Maryland Republicans, still stinging from big statewide losses in the midterm elections, have chosen Nicole Beus Harris as its new statewide chair, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
Wife of Congressman Andy Harris, the only Republican in Maryland’s congressional delegation, Beus Harris was selected over Gordana Schifanelli, this year’s Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor, and Tim Fazenbaker, a Baltimore County businessman, at the party’s state convention Saturday in Hanover.
Schifanelli, an attorney from the Eastern Shore, was told by party officials she submitted her candidacy papers an hour too late.
Beus Harris’s selection comes in the wake of crushing defeats for GOP candidates in all statewide elections last month, as well as a number of heavy losses in local, county, and legislative races.
She will try to build Republican support in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a nearly two-to-one margin.
Beus Harris is a marketing and branding consultant. Her website also notes her work as a political consultant and occasional talk show host on a Baltimore radio station.