First-term District 8 Delegate Christian Miele (R) has been named one of two state co-chairs of presidential candidate Marco Rubio’s Maryland campaign. Rubio is the first GOP candidate to select staff for heavily-Democratic Maryland.
Miele, of Perry Hall, will work with former Anne Arundel County Executive Laura Neuman to build up support for Rubio, a Florida Senator. Miele said right now the campaign is focusing on lining up endorsements from General Assembly members with high profiles in the state, as well as across various counties.
Miele said that a main reason for naming two co-chairs was so that he could remain focused on his duties in the House of Delegates once the legislative sessions starts again in January.
“When I’m in session, she’s going to be the one spearheading things,” he asserted.
“I also have been thinking of this as something I’m doing not as Christian the Delegate but me as just a citizen,” Miele said of his work with the campaign. However, he did acknowledge that he benefits politically from the opportunity to make connections outside of his district.
It was that desire that got him connected with the campaign in the first place, he revealed. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul had been a guest speaker at a Baltimore County Republican event in the spring, and Miele noted, “I thought it would make sense to get a different perspective and different voices.”
So he reached out to Rubio through his Chief of Staff, a Florida native, and began to make contact with the campaign. “One thing led to another and I just kept meeting people,” he said. “So it kinda happened very organically.”
Miele said he has been impressed with Rubio’s performances at the Republican debates, his foreign policy experience and ideas and his “pro-family tax reform plan.”
While many candidates are talking about simplifying the tax code and getting read of loopholes, Miele said, “Marco knows that tax credits for working families are still important. I think that’s one thing that sets him apart.”
“He brings a lot of things to the table that a lot of candidates don’t,” he continued. “Youth is an asset. He’s a very charismatic figure. And he has an optimistic message where a lot of the candidates are more doom and gloom.”
“He sorta reminds me of JFK in his youth and vibrancy,” Miele added, high praise from a delegate with a picture of that president in his office.
With the Iowa caucuses and other early primaries fast approaching, Miele said that Rubio is spending most of his time in those states, but that he is trying to get the candidate to make a stop in Maryland in the spring.
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