Candidate profile: Al Redmer for State Senate in District 7

November 10, 11:46 PMBaltimore County Republican ExaminerAnn Miller

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Al Redmer Jr. for State Senate
Photo/Al Redmer

Al Redmer Jr. is a candidate for State Senate in District 7, which is currently represented by Senator Andy Harris (R) who is vacating the seat in order to run for U.S. Congress. If I were to give only one adjective to describe Al, it would be passionate. And by passionate, I mean driven, determined, hard-working, and self-assured.

Childhood
Al grew up in Perry Hall in a working-class, blue collar family. His father spent 49 years as manager of A&P Foods, while his mother worked part-time with the food store and raised the kids. Al has lived his whole life in, or within half a mile, of the district he wishes to serve.

When he registered as a Republican at age 18, his father said, “What the hell did you do that for?” Al learned only then that his parents were not Republicans, but Democrats, even though they supported all the Republican candidates. Al said, “Everyone in that area was Democrat and were going to vote Democrat no matter who was running or what the issues were. The next generation got introduced to Ronald Reagan and Helen Bentley, who taught them they could actually vote for a Republican and good things could happen.”

Al describes himself as a “common sense” Republican, saying, “A legislator needs to lead, but also listen to the folks he represents. Most would categorize me as being pretty conservative.”

Education
Al is a high school graduate, but never sought a college degree. He was married at age 19 and had his first child the day before his 21st birthday.

Family
Residing in Perry Hall, Al is now remarried with two sons, a daughter, and two stepsons who are all grown. He has two young granddaughters and is expecting his first grandson in February.

Experience
Volunteer/Community
The line between youth and adulthood is more of a blur for Al than most people, as he started early in leadership and adult responsibilities. He has done volunteer and community service every year of his life since age 15. He began service with the Perry Hall Rec Council as an umpire and coach for over a decade. At 16, he joined the Kingsville VFC, becoming an officer at age 18 through his mid 20s. At 24, he was the president of the Perry Hall Improvement Association for ten years. Every year since the mid 1980s, Al has served on the board for the local business association and chamber of commerce. He is a current member of Kingsville Lions Club. For the last ten years, Al served on the board of a foundation of the CCBC Essex Campus, which raises money for young people who can’t afford tuition.

Work
At age 16, he started working for the A&P like his father until, he said, “I realized I was more entrepreneurial than the A&P.” So at age 22, he started in the insurance business and is currently a partner and president of Landmark Insurance & Financial Group.

Political
Al first got involved in politics in 1978 at age 22, when he ran for but lost his campaign for House of Delegates in a reaction to the spending policies of President Carter. Who says nothing good came out of Carter’s presidency?

In 1980, Helen Bentley asked him to work on her campaign staff for her congressional run. Al said of the experience, “It was an incredible education and inspiration on what a public servant should be in work ethic, integrity, energy, and an unrelenting focus on getting things accomplished.”

Al was elected as a delegate in 1990 and served for 13 years, spending the last two of those years as the House Republican Leader. He served on two committees, Environmental Matters for 12 years and House Health & Government Operations for one year.

He spent three years as the State Insurance Commissioner after an appointment by Governor Ehrlich in 2003.

Reasons For Running
Al said, “I’ve talked to a lot of folks over the past few months and they are angry about government spending, taxes, jobs, and the economy. I believe I’m uniquely qualified and uniquely experienced to make the right decisions. I’ve delivered high level constituent service in the past.”

“I believe there is more to being a good public servant than just voting the right way. I have been successful because I have always been assertive, always been a strong advocate for the folks I represent, and I do it in a professional, collegial manner that allows me to work with both Republicans and Democrats. The question will be: When it comes time to get tough and go eyeball to eyeball with the governor or senate president, who is going to have the ability to look them in the eye and advocate for the folks back home? I believe I’m the guy who is willing and capable of doing it successfully.”

Current Direction of Maryland
“The leadership in Maryland has been in denial over the financial difficulties we are in. They don’t have an understanding of the relationship between government and business. In the special session held to fix the deficit, with the economy in a downward spiral, not only did they raise taxes, but they increased spending with new government programs. These are the last things you do with an impending recession. The leaders of the state either don’t understand how economics and businesses work or they don’t care, and I’m not sure which is worse.”

“They’re using a faulty set of priorities to make decisions. There doesn’t seem to be any recognition that the decisions they made a year or two ago have further exacerbated the problem and need to be corrected. They keep going in the wrong direction.”

Republican Opportunity for 2010
“It’s going to be a good Republican year because of the frustration of voters towards incumbents. Obviously, there are more Democrat incumbents than Republican, so that means by and large that will be a good thing for us. Republican incumbents need to be proactive and distance themselves from the political monopoly in Annapolis. Average folks are extremely frustrated and angry about the direction the state is going.”

Term Limits
Al believes in term limits for elected officials and bureaucrats as well.

Most Important Issues
Economy, spending, taxes, jobs
“Jobs are the most important issue facing our state and country. We should be decreasing taxes, which allows more dollars for businesses to hire people. We can’t be creating new programs and spending without cutting someplace else. We need a top to bottom review of state government. We need to eliminate unnecessary services, prioritize, and make those we keep more efficient and effective than before.”

“As insurance commissioner, I did a reorganization of the services we were delivering and ended up with an organization that was more efficient, more effective, delivered services faster, and cost less money. I’ve done that type of analysis in both the private and public sectors.”

Health Care
“Most people don’t realize that the state will have to pay for half of the Medicaid cost from the monstrosity of a health bill. It is ironic that on a national level, we have congress and the president ready to pass a bill that will expand the eligibility and benefits for Medicaid. At the same time, we have the governor and Board of Public Works cutting Medicaid cost. Where are they going to make up that money? One of the ways they are proposing is to close the mental health center in Chestertown. There needs to be a careful, deliberate, thoughtful process on how we are going to handle this on the state level. Leaving it to the political monopoly we have in place who clearly do not understand how these programs work is not the way to do it.”

Upcoming Event
Al’s campaign is hosting a campaign kickoff event at the Kingsville Volunteer Fire Company on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. He says, “I’ll explain what I’m going to do, why I’m going to do it, and how folks can help.” This is a no charge event which will include lite fare and drinks. RSVP to al@alredmer.com or just show up at the door. For more information, see Al’s website at www.alredmer.com.

See other profile of other candidate for State Senate in District 7:

J.B. Jennings