Dan Cox stressed his Trump loyalty during the primary, but the GOP candidate just went to Mar-a-Lago and didn’t promote it

Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox posted on Facebook about a significant occasion on Monday, but it wasn’t the one political observers might have anticipated hearing about. “Happy birthday to the love of my life Valerie Cox,” he wrote. “Lookin’ so fine.” There was a picture of the smiling couple, but no photos or mention of another big event also occurring the same day: Cox’s fundraising visit to Florida hosted by former President Donald Trump at his opulent Mar-a-Lago residence. For $1,776 attendees could attend a private cocktail reception. For $25,000, they could stand alongside Cox and the former president for a photo. It’s not clear how much of that money Cox gets; the Maryland limit for a campaign contribution to a candidate is $6,000. New campaign finance reports are due Oct. 28.