Marsha Herbert unwilling to forum with Tom Gordon, neutral source confirms

Office seekers have an obligation to the voting public

Images via public Facebook profiles and posts

Potentially departing board of education member and candidate for commissioner in Carroll’s district 3, Marsha Herbert, is unwilling to participate in a candidate forum hosted by the Carroll Media Center alongside her competition Tom Gordon, a neutral source with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed to Maryland Muckraker on Monday.

Last week, Gordon published a video to his campaign page making the accusation against Herbert, who he referred to only as his opponent, describing how he was contacted by Carroll’s Media Center in late May and was given a number of potential dates and times for when the forum might take place, but was later informed that Herbert was uninclined to participate.

Gordon called Herbert’s nonparticipation “concerning” and “unfortunate”, and cheekily wondered aloud if Herbert, a retired teacher, would be willing to assign an absent student a passing grade.

As for Herbert’s motive for abstaining, considering the advantage she has in terms of cash on hand, the size of her Facebook following, and the exposure she’s accrued from her time serving on the board of education, she could fairly be considered the presumptive favorite in this race, and may simply have determined that the risk of engaging in debate outweighs the benefits.

And while she is within her right to make such a determination, doing so will draw the criticism of this publication, which maintains that office seekers have an obligation to their constituents to engage and compete out in the open — hence our critical reporting of gubernatorial candidate Kelly Shulz for exhibiting a similar shucking and jiving behavior in her race against Dan Cox.

The only remaining question now is, will Herbert, and Shulz for that matter, be penalized for dodging debates at the ballot box come July?

Maryland Muckraker is a completely independent and fearlessly conservative blog covering local issues by me, Ethan Reese. After spending nearly a decade in corporate Baltimore in marketing technology, figured I’d have a go at writing. Since then I’ve contributed articles to FOX’s OutKick, PJ Media, and Rare Politics, as well as being named a Writing Fellow with the America’s Future Foundation.