It never rains but it pours. After reporting that Councilmember Marc Elrich (D-At Large) has entered the public financing system to run for Montgomery County Executive, Robin Ficker (R-Running for Office Near You) is doing the same.
Despite winning one disastrous term in the House of Delegates in 1978 before being turfed out by voters, Ficker is best known for his persistent heckling at sporting events and his repeated brushes with the law and legal ethics.
Ficker has since run fruitlessly for a multiplicity of offices, desperately attempting to link himself to more popular pols as far back as Ronald Reagan. In 2016, he linked himself to the Cruz and the Trump campaigns at the same time. The following accounting of Ficker failure may not be complete as the online records die out in the early 1980s.
2016: Came in fourth for in the Republican Primary for the Sixth Congressional District with just 11% of the vote.
2014: Lost the general election in D15 for the State Senate with 39% of the vote.
2012: Came in fifth in the Republican Primary for the Sixth Congressional District with just 7% of the vote.
2010: Lost in the general election in MoCo Council District 2, previously won by Republicans, with 40% of the vote.
2009: After making a potentially fraudulent filing for office, Ficker lost a special election for MoCo Council District 4 with 39%.
2008: Robin took this year off, perhaps due to the suspension of his law license in 2007.
2006: Ficker ran as an independent for County Executive, gaining only 9% of the vote.
2004: No Robin!
2002: Ficker lost the general election for the D39 State Senate seat with 34% of the vote.
2000: Ficker came in fourth for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate with just 15% of the vote, losing to fellow perennial candidate Ross Pierpont and other unknowns.
1998: According to my search of the records, Ficker didn’t run for anything, even with all the federal, state and local offices on the ballot! Again, this may have something to do with an earlier suspension of his law license.
1996: No Ficker!
1994: Ficker came in fourth for the Republican nomination to the House of Delegates (D15), the office he previously held, and didn’t move on to the general election.
1990 and 1992: No Ficker! He claimed credit for an anti-tax initiative that Blair Lee reports he did not lead.
1988: A Ficker twofer! Ficker ran to be a delegate for Pat Robertson at the Republican National Convention from CD6, and lost with 3% of the vote. He also ran a losing race for MoCo School Board. (Earlier version of this post missed the School Board race.)
1986: Ficker-free election!
1982: Lost reelection to the House of Delegates (D15) to Democrat Gene Counihan.
1980: Lost Republican congressional primary.
1978: Won his sole disastrous term in the House of Delegates as a Republican from D15.
1972: Lost the Democratic Primary for the U.S. House.
Mistaking his term limits victory as a yearning for Ficker, we now know that the campaign will be loud and annoying but not dull.
