MDGOP: the intrigue continues

Well, well, well...yesterday was an interesting day. Pretty soon we won't be able to tell the players without a scorecard.

With the interest in taking over what I thought was an irrelevant, moribund party who was shellacked in all four statewide races (oops, three since they didn't even have a candidate for Attorney General) now beginning to peak, the rumor mill of who's in and who's out is beginning to grind out a few names we might recognize.

I don't know for sure who will end up on the ballot come December 11 in Annapolis, but this is how I understood the process as it was when I went to bed last night:

Looks like they're in:

• Mike Esteve (Maryland College Republicans/Baltimore TEA Party Coalition)

• Sam Hale (Maryland Society of Patriots)

Leaning that way:

• Mary Kane (2010 LG candidate, former Secretary of State and onetime House of Delegates candidate)

Once in, then out, but maybe in again:

• Andrew Langer (Institute for Liberty and frequent TEA Party speaker)

The good old 'considering it' group that's testing the waters beneath the surface:

• Alex Mooney (State Senator who was defeated in 2010)

• Eric Wargotz (U.S. Senate candidate in 2010 and outgoing Queen Anne's County Commission president)

Thanks, but no thanks:

• Larry Hogan (former Congressional candidate who may be positioning himself for a 2014 run)

Feel free to add changes, new names, and dropouts to the comment section. I'll stay on the rumor mill as I work today.