Barry Beauchamp selected to replace Carl Anderton Jr. as District 38B delegate
WICOMICO COUNTY, Md. – In a release Tuesday morning on behalf of the Wicomico County Republican Central Committee, County Executive Julie Giordano announced that Barry Beauchamp had been selected to fill District 38B’s vacant seat in the Maryland House of Delegates.
On July 24th, former Delegate Carl Anderton Jr. submitted his resignation, accepting a role in the Moore-Miller Administration’s Department of Commerce.
With two years remaining on the term, it fell to The Wicomico County Republican Central Committee to appoint Delegate Anderton Jr.’s successor.
“I’ve always been a servant. You know, I like to serve people. It’s just kind of my nature. And hopefully, I can serve and serve well in Annapolis,” Beauchamp said.
As a member of the committee himself, Beauchamp said it wasn’t until he felt encouragement from other local politicians that he began to think he might be the man for the job: “Every time I asked if they had a good candidate they said, ‘Yeah, I’m speaking to him,’ so that’s what caused me to kind of open my eyes and, you know, consider myself.”
Beauchamp said he recused himself from the voting process. He went and interviewed with the committee, then left the building.
County Executive Julie Giordano is one of those committee members who voted for Beauchamp. She said that among a number of qualities, the ability to work in a bipartisan way was crucial when deciding who should represent District 38B and the people of Wicomico County in Annapolis.
“Our county is a pretty red county, but this particular district is actually very purple. So it’s going to be very important to have someone in there that can represent all people, so Barry was just the obvious choice at that point,” Giordano said.
Beauchamp thinks that, as much as anything, this delegate position is about building and maintaining relationships.
“I’ve always gotten along well with people. You know, I state my case, you state your case, and then we work from the points that we agree upon.”
As January’s legislative session approaches, Beauchamp wants optimism to color the start of his term: “How can we come together? You know, I think the world’s a really good place. I don’t think it’s as bad as we portray it to be, a lot of times.”
He spoke with Carl Anderton Jr. before interviewing with the Republican Central Committee, asking Anderton about his unfulfilled legislative priorities. Beauchamp listed a number of local projects requiring funding that Anderton Jr. had relayed to him, like the aviation program at UMES, the field at Mason-Dixon Complex, the Health & Human Services building at SU, and the lights at Fruitland Little League.
Beauchamp added that one of his legislative priorities will be sewer and water infrastructure in Wicomico County, as he has operated an excavation and construction company for nearly 40 years.
While Beauchamp has been appointed as District 38B’s new delegate, nothing is official pending the approval of Governor Wes Moore.
