GOP hopeful Murphy offers second running mate

Maryland Republican gubernatorial hopeful Brian Murphy on Tuesday unveiled his second running mate of the election season, tapping a fellow Montgomery County resident to fill out his long-shot ticket.

Mike Ryman, 68, whom the campaign described as a "former federal and congressional government inspector," was announced as Murphy's choice for lieutenant governor.

In April, Murphy announced his running mate as Carmen M. Amedori, a former state delegate from Carroll County who had been seeking the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate. She withdrew from the ticket a couple of weeks later, saying she thought Murphy didn't stand much of a chance against former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) in the GOP primary.

Ryman ran unsuccessfully for the Maryland Senate in 2006, seeking a seat representing Montgomery.

"Mike spent the majority of his career rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in both the public and private sectors," Murphy said in a statement. "So it's only fitting that Mike joins this ticket with the goal of doing the same thing for Maryland's budget."

"We are a clear alternative to the broken policies of the last eight years," Murphy said, knocking the terms of both Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), which began in 2007, and Ehrlich, who took office in 2003. "Maryland Republicans don't have to settle, and Maryland voters don't have to settle."