60 to 70 Supporters Show Up
for McKay's Big Announcement

St. Mary's Commissioner Tommy McKay (R. Hollywood)
 ST. MARY'S TODAY photo
HOLLYWOOD (Jan. 4, 2006)  Despite extensive and repeated press releases, letters to supporters and a massive war chest being assembled, St. Mary's Commissioner Tommy McKay's first stop of his three-town tour of Senate District 29 brought out only about 60 to 70 supporters at the Hollywood Fire House at 10 am today. 
McKay will go on to Hughesville to meet and greet with more Republicans and then on to Lusby and finally end the day with a birthday party for his mother at Solomon's Island. 
Kendall Ehrlich, the wife of Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich, will meet with McKay supporters at the All-American Harley Davidson dealership's new quarters in Hughesville.
McKay announced in Hollywood that he is running for the Republican nomination for the State Senate to oppose Roy Dyson, the incumbent Democrat who represents the district composed of the southern third of Calvert County, St. Mary's County and a sliver of Charles.  
McKay's bid to replace Dyson in the Senate comes the day after a GOP fundraiser and lobbyist plead guilty in Federal Court to bribing many lawmakers and adds to the taint of corruption in Maryland where the Ehrlich Administration was caught in a deal to give 832 acres of state park land located at Indian Bridge Road to a Baltimore developer at the same price the state had paid for it years earlier. 
McKay called that deal, which was kept secret until exposed by the Baltimore Sun, a great one for St. Mary's County.  McKay's wheeling and dealing in Annapolis since becoming commissioner served to undermine the achievements he marked during his first 18 months in office, when he led the board in controlling costs, reorganizing county government departments and freezing hiring, as well as funding the school board.  More on this news story later.