| It's pretty easy for a guy like Mattingly to say that he doesn't want other people's money to run his campaign with the family he has. Just from all the signs and publicity he tries to make you know he's spent more than $9000. Luckily he only has to go public with the money he's given as official donations. Judge Stamm obviously doesn't have the same amount of cash in his own wallet around from his mom and dad. Also, the money that the Judge's campaign has raised has been from 426 individuals, not a couple law firms according to the campaign finance reports. One thing I have personally noticed about this election is that majority of Mattingly signs I have seen have been on public roads. Most of the Stamm signs I have seen have been in people's (voter's) front yards.
I don't believe that a Judge who has been fully qualified and officially appointed should just be replaced by either of two private lawyers who have multiple times been found unqualified by the Judicial Nominating Committee. You may not agree with governor Ehrlich's appointment of Judge Stamm but he didn't hand pick him. A committee made up equally of lawyers appointed by the district (Calvert and SM), lawyers appointed by the governor, and citizens of the district deemed him qualified beforehand. For them not to have found both Sparling and Mattingly to not have been qualified for the position is something that makes me think.
When it comes to financing I'm not surprised that neither Sparling nor Mattingly have raised much money, since both have personal wealth. Judge Stamm put himself through law school and even took a job with the state even though he could have made much more money in private practice. That should explain the donations, also I don't see the fact that people monetarily show their support for him as a bad sign.
Most people have probably already pre-determined who they'll vote for based on what their friends say or bias, but I think its the smart thing to do to actually look into who your'e voting for, no matter what position it is. Vote for the person who you think will do the best job, not what your friends' think.
Anyone can go in and see how Judge Stamm acts now as the current Judge of the Circuit Court, feel free to go in there. He definitely has the passion and temperament for the job. |