MCCARTHY’S CAMPAIGN TREASURE CHEST STOCKED WITH OVER $363,000
News and Commentary
BY KEN ROSSIGNOL
THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY
Incumbent Montgomery County States Attorney John McCarthy’s list of contributors, while loaded with attorneys, includes convicted lobbyist Bruce Bereano, who tossed in $500 for the reelection of the incumbent States Attorney with a notation that the donation was linked to Pleasants Companies construction services. Pleasants, located in Clarksburg, Md., has projects all around the metro area, including a long-stalled project on Breton Bay in Leonardtown, Md, first designed by developer Mark Vogel.
Closeline LLC
Six grand comes from the pocket of Mark P. Bell of Rockville, who operates a loan title settlement service, Closeline LLC.
Sheila Maloney
With a $4,000 contribution, Sheila Maloney of Kensington, Md., gained a top spot on the donor list of McCarthy on October 18, 2021. Maloney was a $2,500 contributor to Joe Biden in 2019. Maloney provided two contributions to the snoozer of a presidential campaign effort of former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, totaling $2,700 in the 2016 election cycle. She also placed a one thousand dollar bet on Hillary for America, who failed to get across the finish line ahead of Donald Trump. Maloney lists herself as a homemaker and attorney.
Boland
James Boland contributed $5,000 to incumbent Democrat John McCarthy, and Louis Boland gave him $2,500. Both are connected to Boland Trane, a heating and air contractor who can likely keep the political race cool as the progressives come at McCarthy from every angle. Each of the challenger’s campaigns promises to open the jailhouse doors and turn Montgomery County into as much of a hellhole of crime as the big cities where radical prosecutors have made black citizens the target of vicious criminals. What could go wrong?
Landow Companies
Developer and Real Estate Baron Nathan Landow and David Landow of Bethesda each contributed $2,500 to McCarthy, while Michael E. Landow contributed $500, all three on October 1, 2021. The State of Maryland cited Landow & Company Builders for transporting solid waste without a permit and entered a guilty plea in Montgomery County District Court on June 10, 2014, with the prosecution conducted by the Office of the County Attorney, not McCarthy’s office.
Nathan Landow, President of Landow Companies, provided two contributions to U. S. Senator Ben Cardin‘s campaign, each of $2,700 in 2018 and a check for $2,500 on November 1, 2017, to the Democratic State Central Committee of Maryland. In the 2016 election cycle, Landow, through his real estate companies in Bethesda and Potomac, Md., spread around $36,500 to Democrats Jamie Raskin, Kathleen Matthews, Kumar Barve, Anthony Brown, and Chris Van Hollen. In the amount of $2,700, one of those checks was to Hillary for America on April 22, 2015.
Aris Mardirossian
Armenian immigrant and 6 Twelve convenience store owner, and entrepreneur Aris Mardirossian, is a man who is the epitome of the American dream and likely to send the leftists who hate America into a tizzy just because he exists and lives in an expensive home in Potomac, Md. He donated $6,000 to McCarthy on May 4, 2021.
Mardirossian reaped impressive coverage in the Washington Post during the 1986 election when he supported the late Steve Sachs in the Democratic Primary. Mardirossian made donations to many campaigns of Democrats and hosted campaign functions at his Flaming Pit restaurant, drawing complaints to Maryland State Prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli about possible election law financing violations.
Contributions to Democrats by Mardirossian have been steady, often, and consistent. In 2016, he contributed over $40,000 to Democrats, with $2,700 to the campaign of Congressman John Sarbanes and $1,700 to Congressman Jamie Raskin. In 2015, Raskin pickup up a campaign donation from Mardirossian for another $2,700, and $2,700 went to Glenn Ivey’s attempt to win a seat in Congress. Another $2,700 to the campaign of Sen. Chris Van Hollen, with five contributions of $5,400 each from a firm in which Mardirossian is the President and CEO – Technology Patents LLC – all to Van Hollen for Senate. Mardirossian must have found Maryland elections to be off-putting to his wallet in 2018 when he only donated $10,100, and his interest picked up in 2020 when he wrote checks totaling $19,600 for candidates.
Among the beneficiaries of his check writing in 2020 were U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D. Md. 5th), who picked up two grand, David Trone another two grand, over five thousand for Van Hollen, and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, finding a contribution of $2,800, all in the 2020 election cycle.
Mardirossian earned an engineering degree at the University of Maryland while working as a dishwasher and made a fortune on real estate investments over the decades. According to the University of Maryland A. James Clark School of Engineering, which honored Mardirossian in 2011, his firm holds important patents in satellite control of traffic lights, devices to disarm land mines, and missile defense systems.
In 1988 Mardirossian won a trademark suit after Chicago’s Convenient Food Mart went after him over 6-Twelve Convenient Mart Inc for trademark infringement. A court ruled the word ‘convenient’ was too generic to trademark. In the early 1990s, Mardirossian pursued the Southland Corporation, which was sinking in debt, working a deal to purchase 600 7-Eleven stores. The deal never came to fruition.
According to Maryland court records, Mardirossian has never been involved in any litigation or matters concerning the Montgomery County States Attorney’s office or faced any charges brought against him for campaign finance violations by the Office of the State Prosecutor or any other entity.
William Rickman
Rickman Management LLC made two contributions totaling $6,000 on September 27, 2021, and December 30, 2021. William Rickman is the owner of Rickman Construction, which has successfully built and operated office parks in Maryland and owned and sold Delaware Park Casino and Ocean Downs Casino racetracks. William Rickman, who moved to Palm Beach, Florida, provided a check for $500 to an unsuccessful congressional candidate in Montgomery County – Roger Manno. The latter gave up a State Senate seat to try to win the Democratic nomination for Congress in the 2018 election. Aruna Miller’s congressional effort benefited from a $500 contribution from Rickman on December 31, 2017. Rickman’s political giving has included former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in his sputtering presidential bid, with nearly $8,000 in the 2016 cycle linked to his ownership of Ocean Downs. Rickman also gave $1,000 to Davis for Congress in 2015. Barve for Congress received $2,700 on May 13, 2015. Rickman sent more than $10,000 to Donald J. Trump for President in 2016 and $10,000 to the Democratic State Central Committee of Maryland on September 27, 2016. In the 2012 election cycle, William Rickman, giving his Palm Beach, Florida address and his professional association as Delaware Park Management Company, plunked down $5,000 for the Democratic State Central Committee on September 24, 2012. From the coffers of Rickman Management LLC, Rickman sent $5,000 to the Democratic State Central Committee of Maryland on the same date. Montgomery County State Senator Garagiola was attempting to get elected to Congress in 2012 and picked up three contributions from Rickman, each in the amount of $2,500. During the 2010 election cycle, Rickman gave Democrat John Carney $2,300 on March 8, 2010, and $2,400 on December 9, 2009. The Castle Campaign Fund, a Republican, was given two donations from Rickman in 2009, one from his Rickman Management position and the other as President of Delaware Park, both for $2,400.
LABOR UNIONS LIKE MCCARTHY
Balancing out the contributions from businesses, McCarthy also received more than $12,000 in donations to his campaign from labor union political action committees. The Liuna! PAC and the Laborer’s Political League Education League Fund each gave $6,000, and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1994 donated $6,000.00.
One of the survivors of a brutal murder in Rockville, where the killer was successfully sent to life in prison without hope of parole, donated $500 to McCarthy’s campaign. McCarthy personally prosecuted the case.
McCarthy warchest has plenty of money to buy TV ads
BERNICE MIREKU-NORTH
– Raised nearly forty grand, mostly from attorneys, and has $23,453.47 in the bank as of April 15, 2022.
Will Leon Harris get another sweet deal from McCarthy?
Who knew that incumbent Montgomery County States Attorney John McCarthy was a blatant racist working to keep blacks under the thumb of Jim Crow? Why hasn’t the Washington Post, Bethesda Magazine, or NBC4 worked to expose this madness instead of lollygagging around the metro area covering crime stories and minimizing the DUI antics of three-time DUI offender news 4 anchor Leon Harris?
This statement from the campaign website of Bernice Mireku-North reveals where she stands on this topic: “We need a leader who ensures that those accused of a crime are treated fairly and equitably. We need a leader who works to minimize the perpetual harm of systemic racism in our criminal justice system.”
Mireku-North posted this comment on her Facebook page after achieving a good outcome for her client. Along with the comment, she took a selfie of herself with a photo of Supreme Court Justices Thurgood Marshall and Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Note: both Justices are deceased, and Mireku-North posted the photo and comment on April Fools Day, which puts her in the same company as many politicians who are tone-deaf about the meaning behind April 1.
“When I am not campaigning, I practice law as a criminal defense attorney, fighting for justice and fairness for my clients. After my client faced 35 years maximum and a jury trial, I recently resolved my client’s case without a jury trial, and he got to go home to his family. I’ll take the sun beaming down and the Supreme Court Justices behind me in this photo to mean a job well done.”
Does taking a selfie with two dead justices imply an endorsement?
Deputy General Counsel for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Dionne Shy, who lives in Dacula, Georgia, kicked in $142.05 on July 9, 2021.
Silverman Thompson Slutkin & White LLC in Baltimore provided Bernice a check for $250.
Sellano Simmons of the Law Firm of Sellano L. Simmons in the District of Columbia was a litigation attorney with Dorsey & Whitney for over five years before establishing his own firm. Simmons contributed $250 on August 16, 2021.
Jeffrey Z. Slavin of Chevy Chase, Md., provided a check for $1,000 on March 14, 2021. According to his website, Slavin is a graduate of Georgetown Law and a real estate broker who is dedicated to social justice.
As the Mayor of the Town of Somerset, Jeffrey Slavin was a heavy supporter of Democrats in 2016 with donations of thousands to Hillary for America, about $8,000 to Van Hollen for Senate, $1,000 to Barbara Lee for Congress, $3,200 to the Democratic State Central Committee for Maryland, on June 17, 2015, wrote a check for $2,700 to O’Malley for President. Never a day passes that Slavin doesn’t support his views and convictions by writing a check to liberal causes and candidates around the nation, which is his God-given and constitutional right.
On November 6, 2019, Jeffrey Slavin donated $1,000 to Hoyer’s Majority Fund, operated by Congressman Steny Hoyer, who, in 2022, is in the pre-mummification stage at the age of 83, is running for another term in office after being in Congress for forty years.
Pernell Telfort, a former Assistant U. S. Attorney and practicing attorney in New York, provided a donation of $250 to Friends of Bernice Mireku-North on April 2, 2021.
Bernice is at the rear in raising money but way ahead in collecting endorsements from dead justices
TOM DEGONIA
Tom DeGonia worked for eight years in the office of Montgomery County States Attorney Doug Gansler as a prosecutor until Gansler became Maryland Attorney General.
Tom DeGonia poses in a photo with three young men on his website with the lead stating: “This is personal to me.” The photo depicts three young men who looked as if they had just gotten accepted to college instead of three men arrested for the murder committed in Bethesda in 2022.
Tom DeGonia states the following: “Prosecution decisions should be data-driven, inspiring community trust and confidence in the justice system. The office must be collaborative and innovative, seeking modern solutions for modern problems.”
FACT: Prosecution decisions should not be ‘data-driven’ but based on the facts and evidence of the case. One leading defense attorney consulted for this article advised that while other factors may be considered, a decision on whether to prosecute essentially still comes back to the facts and evidence. While DeGonia bemoans the rising crime and violence in Montgomery County, he still believes that it is wrong to charge violent criminals as adults if they are under eighteen years of age, calling them’ children of color’.
“Tom will increase diversity of office leadership so the people making decisions reflect the community they serve. He’ll tackle critical issues like gun violence, domestic violence, and juvenile justice reform with innovative, multidisciplinary solutions.”
That policy in Baltimore City has led to a record number of murders of blacks, record levels of crime, and drug overdoses. With DeGonia in charge, Montgomery County will become a mecca for armed robbers and haven, even more than it already is for MS-13.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO TOM DEGONIA
According to the Campaign Finance report filed on January 19, 2022, DeGonia reports a bank balance of $81,099.66 after raising $118,338.00. Expenses for the campaign included over four thousand on fundraising costs, over two thousand for printing, more than six thousand for media purchases, and over two thousand on direct mail.
– includes money from newly seated Circuit Court Judge Rachel McGuckian.
06/11/2021 McGuckian, Rachel, $2,500.00 Electronic Fund Transfer, $2,500.00
Judge Rachel McGuckian, before her appointment to the Circuit Court by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, made the following donations to candidates in the 2020 cycle:
Bennet for America – $250, ACTBLUE – $250. In 2016, McGuckian contributed $250 to Hillary for America.
Kristina Badalian, an attorney with a practice in family law, contributed $500 on January 5, 2022.
Thomas Benoist, (not to be confused with the famous aviator that was responsible for much of the innovation of the aviation industry in his short ten years in aviation and died in a streetcar accident in 1917), lives in Farmington, Missouri, even though the campaign record apparently inadvertently listed the state as Maryland – contributed on September 24, 2021, the sum of $500. Benoist is an administrator at Spire Energy.
George Boyce of Boyce Executive Services in Gaithersburg provided a contribution to the campaign of Tom DeGonia in the amount of $500 on September 8, 2021. Boyce established a firm that offers protection in many forms for people, schools, firms, and events and is a decorated retired Montgomery County Police Officer.
Contributions for Tom DeGonia are listed in Campaign Finance Report
PERRY PAYLOR
The Friends of Perry Paylor show some real strength coming out of the starting gate with a massive bank balance of nearly $140,000. Perry Paylor is currently an assistant States Attorney in Prince Georges County and, according to his campaign website, lives fairly near the neighborhood where he was raised near Paint Branch High School.
Paylor apparently has a great network of friends to contribute money to him and a preliminary scan of the first eleven pages of his contributor list, each page having eleven names, shows that of the 121 names of givers, only 13 can vote for him as the rest live outside Montgomery County.
With the moniker of “Carpetbagger” to toss around during the campaign, despite being a native of Montgomery, it is a legitimate issue to point to his campaign being funded by outsiders.
Perry Paylor’s contributions are in the $50 to $250 range coming from many professionals and government employees. With about ninety percent of them from out of the county and lots from out of state, it appears that the only way he can win is to get one of those tractor-trailers full of mail-in ballots from New York, marked with his name, to show up late on election day. Paylor put his money where his mouth was when he opened up his campaign with a personal loan of $25,000. His outreach has resulted in over eight hundred contributions, most of which are individuals. Often attorneys run for office to gain wider notoriety for their legal practice or to gain name recognition in the hopes of winning in the next election cycle when it is anticipated that the incumbent will then retire. If that is the strategy of Paylor in this election, he ought to be well-positioned for 2026.
For this year’s election, with three far-left progressives running hard against McCarthy and splitting the very ample leftist Democratic Primary vote, McCarthy is likely to win another term.