west side of the Bay. This was one of only two districts in the state that twice voted for George W. Bush—and comfortably.

The congressman from the 1st District is Wayne Gilchrest, first elected in 1990. His days in the House are numbered though. Gilchrest unexpectedly lost a primary contest in his bid for reelection in 2008 to fellow Republican Andrew Harris, a state senator. Harris will face Democrat Frank Kratovil, the Queen Anne County state's attorney, in the November 2008 general election.

Gilchrest is a Republican with political views that stamp him as an independent thinker, both on national and local issues. Gilchrest served in the Marine Corps in the Dominican Republic and then in Vietnam, where he was wounded in the chest as a platoon leader and received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star; he returned to study rural poverty in Appalachia, taught history in high school for 13 years and painted houses in the summer. In 1988 he ran for Congress and lost to incumbent Democrat Roy Dyson 50.4%-49.6%; Dyson spent vastly more money but was embarrassed by a Washington Post story on his personnel practices. In 1990, Gilchrest was again vastly outspent, but this time defeated Dyson 57%-43%, drawing on his genuineness and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington demeanor. The 1992 redistricting placed him in the same district with Democratic incumbent Tom McMillen, a former star athlete at the University of Maryland, Rhodes Scholar and pro basketball player. McMillen raised far more money, but Gilchrest won 52%-48%. Since then, he has not faced a competitive Democratic challenger.

Gilchrest’s voting record in recent years has been almost precisely at the midpoint of the House, making him a crucial vote on many issues. His specialty, helpful in a district centered on the Chesapeake Bay, is environmental protection, without sacrificing economic development. His committee assignments—Transportation and Natural Resources—give him some leverage on these issues, though internal Republican politics deprived him of a top subcommittee position. With little notice, he has helped to enact several pro-environment laws, including a measure to assist in conservation of marine turtles and another to expand the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cecil County. He encouraged a federal program to restore oysters in the Bay by expanding their protected areas, and he secured additional funding for farm conservation on the Shore to reduce agricultural runoff into the Bay. He worked to enforce international treaties to conserve migratory fish, plus tigers and African elephants. But, under pressure from party leaders, he was a crucial vote in October 2005 for passage of a bill to expedite construction of new gasoline refineries. After initially clashing with Resources Committee chairman Richard Pombo on a measure to update federal oversight of fisheries, both joined a consensus agreement in December 2006. He has made multiple visits to post-Saddam Iraq to assess conditions.

He has been a maverick to the point of being courageous—and occasionally effective—in taking on economic and political powers, at home and in the Capitol. He opposed efforts backed by the Port of Baltimore to dredge the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, which links the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays; his objections outraged powerful Marylanders, but the Army Corps of Engineers abandoned the plan. He opposed the National Rifle Association on its amendment to weaken restrictions on gun show sales—in a district where many are strongly opposed to gun control. In December 2005, he called for a House task force on ocean policy, which would impinge on the jurisdiction of several committees; he lost, 103–327. He called “ludicrous” the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, and said that gays serving in the military should be permitted out of the closet; he cited his brother, who is gay and “a rock-solid guy.” The Democratic takeover of the House could leave this maverick at least as well-positioned to influence legislation.

In campaigns, Gilchrest says that he votes for issues, not with a party. He does not accept PAC contributions, and he has won the endorsements of the Sierra Club and League of Conservation Voters. His moderate voting record has led to competitive primary contests. In 2002, Baltimore County attorney and political unknown David Fischer loaned his campaign more than $300,000 and attracted support from the NRA and the Club for Growth. Fischer called Gilchrest out of step with the district’s conservative views. “A safe Republican district deserves a congressman who actually votes like a Republican,” said one of his newspaper ads, and he criticized Gilchrest for winning support from abortion rights and gay and lesbian groups. Gilchrest spent roughly $400,000 and won, 60%-36%. He ran much better on the Eastern Shore (67%-30%) than in the suburbs (52%-44%). The challenge in 2004 came from the Shore’s conservative state Senator Richard Colburn, who ran unsuccessfully in the 1990 primary. Colburn ran billboards calling Gilchrest “the liberal incumbent.” Gilchrest was backed by Speaker Dennis Hastert and the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership. He won more easily than expected, 62%-38%. His margins in the suburbs were bigger than in 2002 (60%-40%), and he narrowly lost two small counties on the Eastern Shore. In each case, he won the general with more than 75% of the vote.

Gilchrest escaped primary opposition in 2006 and won the general election with 69%. But in 2007 he was one of two Republicans to vote for the Democratic war funding bill vetoed by President Bush and one of 17 Republicans who backed a resolution disapproving of the President's troop "surge" and those votes helped revive conservative opposition back home. State Senator Harris filed to run against him in the Republican primary; on the Democratic side, Queen Anne's County State's Attorney Kratovil announced his intention to run.

Committees

• Natural Resources (5th of 22 R)
  Fisheries, Wildlife & Oceans.
• Transportation & Infrastructure (6th of 34 R)
  Railroads, Pipelines & Hazardous Materials; Water Resources & Environment; Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation.

Presidential Vote

District Demographics (More Info)

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R +10
• Area size: 3,702 square miles
• Urban Population: 64.2%
• Rural Population: 35.8%
• Population 2000: 662,062
• Population 2005 (est): 714,699
• Median Income: $51,918
• Poverty Status: 7.3%
• Military Veterans: 15.2%
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 84.7% White; 11.2% Black; 1.4% Asian; 0.2% Native Am.; 0.0% Hawaiian; 0.9% Two+ races; 0.1% Other; 1.6% Hispanic Origin;
• Ancestry: 15.5% German%; 12.1% Irish%; 10.7% English%;
• Occupation: Blue collar 21.9%; White collar 63.3%; Gray collar 14.8%;