November 13th, 2014 by WCBC Radio

Delegate Kevin Kelly has kept a low profile since his election night loss last Tuesday- having done no interviews with the media, and failing to attend several public events that he has been invited to since. Some of those close to the delegate who has served as the District 1B representative for 24 of the past 28 years tell WCBC News that Kelly was both stunned and disappointed by his defeat. According to one person close to the delegate, he was confident of a strong election night showing, and re-election to office.  Since losing to Betty Workman in 1994 when the district’s representation was reduced from two to one by the state- Kelly had won re-election to four consecutive four year terms. That all came to a close last week, when republican Jason Buckel defeated Kelly by 18 points. Kelly has told people, according to a source that he attributes his defeat to the strong republican wave that saw the GOP take control of the House and Senate nationally, and win the governor’s office in Maryland. There are many however who feel Kelly’s penchant for negative campaigning and attack ads caught up with him, and that the voters had had enough of those types of tactics.  State Senator George Edwards, who has served with Kelly many years, has talked to him in recent days and said while the republican wave may have had something to do with Kelly’s defeat, he has been led to believe the attack ad also played a big role on election night: