“What is the first thing you want to do following next week’s election?” Kristen Cox, Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s nominee for Lieutenant Governor, was asked as she arrived at a luncheon last Saturday following Potomac Day festivities.
Laughing, she responded, “Get caught up on my laundry!” She immediately followed with, “Oh no, don’t print that!”
Kristen Cox’s sense of humor, quick replies and grasp of political nuances shows as she talks a mile-a-minute, gives concise answers to questions and in the meantime throws in witticisms that can catch you off balance.
Arriving at the Potomac home of Jean Roesser, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Aging, Cox, accompanied by her driver, was quick to point out her agenda. “Education, health and human services. These are my primary goals. Uninsured, long-term health care is one of the most complicated problems we have,” she stressed.
She feels her campaign is going well. “We feel the momentum. For the past three years I have had the opportunity to know what this man [Ehrlich] is all about. He is honest as the day is long. Philosophically, I am aligned with him in so many ways,” she added.
Remarking that she was delighted to see so many Republicans in Potomac, she theorized that younger people tend to be more liberal. “But, as they get older, start raising families and paying taxes, they become conservative,” she stated.
Cox also referred to a recent Washington Post editorial endorsing Ehrlich for governor and how important it is to have a two-party system. “This is critical,” she agreed.
When questioned as to what she would do in the likelihood her team lost the election, she inasmuch admonished, don’t go there! “I don’t even consider that,” she replied.
BLIND SINCE childhood, Kristen Cox was named in this month’s edition of “Glamour” magazine as one of the most promising rising stars in the United States. “I don’t usually buy this magazine, but I had to show it to all of you,” Roesser said, waving a copy.
Among the more than 60 guests attending the champagne luncheon was Gilles Burger, chairman of the Maryland State Board of Elections. Regarding the upcoming general election he was quick to utter assurance, “It’s going to go well. Our voting system is at the highest state of readiness. … I don’t think any of the mistakes that were an issue in the primary election will happen again. Since then, the state has provided guidance and contingency plans,” he said.
Roesser agreed with his assessment, adding, “He is a very valuable person to have on that board. He knows everything there is to know about our voting system and is a very ‘tech-y’ person,” she confided.
Roesser’s neighbors, Doris and Frank Riley, Virginia Merchant, Suzanne Murphy, Marianne and Steve Candy, Joan Weszka, Larry Davis and Dieter and Nina Waldschmidt, were in the gathering as were Del. Jean Cryor and her daughter, Deirdre, home from Denver for Potomac Day, and her birthday. She also came to see her sister and brother-in-law, Jennifer and Ray Baldwin, compete in the Marine Corps Marathon. Dr. Arthur Pilkerton, and his wife, Sally, whose son, Chris, is a House of Delegates candidate, were there as were State Sen. candidate Bill Askinazi and his wife, Lori; Patsy Dillingham, Pat Shaver and son, Ron; Linda and Howard Lerch and Sharon and Mark Gilder.
Roesser pretty well summed it up when she remarked to Cox, “Kristen, you really know how to draw a crowd.”