Are you tired of Washington insider politics? If my opponent has his way, he will bring the same tired rhetoric to Annapolis that has caused a complete legislative meltdown in Congress. If re-elected, I will continue my proven track record of bringing results to the people of Frederick and Carroll Counties without sacrificing my conservative ideology.

My first mailer to voters had a photograph of my opponent posing with Bill Clinton’s chief political strategist and spin doctor, James Carville, taken in August of 2012. Not one to shy away from manipulating the facts, Carville is quoted as saying: "Truth is relative. Truth is what you can make the voter believe is the truth. If you’re smart enough, truth is what you make the voter think it is."

My opponent must think he is a genius, then, because he has been trying to deceive Republican voters into believing some real whoppers:

He calls me a liberal and implies that I am not loyal to the Republican Party or our principles of conservatism.

Here are the facts:

• My Republican colleagues in the State Senate have three times elected me to serve as the Minority Leader and once as the Minority Whip, the second-ranking position within the caucus.
• Maryland Business for Responsive Government has ranked my pro-business voting record better than 97% of the 188 members of the legislature. My opponent is not even close
• Twice I worked tirelessly to defeat Governor O'Malley.
• Over the years, my contributions to the Republican Party and to Republican candidates have exceeded $50,000. My opponent has spent less than $3500 helping elect Republicans.
• My opponent, as a member of the Frederick County Delegation, voted for me to chair the Delegation all three times I was a candidate. If our principles were so far out of alignment, then why did he repeatedly vote for me to be his Chairman and leader?

My opponent calls me O'Malley's best Republican friend in the Legislature.

The facts:

• On December 16, 2013, I called for a full, independent investigation of the failed Health Care Exchange. I have renewed that call four times since and serve on the legislative task force appointed to review the implementation process and make recommendations on how to proceed.
• On multiple occasions (most recently on January 23, 2014), I delivered the Republican response to O’Malley’s State of the State Address.
• The O’Malley Administration viciously attacked me for criticizing his decision to call a special session solely to raise taxes (all of which I opposed, despite my opponent's assertions).
• In 2014, I proposed budget amendments to cut over $200 million from the state budget, including abolishing taxpayer funded abortions and State funding to embryonic stem cell research. My proposals over the years have involved alternative budgets and reductions in excess of $1 billion. In four years, my opponent has only offered a single budget reduction equal to 0.00001% of total spending.
• I will grant that Governor O'Malley does call me on occasion--to complain when I hold up a bill that he wants passed, when I get a conservative amendment attached to one of his ultra-liberal pet projects, and when I figure out a procedural way to kill a controversial bill on the last day of session.

My opponent is sending out a flyer from a disgraced, for-profit, so-called anti-abortion advocacy group claiming that I support late-term abortions. He knows this is a bold-faced lie, yet he continues to perpetuate a false narrative.

Facts:

• Maryland Right to Life (www.mdrtl.org), the Maryland affiliate of the nation's oldest, largest, and most effective pro-life organization, has endorsed only my candidacy for the Senate Primary race in District 4.
• My record with Maryland Right to Life is 100%.
• My proposed amendments to the budget would have halted taxpayer funding of abortions and eliminate embryonic stem cell research funding. Ironically, Hough’s group has been attacking legislators who voted for these amendments.
• My opponent in the May 20th edition of the Frederick News-Post criticized me for not attempting to overturn the 1992 referendum on abortion. That might be valid criticism from anyone except another member of the legislature who, in four years, never submitted similar legislation himself.
• Not only have I consistently voted against taxpayer funding of abortions and voted to end the horrific practice of late term abortions, this group criticizes me for not cosponsoring a recent late-term abortion bill (SB 34, 2014). What they fail to understand, and what my opponent fails to acknowledge, is that Senate rules prevent any co-sponsors when legislation is pre-filed before the legislative session begins. The bill's primary sponsor, Senator Ed Reilly, has even called out the group's founder for spreading this falsehood.

My opponent is now claiming that he has a better track record of supporting the Second Amendment and fighting against Governor O’Malley and his gun-grabbing policies.

The facts:

• I have been a member of the NRA since 1994 (#129211470), have been endorsed innumerable times with "A" ratings since then, and this year received an A- rating.
• In this year’s Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act (SB172), I added language mandating the State Police justify the expense of the ballistic fingerprinting system, a program I have tried to eliminate through legislation numerous times. The trade association for the firearms industry responded: "On behalf of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, I want to applaud Senator Brinkley for taking this big step toward getting Maryland State Police to address our concerns about the Ballistics Imaging Program." My opponent voted against this bill containing this important language.
• I have repeatedly cosponsored legislation making Maryland a "shall issue" State when it comes to concealed carry legislation.
• During last year’s gun debate, I added an amendment to the Firearms Safety Act of 2013 to allow an individual’s firearms to be transferred to a licensed firearms dealer for consignment instead of being confiscated by the state police. My opponent did nothing to prevent the House from stripping that language from the bill.
• During the September 2013 hearing on the gun bill’s regulations, my questions directed to the governor’s administration and the Attorney General were integral in laying the foundation for the arguments currently being used to challenge the constitutionality of the bill currently being debated in federal court. My opponent had absolutely no input.
• I am supported by Sheriff Chuck Jenkins and assisted him as he became the top law enforcement officer testifying in Annapolis against SB281.

Republican voters have a clear choice on June 24th in the District 4 Senate primary election. You can vote for my opponent: an underachieving, back-benching novice with no accomplishments other than a hefty campaign account courtesy of his political allies in D.C. and the ability to shift contributions to and from a certain friend in West Virginia--or you can vote for a trusted and proven leader who actually gets results and always places the interests of his constituents first. You can vote for someone who has only proven his effectiveness at twisting the truth into something unrecognizable or for someone who has demonstrated his qualifications and dedication to serve on your behalf for the last twenty years.

I hope I can count on your support and your vote.