Last summer he went to the Republican National Convention. Last month he attended President Bush's economic summit. And most recently he received an invitation to Thursday's presidential inauguration.
Thomas F. McKay (R-At Large), president of the St. Mary's County commissioners, has been keeping a high profile lately.
Many in St. Mary's assume he has begun campaigning for the Maryland Senate seat held by Sen. Roy P. Dyson (D-St. Mary's) for the past 10 years.
The election is a long way away. And Dyson said it is way too soon to start campaigning. But the race will be closely watched as Republicans, led by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., try to keep the governor's mansion and gain ground in the Democrat-controlled General Assembly.
McKay said he hasn't decided whether to run and probably won't for many months.
That hasn't kept people from watching, and speculating, for a long time.
"That district is one we're interested in," said Deborah Martinez, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Republican Party. Dyson's "district lies in a pretty conservative area. And it's growing more conservative. He's definitely being watched."
Senate District 29 comprises all of St. Mary's County, the southern half of Calvert County and a sliver of Charles County. St. Mary's still has more registered Democrats than Republicans. But the gap has narrowed.
Ryan O'Doherty of the Maryland Democratic Party said, "We don't see a shift at all in Southern Maryland." He said he thinks Dyson has a lock on the seat -- and not just because incumbents are usually difficult to beat.
"He's done a great job serving his community," O'Doherty said. "I don't see him being vulnerable in the least bit. He's been out front on the St. Mary's land deal that the governor was trying to push through in secret."
McKay supported that deal, which he said would bring the county much-needed land for schools. Critics said it would reward a political patron with a potential tax windfall. The arrangement, which has been abandoned, involved the sale of 836 acres of forested land along Indian Bridge Road to a Baltimore construction executive.
Dyson "also doesn't like tax increases," O'Doherty said. "That's important in Southern Maryland."
At the economic summit, McKay went to sessions that included the president, the vice president and Cabinet members, talking about the economy, tort reform, tax and regulatory policy, job growth and controlling health care costs.
The Republican caucus in the U.S. House called him, he said, and invited him to the economic discussions. "Whether the selection for the invitation to the summit was a result of being at the national convention, or a result of what we're doing in local government here -- or looking to the future -- I don't know," he said.
"Obviously, looking to the future is important to the party," McKay said. "I suspect it might have a role."
McKay declines to say whether he is going to run. But he is quick to make the case for someone like him going to Annapolis. "It's going to be important for both conservative Democrats and Republicans that the Ehrlich administration be successful. . . . We're seeing the ability of Montgomery, Prince George's County and Baltimore to control the agenda, even when you have a Republican governor supported by the rural areas," McKay said.
Then again, local government is where the rubber hits the road, McKay said. With a five-member Board of County Commissioners, he can have a lot of impact on St. Mary's.
And he said he wants to be sure there's a good candidate lined up to replace him on the board if he were to run for the state Senate.
Still, he has a committee backing him that meets regularly, and he said, "I've got a lot of ideas I could take to Annapolis."
Shane Mattingly, vice chairman of the St. Mary's County Republican Central Committee, who's thinking about challenging some Democrats himself, said, "As the weather warms up, so will the rumors."
