Tales from Election Day

The City of Bowie elections were held yesterday, and all incumbents kept their seats. Full results can be seen here on the City of Bowie web site.







Supporters for Geraldine Valentino-Smith and Pete Mellits greet motorists on Kenhill Drive near Bowie City Hall.


Campaign signs cover the lawn in front of Bowie City Hall. City Hall hosted one of two District 2 polling locations. The most contentious race this year was between incumbent Diane Polangin and Pete Mellits for the District 2 council seat.



District 2 Councilwoman Diane Polangin, At-Large Councilman Dennis Brady and Bowie Mayor G. Fred Robinson greet voters outside Bowie City Hall on election day.


My wife campaigned for Mayor Robinson and Councilman Brady at one of the polling locations, and she came home with a few interesting stories.

At some point in the afternoon, a man wearing a Berwyn Rod & Gun Club hat walked toward my wife. My wife said something like, "Fred Robinson and Dennis Brady have done a great job for the City of Bowie, and they would sure appreciate your support." A Geraldine Valentino-Smith supporter made a similar remark. The man turned to the group of people and said, "how do your candidates feel about the second amendment?" The Valentino-Smith supporters said, "which one is the second amendment?" The man made a sound like a buzzer on a game show, and he said, "wrong answer!"

At this point, my wife should have said, "as a matter of fact, Mayor Robinson's nickname is Sniper, and Dennis Brady likes to show off his AK-47 at city council meetings." But honesty got the best of her, and she instead tried to explain that second amendment matters aren't addressed at the city level because all of the time is spent allocating funds to fix pot holes and improve lacrosse fields.

"Well, I think that they should at least teach gun safety in the schools," the man replied. The conversation was over before my wife could explain that the schools were controlled by the county.

Later in the day, a car parked near my wife, and an older woman got out. Several dogs were in the car, and they were all barking. My wife greeted the woman with her standard Robinson and Brady promotion, but then she added, "Dennis Brady loves dogs too!" And she handed the woman a brochure like the following.



The woman took a moment to look at the picture, and she said, "Awwwww, are these sheep dogs? So beautiful!" Perhaps quick thinking on my wife's part helped earn Councilman Brady an extra vote.

Dennis Brady is a known dog lover, and he considers the Bowie Dog Park to be one of his important accomplishments while serving on the Bowie City Council. Dennis and his wife Kathy have two Old English Sheep Dogs that are their "kids," and the dogs accompanied the Bradys in this year's Bowie Memorial Day Parade.