 In the Republican primary election in 2012, Brinkley won nearly 20% of the vote, falling short of Bartlett's 43.6%.Bartlett went on to lose the general election to Democrat John Delaney.Brinkley faced another Republican challenge from Delegate Michael Hough, who aligned himself with the more conservative Tea Party faction Hough accused Brinkley of being a "tax-and-spend liberal" and of cooperating too much with the Democratic majority and then-Governor Martin O'Malley.