You may have heard already: Gov. Martin O’Malley has been named a “Public Official of the Year” by Governing magazine. It’s a national magazine with a circulation roughly equal to the population of Columbia, Md., but the publication's praise for the governor has generated quite a buzz. Not all of it as flattering.

The governor picks up the award tonight at dinner to be held at the Willard InterContinental hotel in Washington, but the news has been out there for a while. O’Malley’s campaign manager seized on the pronouncement earlier this month and sent a letter to potential donors. He wrote: “We've got some exciting news that I wanted to share with you: Gov. O'Malley has been named ‘2009 Governor of the Year’ by Governing magazine. ... I hope you're as proud as I am that Gov. O'Malley has, with your support, made Maryland a model of smart, 21st-century governing tactics.”

Not so fast, the media chided. First The Washington Post noted in a blog posting that he was actually the only governor out of eight public officials who were honored, not exactly “Governor of the Year.” The Post asked Governing Editor Alan Ehrenhalt about O’Malley’s claim to a more lofty sounding award. "We don't use that title," Ehrenhalt said. “I suppose by extrapolation ... it's functionally true.”

Not surprisingly, the conservative blog Red Maryland soon weighed in, accusing O’Malley of “fudging the truth.” The blogger, clearly not a fan of the governor’s, went on to write: “But then again we already know O’Malley likes to fudge things, then—naturally—blame others for his problems.”

Which brings us to today, when O’Malley’s press office put out a notice about the honor.

Continue reading "O'Malley honored by magazine but title is in eye of beholder" »

Posted by Laura Smitherman at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

Former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich raised $18 million for his unsuccessful re-election campaign in 2006. But if he seeks a rematch next year against incumbent Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley, he expects to collect considerably less.

Ehrlich put a $10 million to $12 million price tag on it during an interview in his downtown Baltimore office today (that figure isn't exactly breaking news--it's been attributed previously to anonymous Republican sources, though not necessarily to Ehrlich himself).

What may be more telling, though, is that Ehrlich is saying money wouldn't be a problem if he ran. Recent commentary from Republican activists and political analysts about a 2010 Ehrlich campaign has focused on money and the imperative for Ehrlich to start raising it now.

Some of those pushing him to get in have pointed to the time-consuming demands of fund-raising as a big reason for action. Ehrlich himself, according to various reports, had been saying that whether he could raise enough money was one of the main conditions that would have to be met before he decided to run.

But the prospective candidate insisted today that he doesn't see a problem building a $10 million to $12 million pot (obviously, it's tougher to attract donations when you aren't a sitting governor, which is why O'Malley is very likely to wind up as the big spender next year).

Ehrlich also says that $10 million to $12 million would be enough.

Continue reading "Ehrlich: Money not a problem in 2010" »

Posted by Paul West at 1:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

As state revenues have taken a nose dive along with the economy, Gov. Martin O'Malley has been forced repeatedly to find ways to keep the state operating budget in balance. He brought more than $360 million in budget measures on Wednesday to the Board of Public Works, which approved them.

Among the measures, the governor accounted for a $130 million corporate tax windfall to the state from Constellation Energy Group's deal to sell half its nuclear power business to Electricite de France, a French utility. Another $230 million in savings are achieved through budget cuts and fund transfers to the budget from other pots of money.

The actions bring midyear spending reductions and fund transfers to about $1 billion in the fiscal year that began in July. The three-member board is composed of O'Malley, Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp and Comptroller Peter Franchot. All three are Democrats.

For a full story in The Sun, click here.

For a list of actions taken, click here.

For the administration's presentation, click here.

Posted by Laura Smitherman at 2:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Maryland’s Republican Party, buoyed by GOP victories in nearby states, elected on Saturday a spunky, 73-year-old activist and politician as the new chairwoman who pledged to reunite the fractious organization and capitalize on what many see as a shifting national tide.

Convention delegates voted overwhelmingly to install Audrey E. Scott, whose long political resume includes stints as mayor of Bowie, Prince George’s County Councilwoman, and Cabinet secretary under former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. More than 200 delegates crowded a ballroom at the Comfort Inn Conference Center in Bowie, as several speakers predicted a Republican resurgence in 2010.

“It’s lonely being from the bluest of the blue states, and that needs to stop in 2010. We are committed to that,” said Ehrlich, who has not decided yet whether he plans to challenge Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat he lost to in 2006. “The stakes are big time in 2010.”

The excitement and accord at the convention marked a stark contrast to months of infighting that culminated with the resignation of Chairman James Pelura, who was criticized by state lawmakers as the party suffered financially. Party leaders now say they are united by the chance to make gains next year, citing voter unease about the economy and doubts about Democrats.

“The Maryland Republican Party is not on life support, and it is not second class,” Scott said. “This is not a time for finger-pointing, dissension or disagreement.”

Many Republicans at the convention pointed to New Jersey and Virginia where GOP candidates prevailed in recent gubernatorial elections. They contend that voters are ready to reject the kind of change that President Barack Obama promised when he swept into office on a Democratic wave last year.

But the GOP must contend with some disadvantages in Maryland.

Continue reading "Maryland Republican Party rallies at convention, elects Scott as chair" »

Posted by Laura Smitherman at 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

At least one prominent Washington politician, President Barack Obama, has carefully kept his distance this year from Sheila Dixon, the indicted mayor of Baltimore. That hasn't been the case with many other public figures, including Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, who has appeared with Dixon at a number of public events.

The Democratic congressman from West Baltimore has never been implicated in the mayor's legal problems, and there is absolutely no reason to believe that he will be. However, this week his name popped up at her trial.

More than 70 people, including Cummings and other prominent local figures, were listed on a roster of potential witnesses in the case. The list was circulated among prospective jurors and made public on Thursday. It's a routine effort to make the trial as fair as possible by keeping anyone who might know a participant in the case from getting a seat on the jury.

The assumption, and it was only an assumption, was that Cummings is a potential character witness, someone who might speak favorably of the mayor if called to testify in court.

On the day Cummings appeared on the witness list, The Baltimore Sun checked with his spokesman, to see if the congressman had been advised that he will be called to testify in the trial and, if so, when.

In response, Cummings released a statement through his office Thursday afternoon in which he described himself as a potential witness.

“Obviously, if called to testify, I will answer any questions asked of me. I will not comment any further on the case, as I do not believe it is appropriate to do so while the case is ongoing and I am a potential witness,” Cummings stated.

However, at least one part of that statement turned out to be incorrect: the part about not commenting any further on the case.

This afternoon, Cummings had more to say. His office issued a new "statement regarding the ongoing trial of Baltimore City Mayor Sheila Dixon."

Here's it is, in its entirety:

"I am not scheduled to testify in this case," said Congressman Cummings.

And with that, his office added (not for the first time): "This will be the extent of Cummings' statement during the trial."

So, what is it?

Is he a potential witness or not? Was his name on the list just for show? Did Cummings even know that he was included (others on the list have said they didn't know their names would be on it)? After the news media reported, and Cummings confirmed, that he was a potential witness, did he inform the lawyers that he would not testify? Did the lawyers decide, after all their planning for the trial, that he wouldn't be a witness, only a day or two after telling the court he might be?

Cummings is an attorney, a graduate of the University of Maryland law school, so perhaps his inscrutable statements should be scrutinized with a legalistic eye.

He calls himself "a potential witness." He says he "will answer any questions." But he is "not scheduled to testify."

Schedules can change. He is not scheduled now. But he could be in the future. Potential witnesses can turn into actual witnesses. Or not.

In the midst of such confusion and mystery, perhaps one could take a more cynical view: That for reasons of political prudence, Cummings doesn't care to get any closer than necessary to Dixon right now. No one can predict with absolute certainty what will come out during the trial, or how it will end or, for that matter, how a scheduled second mayor trial will turn out.

Stay tuned. Perhaps Cummings will have more to say before the mayor's trial is over. Or not.

Posted by Paul West at 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

For the second day in a row, Maryland Democrats are insisting they have nothing to worry about in next year’s elections. The latest comes from Democratic Party Chair Susan Turnbull, who is circulating a letter to former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich. (See yesterday's take from O'Malley campaign manager Tom Russell on this blog.)

The political establishment has been waiting for Ehrlich’s decision on whether he’ll challenge incumbent Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley, and Turnbull has some ideas for what he should consider as he holds focus groups and conducts polls to gauge his chances. She suggests several points that pollsters should ask residents about his record on the state budget and taxes. Oh, and she suggests that he remind voters that he supported slot-machine gambling while in office but then opposed the voter referendum last year that expanded gambling in the state. The sarcasm drips. She signs off with "warm regards."

Of course, Republicans have taken O’Malley’s budget policies to task, pointing to repeated writedowns in tax revenue that they contend he failed proactively address. They also have criticized his reliance on federal stimulus dollars, pointing to further budgetary trouble in the years ahead when those dollars run out. And Ehrlich argued that the slots program crafted by the Democrats was “bad policy” and would fuel unrestrained government spending. He also objected to amending the state constitution to allow slots.

UPDATE: Henry Fawell, a spokesman for Ehrlich, responded to our request for a response with an e-mailed statement. “They are giving the meaning to the term ‘paranoid,’” Fawell wrote. “I would encourage them to take the advice Governor O’Malley’s campaign manager gave to fundraisers: Take a deep breath.”

To be sure, the political pundits won’t know for another year whether Turnbull doth protest too much.

To read her letter, click below.

Continue reading "Democratic Party Chair has some "friendly" advice for Ehrlich (updated)" »

Posted by Laura Smitherman at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

The political season is blooming early in Baltimore County as another candidate has entered the race for the Maryland Senate seat being vacated by Republican Andrew P. Harris. Alfred W. Redmer Jr., the former Republican state delegate and insurance commissioner, is holding a campaign kickoff rally tonight at the Kingsville Volunteer Fire Co. to announce his candidacy.

While the election is one year away, there has been a lot of buzz in Baltimore County with the open seat left by Harris, who plans to run for Congress a second time. Republican Del. J.B. Jennings has already filed papers to become a candidate. And Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr., a Democrat, is considering entering the race. Smith recently put his longtime Reisterstown home on the market to move to Cockeysville and establish residency in the 7th District that includes sections of Baltimore and Harford counties.

In an interview, Redmer said he is running in response to voter dissatisfaction with the economy and the “political monopoly” in Maryland, a heavily Democratic state. The insurance company executive also touted his background in health care, an issue that politicians on the state and national level are tackling.

“Like others throughout my district, I have been growing in my frustration with the direction of the state and the country,” Redmer said, adding that many policymakers don’t understand “the dynamics between business and government.”

Continue reading "Candidate Watch 2010: Redmer jumps into potentially crowded state Senate race" »

Posted by Laura Smitherman at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Candidate Watch 2010
        

Do Republican victories in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races portend trouble for Gov. Martin O’Malley? Nah, that’s just Republican spin, campaign manager Tom Russell wrote in a memo dated today to fiance committee members.

“While last week's election returns were discouraging nationally, we at the O'Malley-Brown campaign urge our Maryland supporters to take a deep breath before accepting the predictable and inaccurate national GOP spin,” Russell wrote in his opening salvo.

What follows are talking points that voters are sure to hear a lot about before the November 2010 election. Russell not only touts the governor’s accomplishments but contends the state’s political landscape is strongly in favor of O’Malley over any Republican, whether it’s former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. or any of the other possible contenders. He included in that group Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele, the former lieutenant governor under Ehrlich, though there has not been much talk of that possibility lately.

Russell also gives his own take on New Jersey exit polls. He concludes that voters in New Jersey and Virginia “were expressing frustration with the pace of change and NOT rejecting President Obama or Democrats.”

Read for yourself by clicking below.

Continue reading "GOP victories no bad omen, O'Malley campaign manager writes" »

Posted by Laura Smitherman at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Simone Ward, newly hired campaign manager for Barbara Mikulski's 2010 re-election campaign, is on the program at tonight's Central Baltimore County Democratic Club meeting in Towson.

Ward, one of the first African-American women to run a major statewide campaign in Maryland, was added to the Mikulski campaign payroll last month.

She joined the senator's campaign from EMILY's List, a Democratic feminist organization that funds Democratic women candidates who support abortion rights. Before that, Ward was deputy director of a Democratic National Committee outreach arm to black, women, Hispanic and Asian-American voters, under then-chairman Howard Dean.

She also has been executive director of Young Democrats of America and run a group called Democratic GAIN, which helped the party's campaign workers find job between elections.

Ward was reared in the Kansas City, Mo., area, where her family has ties to Emanuel Cleaver, the city's first African-American mayor and currently a member of Congress. She is a graduate of Oklahoma City University and has been working to get a Master's degree at American University in Washington, according to her biography on the EMILY's List Web site.

Continue reading "Mikulski's new campaign manager meets Baltimore County Dems" »

Posted by Paul West at 6:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Maryland Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski proclaimed it a "great day" for the world and a "very special day" for herself, not necessarily in that order. Either way, it looked like good news for Democrats, which is something of a turnabout after last week's elections, which gave Republicans something to cheer about for the first time in a long while.

Mikulski recalled how, exactly 20 years ago, the world watched the Berlin Wall come down, symbolically ending the Cold War. "I was filled with excitement on that wonderful
day," she said, "because the roots of my own heritage lie in Poland," a former East Bloc nation.

In remarks on the Senate floor, the state's senior Democrat tossed a bouquet to that old cold warrior, Ronald Reagan, whose ticket-splitting blue-collar supporters in Maryland have been Mikulski voters, too.

The senator also announced that on the anniversary of the day that the wall fell, she herself had risen--in this case, from her wheelchair, casting aside a wheeled walker and a protective "Space Boot," to stand on her own two feet for the first time in months.

"This is a big day for me," she declared, her words beamed live to the entire country, like all official proceedings in the Senate chamber, via C-SPAN television.

"Today is the first day in over 124 days since my accident coming out of Catholic Mass where I broke my ankle. This is the first day that I can actually come to the floor of
the Senate and stand up for someone in whom I truly believe" -- in this case, federal District Judge Andre Davis of Baltimore, who was being promoted to the Appeals court.

"I come with no space boot," said the 74-year-old senator, after casting aside the cumbersome footwear that cushioned her healing bones. "I come with no props to hold me up. It is a very big day. So I am very excited about the fact that I am able to do this."

She still needs a walker and a cane to get around, but being able to stand unaided is progress (and an occupational boost for a senator, who are expected to rise to her feet when addressing
the chamber).

Mikulski's "point of personal privilege," as senators call it when they take time during official debate on the Senate floor to talk about whatever they care to talk about, is also positive news for her fellow Maryland Democrats. But it's one more thing that Maryland's Republican Party doesn't need heading into the 2010 elections.

As political scientist Tom Schaller has pointed out, Mikulski's presence on the ticket as a re-election candidate will help lure more Democratic voters to the polls next fall. She remains the most popular Maryland politician, a recent statewide opinion survey confirmed.

That will help other Democratic candidates, in statewide and legislative contests, by boosting Democratic turnout. And that will make things tougher for former Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich, who is considering whether to make a run at unseating Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley in what is still a heavily Democratic state.

Continue reading "Mikulski's on her feet again, and in the game" »

Posted by Paul West at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Candidate Watch 2010