California, MD – Political candidates of multiple standings gathered from around the state of Maryland to celebrate at the Lincoln/Reagan Unity Dinner at the St. Mary’s County Elks Lodge #2092 Thursday, Oct. 11. Multiple county commissioners, delegates, State Senate Candidate Jack Bailey [R], and Maryland Attorney General Candidate Craig Wolf [R] were all in attendance. The event provided the perfect opportunity to crown the St. Mary’s County Republican Man and Woman of the Year.

Leonardtown Mayor Dan Burris, was chosen for St. Mary’s County Republican Man of the Year. Frequent Republican campaign advocate Karen Owens, took home the St. Mary’s County Republican Woman of the Year award. When asked, both said it is a “great honor” to have been given the awards.

Additionally, Dalton Wood Jr. was awarded with the Don O’Neal Lifetime Achievement Award for his commitment to public service throughout his life.Wood is mostly known for serving 40 years in the Coast Guard Reserves and serving the past 16 years on the St. Mary’s County Orphans Court. He came into that position in 2002 as the first Republican to serve in the court’s 241 year history.

Craig Wolf was given the opportunity to keynote the evening with stories of his time in the U.S. Army, working as Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and discussing how his life will help him better handle the job of Maryland’s attorney general. The governor-endorsed candidate noted how his opponent, incumbent Brian Frosh [D], lacks prosecuting experience on both the state and federal level, which Wolf has.

“[Frosh] said he is particularly proud of his efforts to repeal the death penalty in the state,” Wolf stated during his presentation. “He is proud of his efforts to kill legislation seeking minimum mandatory sentences for violent repeat offenders. He is that kind of guy.”

In an interview following his presentation, Wolf made it clear that he would look forward to fixing crime in both rural areas and cities.

“My office will not ignore the rural counties,” Wolf said. “The current attorney general only focuses on the base of his party and he doesn’t care about the rest of the state. The problems that we have in the state aren’t limited to Baltimore, we have drug problems down here, we have crime problems down here. I know how serious [Southern Maryland] is about these issues.”