OGLESBY REFLECTS ON ELECTION

Today, the Board of Elections tallied the final few ballots and certified the election results for the Worcester County States Attorney race. With that certification, I am the State’s Attorney Elect and it is now appropriate for me to reflect on the extraordinary journey that began many years ago.

I am both grateful and sincerely humbled by the incredible encouragement and support the campaign received from the many volunteers who gave their time, energy and resources on the promise that their hard work and dedication would help usher in a new era of accountability in Worcester County. There are many who have supported my candidacy for over eight years. These individuals and their unwavering faith in my ability were the pillars of strength for my campaign.

We knew when we began this campaign that the road toward achieving our goals would be crowded with contention. What now remains of political partisanship must be placed aside. Mr. Todd has spent twenty five years serving the people of Worcester County and rightfully deserves our praise and appreciation. His hard work has helped pave the way for the future we must now build together. The time for new ideas, new directions, and bold initiatives has arrived.

To the voters of Worcester County who were not yet ready to cast their votes for me in this election, I promise to spend the next four years dedicating myself to the unwavering principles of fairness and justice so that I may earn your trust. To the voters who elected me, thank you for your confidence in my ability to protect the values which have helped shape our great community.

With the trust and confidence of law enforcement, there has never been a better time to serve Worcester County. With your continued prayers and support, the Office of the State’s Attorney will protect the present and safeguard the future by bringing accountability to our community.

With appreciation,

Beau H. Oglesby

State’s Attorney Elect

Worcester County, Maryland

Oglesby To Begin Job At State's Attorney In Early January

by: Christine Cullen

(Nov. 19, 2010) The race to become the next state’s attorney for Worcester County came to an end last Friday, when incumbent Joel Todd conceded defeat to his challenger, Beau Oglesby, in the close contest.

Todd, who has been the state’s attorney since January 1995 and was a deputy prosecutor since 1985, bowed out of the race after the second round of absentee ballots were tallied Nov. 12. Oglesby held a 90- vote lead over the incumbent, which proved to be insur- mountable with only a handful of ballots left to be counted next week.

“It has been my honor and pleasure to serve the citizens and visitors of Worcester County as a prosecutor since July 1, 1985. Justice, and only justice, has been my pursuit throughout that time. I have done the very best that I know how to do,” Todd wrote in a statement conceding victory to his opponent.

Todd ended the second absentee vote count with 10,4675 votes to Oglesby’s 10,555. The final tally of 35 absentee ballots that were held over, plus ballots sent in by members of the military, will take place Nov. 22, but there will not be enough ballots left for Todd to overtake Oglesby’s lead.

If all 50 military ballots that were sent out are returned, the total number of voted to be counted on Nov. 22 would be 85, which is fewer than what Todd would need to win. As of Monday, the county Board of Elections had received 14 military ballots.

This was the second time Todd and Oglesby ran head-to-head for the office. Oglesby, a deputy state’s attorney in Caroline County, also challenged Todd in 2006. That election was even closer than the 2010 race: Todd retained the office by just 14 votes.

“We’re very happy with the outcome. We know our work is going to be cut out for us. We’re looking forward to proving to the voters who voted for me that their trust was well placed, and we look forward to earning the trust of those in the county that weren’t quite ready to vote for me,” Oglesby said Monday.

Oglesby will take the helm of the Worcester County State’s Attorney’s Office in early January. Until then, he will be on double-duty: continuing to prosecute cases in Caroline County and getting familiar with the major cases under way in Worcester County to ensure he is ready to take over prosecution.

“We’re already engaged in getting up to speed on all of the cases. I’ve already met with members of [the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation] regarding some of the homicide cases, and I will meet with them on all pending major cases,” he said.

“I intend to make the way as smooth for him as I can,” Todd said in the statement. “I pledge to the voters that during the remaining time in my term of office I will do everything I can to prepare him for the cases and issues awaiting him on the first Monday of January 2011.”

In his 25 years working for and running the state’s attorney’s office, Todd said he feels he has made a positive impact on crime in the county. When Oglesby takes over in January, Todd will return to life as a private citizen and he is looking forward to the privacy that will bring.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to have served. Now, I’m looking forward to not having to live my life under a microscope any more,” he said Monday.

www.oceancitytoday.net

Oglesby and Mathias Both Claim Victories

SNOW HILL -- Beau Oglesby is the unofficial state's attorney-elect for Worcester County and Jim Mathias is the unofficial state senator-elect for District 38 after the third canvass of absentee votes was held Friday.

In the race for state Senate, Michael James called Mathias to concede and congratulate him on his victory after learning Mathias holds 23,527 votes to Michael James' 22,896 -- a margin of 631.

In a statement to The Daily Times, James said it had been "an honor and a privilege" to participate in the election.

"Though I wish the outcome was different, I truly believe we influenced and helped shape the agenda for the Eastern Shore with our ideas, our positions and with the honest and assertive nature of our campaign," James said.

Jim Mathias was unable to be reached for comment.

With 10,465 votes, Joel Todd will not be able to overcome the 90-vote lead Oglesby holds at the final canvass. Even if Todd receives all possible 85 votes in the final canvass, he would still be 5 votes shy of a tie.

"We are thrilled by the outcome and with the way the campaign was run," Oglesby said. "I am thrilled to be looking down the road and looking forward to being a productive state's attorney."

Oglesby was able to speak to Todd after the votes were totaled and said the two have already been working together and plan to continue working together to bring Oglesby up to speed on pending cases.

In a statement provided to The Daily Times, Todd said he will work to make the transition as smooth as possible.

"It has been my honor and my pleasure to serve the citizens and visitors of Worcester County as a prosecutor since July 1, 1985," Todd said. "The role of state's attorney is at times difficult and demanding with a need, sometimes, to balance what is popular against what is ethical and what is just. During my time in office I have learned that what is popular is not always right and what is right is not always popular."

In total, Oglesby holds 10,555 votes.

The next canvass is scheduled to be held Nov. 22 when 35 absentee ballots will be counted, in addition to 14 overseas ballots, which have already been received by the Worcester County Board of Elections. However, that number is subject to change.

The board mailed out 50 ballots to overseas citizens and soldiers. If they were returned to the board by Nov. 22, they will be counted in the final canvass.

www.delmarvanow.com

Oglesby Nears Victory In Tight State’s Attorney Race

Shawn J. Soper
News Editor
BERLIN – While incumbent Worcester County State’s Attorney Joel Todd closed the gap somewhat this week after more absentee ballots were counted on Wednesday, Republican challenger Beau Oglesby appears to have moved closer to his “magic number”.

When the polls closed last Tuesday, it was Oglesby leading Todd by a mere 145 votes and a sense of déjà vu spread across the county electorate closely watching the highly contested campaign. In 2006, in perhaps the closest election in Worcester County history, it was Todd who led Oglesby by a single vote when the polls closed on Election Night. Todd eventually prevailed when all of the absentee, provisional and overseas ballots were counted, but a similar scenario is playing out this week with the candidates switching roles.

On Wednesday, 180 absentee ballots were counted and Todd managed to close the gap, collecting 86 new votes while Oglesby added 75 to his tally. County elections officials were supposed to count 197 absentee ballots, but 17 were rejected for various reasons. For example, 12 were not registered in the county and a handful more were not filed in the appropriate district.

After the batch of absentee ballots were counted on Wednesday, Todd had reduced Oglesby’s lead to just 96, but time, and more importantly, outstanding ballots, appear to be running out on the incumbent.

According to Worcester County Elections Board Supervisor Patti Jackson, roughly 171 ballots remain to be counted, of which 122 are expected to be counted today.

The other 49 outstanding ballots – 14 military ballots and 35 more absentee ballots held back – are expected to be counted on Nov. 22. It’s important to note, the 171 figure is a bit of a moving target because some will likely be rejected and more that were postmarked before the Nov. 2 deadline might trickle in still.

Nonetheless, with an estimated 171 still to count, it appears Oglesby needs just 38 more votes, or about 22 percent more, to win the county state’s attorney race. More simply put, if Todd received 134 of the remaining 171 votes and Oglesby scored 37, the incumbent would win by a single vote.

While the numbers appear to be in Oglesby’s favor, certainly anything can happen and if history teaches one anything about this rivalry, the race is far from over. Oglesby said yesterday he was quietly optimistic with scores of votes still to be counted.

“Compared to four years ago, this is a much better place to be,” he said. “Things look good, but there’s a long way to go and we certainly can’t start celebrating yet.”
Oglesby said the closeness of the race is remarkable, but not surprising given the history between the candidates.

“We’re proud of our campaign and we appreciate the trust at least 50-point-something percent of the county placed in us, and we look forward to proving and demonstrating it was well placed,” he said. “If the counts hold, we’ll look forward to earning the trust of the other 49-point-something percent.”

Todd declined to comment, citing personal reasons.

www.mdcoastdispatch.com

State's Attorney Race- Absentee Ballots To Be Counted

SNOW HILL -- In a tight race and before absentee ballots were counted, challenger Beau Oglesby had an edge over veteran prosecutor Joel Todd in the race for Worcester County State's Attorney.

Oglesby, who led Todd by 169 votes late Tuesday night, knows what a tight race feels like; he was narrowly defeated by Todd in 2006.

"Four years ago, we were down by one vote on election night and ended up losing by 14," said Oglesby, a Republican. "We're in a much better position now. We're quietly optimistic this will hold but we're unsure how many absentee ballots are outstanding."

According to election officials, 1,500 absentee ballots have been collected and will begin being counted Thursday, although the final results of that count will not be known until Nov. 22. In addition, late Tuesday night ballots from three voting machines -- one each from Districts 1, 2 and 6 -- were being counted manually because of machine errors.

Although Oglesby led in the polls for much of the night, with 14 of 18 precincts reporting, Todd took the lead with 6,669 votes. Just after 11 p.m., however, when all 18 precincts' votes were tallied, Oglesby had regained a slight advantage.

Todd said early in the evening that if he did lose, it would not be because of political mailers from his campaign that the Worcester Republicans called unethical last week. On the mailers, Todd was pictured with several prominent people under a headline that read "Community Leaders Support Joel Todd," although some of them had not endorsed him. Todd's wife and campaign manager, Anita Todd, took the blame for sending the literature.

"If I lose the election, I don't think it has anything to do with that," Todd said as ballots were being counted.

Todd was joined at the polls Tuesday by Lynn Dodenhoff, the mother of Pocomoke City woman Christine Sheddy, whose body was found in Snow Hill earlier this year after she had gone missing. Dodenhoff said Todd was the only man she trusted to prosecute Justin M. Hadel, the man charged in Sheddy's death.

"I believe this is the only man who could prosecute my daughter's murderers," she said. "He's the only man that listened to me and stepped in, got the right people involved in her case."

Other races
In the sheriff's race, current chief deputy for the office Reggie Mason came out significantly ahead of Democratic challenger Bobby Brittingham. Mason received 12,083 votes, while Brittingham took 6,709.

In the Worcester County Commissioners races, incumbents came out ahead, with Commissioner Judy Boggs besting challenger John Bodnar in District 5 with 2,212 votes to his 1,301.

"It was a particularly satisfying win," Boggs said. "The people of Ocean Pines, by an overwhelming vote, demonstrated their confidence in me. I'm delighted by that and I'm looking forward to another four years."

www.delmarvanow.com

Mistake Or Political Move ?

WMDT TV 47 News
by Ryan Hughes
WORCESTER COUNTY, Md. - The race for Worcester County State's Attorney has been pushed into the spotlight.

State's Attorney Joel Todd is running for re-election and is seen in pictures with community leaders. The problem, officials say they're misleading. "You're sending out a piece to the voters that says look at these community leaders that support me, and he didn't have their permission to do it," said Lee McClaflin, Chairman of the Worcester County Republican Central Committee.

County Commissioner Bud Church is one of them. Now, officials say Todd committed a breach of trust. "He shouldn't have tried to draw other people in and use other people's political capital for his gain," said McClaflin."He had nothing to do with the final approval, he never saw it, he's busy doing his job," said Anita Todd, who designed the mailers.

Anita is Todd's wife and says she is the one responsible. She was balancing four other projects, and the final result stems from multi-tasking. "All the verbiage was the same on all of them, but I did need to make some changes with photos and I did forget to do that," said Anita.

Anita takes full responsibility and says the wording was intended to say Todd with community leaders, not community leaders support Joel Todd. Now, she hopes her mistake does not cost her husband the election. Todd himself declined to comment on the situation.

www.wmdt.com