John Stafford (US politician)

John Stafford is an American politician and member of the Republican party from Maryland. He was the Chief Administrative Law Judge for the U.S. Department of the Interior in the first Reagan administration and was a candidate for Senate District 21 in the Maryland congressional elections, 2006. He currently resides in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

Biography

John Stafford was born December 18, 1940 at Parris Island, SC, of a Marine Corps family. His paternal ancestors were Irish Catholic migrants from County Wexford, and claim links to the Dukes of Buckingham. His maternal ancestors were from Sweden and Bohemia.

Stafford was educated at the University of Maryland, College Park where he was Treasurer of the SGA. He also wrote the column "Cloakroom Caucus" for the Diamondback daily newspaper, was Editor-in-Chief of the "M-Book", and was Associate Editor of the "Terrapin".

He served 4 years in the US Marine Corps as a lawyer during the Vietnam war. His cases as a prosecutor and defense counsel at Cherry Pt. MCAS and NAVARA and the Navy JAG Investigations Division included three of the most important cases arising during that war.Fact|date=March 2007

The case of "US v. Denzil Allen" was the first torture and murder atrocity case of the Vietnam war, 9 months before My Lai. The case of "US v. David Y. Przbycien" led to setting the limit on how long a serviceman may be detained before trial at 90 days, or charges must be dismissed. That rule was later adopted by the Federal criminal courts, on a 60-day basis.Fact|date=March 2007

The case of "US v. John Phillip Wass" raised the issue of whether or not the United States was in "a time of war" in Vietnam, as Congress had not declared war (as required by the Constitution), but merely passed the infamous Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in a rush requested by President Lyndon Johnson, before any confirmation of the reality of the second alleged North Vietnamese attack on the destroyer USS Turner Joy could be confirmed.Fact|date=March 2007

Political career

He was elected a Democratic Precinct Committeeman in the 43rd Legislative District of Washington State in 1964 on the ballot with Lyndon Johnson and now-Congressman James McDermott, who was elected a State Representative. Stafford has worked for other candidates on about 50 political campaigns from county-level to Presidential over 54 years, beginning in 1952 with Presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the past 23 years for Republicans. Stafford has run for the US Senate in past elections in Maryland, in 1998, [Federal Election Commission. http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2002/senate.htm - 1998 Senate Primary Results. Accessed: March 2, 2007] 2000, [Federal Election Commission, http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2000/2000senate.htm - 2000 Senate Primary Results. Accessed: March 2, 2007] and 2004, [Federal Election Commission, http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2004/2004congresults.pdf - 2004 Senate Primary Results. Accessed: March 2, 2007] as well as for the House of Delegates in 2002, and for the Senate of Maryland in 2006.

John Stafford was the Chief Administrative Law Judge for the U.S. Department of the Interior in the first Reagan administration. He was also National Vice-Chairman of Reagan Finance in 1979, and Special Counsel for the Chairman, Warren G. Magnuson, of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce. In this position he worked on the Rail Services Act of 1975, the 4R Act, where he proposed the re-privatization of Conrail, with the sale of stock to the public, which occurred in 1986, and is now owned by Norfolk Southern and CSX.

Stafford also served as Caucus Counsel for the majority leaderships of both the Washington State House and Senate, and as counsel to two committees thereof.

Finishing second in a field of nine in the Republican primary in 2004, he was outspent by the 2004 US Senate primary winner, State Senator E. J. Pipkin, by nearly $1 million. Stafford won the Republican nomination for the Maryland House of Delegates in 2002 in the 13th District of Howard County where he was outspent by 100 to 1 by the 8-year Democrat incumbent, Shane Pendergrass.

Stafford was also a candidate for Senate District 21 in the 2006 Maryland congressional elections. He currently resides in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

Platform

Stafford opposes abortion, slot machine casino gambling, and gun control. His other concerns include the impact of excessive taxation on families, their continuing dissolution, and the increasing influence of homosexual and non-married heterosexual lifestyles.

References

* [http://mdelections.umbc.edu/candidates/finalfiles/multisearch3.php|] Maryland Voter Information Clearinghouse, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Retrieved September 9, 2006

* [http://www.bizmonthly.com/9_2006/15.shtml] 'The Race for Maryland Legislative District 21' in "The Business Monthly", Sept 2006. Retrieved September 9, 2006