Senate candidate’s father plans newspaper

Manning McKay denies his motives are political; they are, he says, the fulfillment of a dream

Friday, Aug. 11, 2006

The father of a St. Mary’s County state Senate candidate is launching a weekly newspaper within the next month or so.

James Manning McKay, owner and founder of McKay supermarkets, an elected official in St. Mary’s County in the 1970s and longtime figure in the local business community, is the father of County Commission President Thomas F. ‘‘Tommy” McKay (R), who is running for the District 29 Senate seat held by Roy P. Dyson (D) of Great Mills.

The newspaper will be called County Times and produced at Manning McKay’s headquarters in Hollywood. His youngest son, Edward P. McKay, and daughter, Betty Johnson, make up the paper’s board of directors. Plans for the newspaper have been in the works for several months, he said, and he is in the process of finding a printing operation. The workload of the printing plant, he said, will determine the day the newspaper is published.

‘‘For most of my adult life, I have been desirous to publish a newspaper,” Manning McKay said in an interview Tuesday. ‘‘It’s my intention to launch a weekly newspaper. I believe there is room in St. Mary’s County for another community paper.”

McKay said he has respect for The Enterprise (a sister publication to The Gazette), calling it ‘‘a good community paper,” but said St. Mary’s County needs another newspaper.

His decision to get into the newspaper business has been sparking conversation in St. Mary’s political circles for several months. Republican and Democratic elected officials have been speculating about the timing of launching a new newspaper in the middle of Tommy McKay’s heated campaign for the Maryland Senate.

Tommy McKay, with the support of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) and the state GOP, is challenging longtime incumbent Dyson in a race being closely followed in Annapolis as well as in Leonardtown.

McKay, who described himself as a ‘‘young 86,” said his decision to publish a newspaper now has nothing to do with his son’s political career.

‘‘I used to enjoy scrubbing the floors and packing groceries at my store, but that work is too arduous for a man my age,” he said with a laugh. ‘‘I decided that I would enlist some capable and intelligent people and go into something that I have wanted to do for a long time.”

He said he tried to buy St. Mary’s Today, a tabloid published on Sundays, before Tommy was in elected office. ‘‘I have no intent to allow this paper to become a football for anyone,” said Manning McKay, who was elected to the House of Delegates in 1970 and president of the St. Mary’s County commissioners in 1974. ‘‘I have been a critic of some of the things that I’ve read, but this is not a political paper.”

Dyson and Tommy McKay could not be reached for comment, but others in St. Mary’s County believe the newspaper is politically motivated.

‘‘I’ve always respected Mr. McKay’s business sense, but this doesn’t seem like a very effective way to get a good return on his investment,” said Del. John L. Bohanan Jr. (D-Dist. 29B) of California. ‘‘I would say he’s doing it for another reason.”

‘‘This is a common thing in American politics and St. Mary’s politics,” said former state Sen. J. Frank Raley, a Democrat who represented St. Mary’s County in the General Assembly in the 1950s and 1960s. ‘‘Every time an election comes around, a new newspaper pops up.”

Raley said Tommy McKay has complained about the coverage he receives from The Enterprise and St. Mary’s Today, so it makes sense for him to find another way to communicate with voters. ‘‘Most anyone would expect that the newspaper would support Tommy,” he said. ‘‘This is a very common thing. Many times politicians don’t feel like they are getting a fair shake from the newspapers so they try to get their message out in other ways.”

Del. John F. Wood Jr., a McKay ally, said the new newspaper ‘‘is a great thing for St. Mary’s County” from a business and political perspective. ‘‘The Enterprise has its view, the St. Mary’s Today has its view and now we have another view,” said Wood (D-Dist. 29A) of Mechanicsville. ‘‘Competition is a good thing.”

Del. Anthony J. O’Donnell (R-Dist. 29C) of Lusby, also a McKay ally, agreed with Wood.

Staff Writer Alan Brody contributed to this report.