As results continued to trickle into a campaign watch party in downtown Frederick on Tuesday night, U.S. Rep David Trone acknowledged that his bid for reelection was close, but he was also holding out hope as ballots will continue to be tallied.

In a speech around 10:30 p.m., Trone said he expected Democrats to lose their majority in the U.S. House but he remained optimistic about his own race — noting that a majority of yet-to-be-tallied ballots were from Montgomery and Frederick counties, the heart of the Democratic vote in the newly drawn 6th Congressional District.

“We always knew this race was going to be close. The district is different,” the two-term congressman told supporters.

Maryland’s 6th District congressional race presented one of many opportunities across the country for Republicans to flip Democratic-controlled House seats.

Republican state Del. Neil Parrott, who represents a portion of Washington County, challenged Trone again this year, even after the congressman defeated Parrott in 2020 with a double-digit margin.

Parrott said the newly redrawn district gave his campaign a boost in confidence heading into Election Day.

“Redistricting was a big game changer in this race,” Parrott said.

During the congressional redistricting process earlier this year, the contours of the 6th were dramatically altered to create a more condensed district, which also meant adding a significant chunk of conservative territory to the district’s new boundaries.

Heading into Election Day, the contest was rated as a “toss up” by Real Clear Politics, and “likely Democrat” by the Cook Political Report. Last month, pollster and former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway released a partisan poll that showed Trone leading the race by 5 percentage points.

With all Election Day results tallied, as well as some mail-in ballots from four of five counties in the district, Trone trailed by 4,547 votes early Wednesday morning.

More than 29,000 mail ballots that had been returned by voters were not yet included in Tuesday’s results. And another 28,000 mail ballots had been sent to but not yet returned by district voters, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections.

County boards will resume canvassing mail ballots on Thursday.  The deadline for local boards of elections to receive absentee and mail-in ballots by mail is Nov. 18 and will be counted as long as they are postmarked before election day, Nov. 8.

On election night, Parrott led — and appeared to have won — in Allegany, Garrett and Washington counties. He retained a slim election-night lead in Frederick County, while Trone had more than 20,000 more supporters in Montgomery County.

Even so, Trone staffers said the campaign was energized by a strong performance in Republican-dominated Western Maryland, which they credited to Trone’s bipartisan brand.

“This is a much more Republican district [than 2020] but I do very well in Republican areas,” Trone said. “I’ve got a lot of supporters in conservative areas.”

Trone spent Election Day traveling to polling stations across the 6th District from Garrett County to Montgomery County.

Voters in Frederick and Montgomery counties identified inflation, education, democratic norms and abortion access as motivating issues in the race.

Trone said he had expected to hear more from voters on the issue of abortion.

“Sad to say, I think we should have heard a lot, but I haven’t heard one comment — not one single comment — today on abortion,” Trone said.

Stella Tackie canvassed for Trone alongside two of her children — Brianna, 14, and Farhan, 16 — in Montgomery County. Despite not being able to vote, both children said abortion access was among their top concerns and an important reason they chose to support Trone with their mother.

“I’m worried about women’s rights with abortion being banned,” Brianna Tackie said.

Becky Willard is an independent Parrott supporter from Hagerstown. Willard said she left the Republican party after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but supports Parrott, who she met personally through church, because she thinks he can correct the Republican Party drift towards extremism.

“I think he’s a good man to lead our country because right now, our country is a mess,” Willard said.

Dirk Fitzpatrick, from Takoma Park, canvassed for Trone and other local Democrats on election day in Damascus. Fitzpatrick said he was supporting Democrats because he was alarmed by the Republican party’s shift towards anti-democratic rhetoric.

“I feel like we’re really headed in the wrong direction,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m a child of World War II and my family suffered a lot in that war. I feel like we’ve forgotten those values that are worth fighting for and that’s why I’m here.”

Across the state

Republicans had high hopes for two of their nominees who were challenging entrenched Democratic incumbents, and while they wound up finishing stronger than most GOP nominees through years past in those districts, they appear to have fallen short.

In the 2nd District, 10-term Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D) held off Republican National Committeewoman Nicolee Ambrose. The Associated Press called the race for Ruppersberger at 11:41 p.m. Tuesday.

As of 1 a.m. Wednesday, with 220 of 231 Election Day precincts reporting, Rupperberger had 53.43% to 46.44% for Ambrose. An number of mail-in ballots are also uncounted.

If the results hold, it could be Ruppersberger’s slimmest general election margin since he first won the seat in 2002 over the late U.S. Rep. Helen Bentley (R).

But Ambrose was not prepared to concede late Tuesday night; her campaign released a statement saying she was “encouraged to see stronger-than-expected performance in many different regions throughout the 2nd Congressional District and vowed that she would remain “in this fight until the very end and until every last vote is counted.”

Meanwhile in the 3rd District, eight-term Rep. John Sarbanes (D) defeated former WBAL Radio host Yuripzy Morgan (R), 54.98% to 46.44%. The AP called the race at 12:16 a.m. Wednesday.

Depending on how the count of mail-in ballots go, it could be Sarbanes’ smallest winning percentage since he was elected in 2006.

Three other Democratic incumbents — Rep. Steny Hoyer in the 5th District, Rep. Kweisi Mfume in the 7th District and Rep. Jamie Raskin in the 8th District — easily won new terms. And in another Democratic stronghold, District 4, Glenn Ivey (D), the former Prince George’s County state’s attorney, easily won the seat now held by Rep. Anthony Brown (D), who was elected attorney general Tuesday.

On the Eastern Shore, some Democrats were hopeful that former Del. Heather Mizeur could oust six-term Republican incumbent Rep. Andy Harris, who is currently the only Republican member of Maryland’s congressional delegation.

But Harris appeared to have a commanding lead in the district and the Associated Press called the race in his favor just before 11 p.m.

Mizeur, whose campaign attracted widespread financial support, conceded at a party of her supporters on Kent Island.

“We gave Andy Harris the challenge of his lifetime in this race,” she said, according to the Washington Blade.

Early in the congressional redistricting process, Democratic state legislators crafted a 1st District that would have become more favorable to the party. But, as legal challenges loomed, lawmakers passed a final version of the district’s boundaries that remained solidly Republican.

“It is an incredible honor and privilege to once again be chosen by the people of the 1st Congressional District to serve as their voice in Congress,” Harris in a statement.

With nearly all Election Day results tallied early Wednesday morning, Harris led the race 60% to 37%.

“I look forward to our efforts in the Republican majority to cut spending, reduce inflation, rein in our Southern border, restore law and order, and serve as a check on the rogue and out-of-touch Biden administration,” his statement continued.

Even though he won his 21st full term Tuesday, Hoyer faces great uncertainty due to the uncertain status of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) now that Democrats may lose the majority in the House. Hoyer, the House majority leader, could be pushed out of leadership in a generational purge.

Also winning reelection Tuesday was Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D), who crushed his Republican challenger, Chris Chafee, 60.64% to 39.21%. Van Hollen is one of the few members of the U.S. Senate who have served in their state House and Senate, the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.

 

For beach-goers who struggle to get across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, the need for a new, wider span might seem like a no-brainer. Westbound traffic leading to the bridge on Labor Day, the unofficial end to the summer vacation season, stretched 14 miles at its peak.

In June many transportation advocates applauded Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s decision to set aside $28 million to advance the state’s pursuit of a new Bay crossing. He called the move an important step in reducing summertime and commuter traffic in Anne Arundel and Queen Anne’s counties.

But Maryland Transportation Authority officials cautioned on Wednesday that the process of analyzing alternatives and assessing environmental impacts will run well into the future.

They told an online forum that the study made possible by Hogan’s allocation — known as a “Tier 2” study — will likely stretch four to five years. If the state is then able to obtain federal approval and funding for a new bridge or tunnel, design and construction would consume many more years.

In short, relief may be coming, but it won’t come any time soon.

“The Tier 2 study goes into a lot more detail” than the Tier 1 study the state completed in April, said Melissa Williams, head of the transportation authority’s planning and program development office.

“This will include a range of transportation alternatives, a no-build alternative, multiple alignments, crossing types, and modal and operational alternatives — as well as any associated environmental impacts,” she added.

The Transportation Authority owns and maintains the current Bay Bridge spans and is leading the process to expand capacity. Wednesday’s forum, billed as a “town hall,” is the first of three such meetings.

An in-person forum will be held on Thursday at the Kent Island American Legion in Stevensville. A meeting for Anne Arundel County residents will be held next Tuesday, at Broadneck High School in Annapolis. Both sessions run from 6 to 8 p.m.

After studying 14 potential crossing locations, the Transportation Authority decided last year to build a new bridge or tunnel near the existing Bay Bridge spans, in large part because of their proximity to U.S. Routes 50 and 301. But planners still must nail down an exact location and determine how to connect the proposed new structure to existing highways. Federal law also requires that environmental impacts be catalogued and minimized, and the state must acquire any land it would need.

Queen Anne’s Commission President Jim Moran (R), a leading supporter of a new crossing, said the question-and-answer sessions should help the public gain a better understanding of how the process will unfold. He also expects the session to reduce “hysteria” fomented by naysayers.

In an interview, Moran expressed hope that whomever succeeds the term-limited Hogan in January will continue his push for a new bridge or tunnel. “You hope the process goes forward,” he said. “[Democratic nominee] Wes Moore seems like a good guy. Hopefully he surrounds himself with people that know what they’re talking about, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

After listening to the two-hour forum, Jay Falstad, head of the Queen Anne’s Conservation Association and an opponent of Hogan’s plan, said the Q&A felt “scripted.” He said participants appeared to be reading off cue cards.

Falstad wants the next governor to take a fresh approach to the project. “After listening to all those canned responses to scripted questions, Wes Moore or (Republican nominee) Dan Cox should feel no obligation to pick up Larry Hogan’s work on this,” he said “It feels very incomplete.”

By Bruce DePuyt

WYPR – 88.1 FM Baltimore reports that Maryland’s lone Republican congressman U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, who represents the first district, said he would support a national abortion ban if a fetus has a heartbeat.

If the legislation was passed by Congress, abortions after six weeks into a pregnancy would be illegal nationwide. The six week mark is often before many women know they might be pregnant.

Read for the full story here.

Everybody saw it coming.

And yet, the Supreme Court decision Friday to strike down Roe v. Wade, the historic 1973 decision guaranteeing abortion rights across the country, may be reordering Maryland politics just 3 1/2 weeks before the state’s primaries.

“It’s going to be a different world,” Del. Ariana Kelly (D-Montgomery), a leading abortion rights advocate in the General Assembly, said in an interview Friday. “Yesterday and tomorrow, totally different worlds.”

Maryland has fairly robust abortion protections, enshrined in state law 30 years ago by a statewide referendum. Abortion rights supporters took to the streets Friday evening in Wheaton, Annapolis and elsewhere, expressing their disgust and horror with the Supreme Court ruling.

But even with Maryland’s status as one of a dozen states that preserve abortion access up to the point of viability (usually 22 to 24 weeks into a pregnancy), abortion rights supporters moved with a new sense of urgency Friday, vowing to elect more pro-choice candidates and to press for even stronger protections in state law, including a state constitutional amendment to preserve abortion rights.

Separately, local leaders began setting policy and funding decisions in response to the court ruling.

Dozens of Democratic officeholders and political candidates issued statements decrying the Supreme Court ruling and vowed to preserve and protect abortion rights in Maryland, cognizant of the likelihood that the number of abortion seekers coming to Maryland will increase dramatically, with close to half of U.S. states set to outlaw the procedure in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.

The Republican reaction in Maryland ranged from overjoyed to circumspect.

With mail-in ballots already arriving at voters’ homes, early voting set to take place between July 7-14, and the primary on July 19, abortion could be uppermost on voters’ minds in the days ahead. Democratic primary voters have a full menu of abortion rights supporters to choose from in the races for statewide office — governor, attorney general and state comptroller. So the choice there may be who is best-equipped to expand abortion protections in the state.

“An overwhelming majority of Democrats support women’s reproductive rights… and there is little daylight if any between any of the Democratic candidates who are currently running for governor on these issues,” said Mileah Kromer, a political science professor at Goucher College and director of the Goucher Poll.

That point was brought home Friday evening, when Democratic gubernatorial contender John King, who has been endorsed by the group Pro-Choice Maryland, and his running mate, Michelle Siri, shared the stage at the Wheaton rally with former Del. Aruna Miller, running mate to another candidate for governor, Wes Moore. Similarly, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich was just a few feet away from one of his Democratic primary challengers, County Councilmember Hans Riemer, and both spoke.

The leading Republican candidates for governor had notably different reactions to the Supreme Court ruling.

Former Maryland Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz, the favorite of the GOP establishment, issued a statement promising to preserve the status quo if she is elected.

“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court changes nothing with regard to abortion in Maryland,” she said. “As I have repeatedly said, while I am personally pro-life, the issue is settled law in Maryland and has been for 30 years, since Marylanders voted on it. Despite fear-mongering from others, as governor, I’ll do nothing to change current Maryland law.”

Schulz has largely hewed to the position of her political patron, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), who she is trying to succeed. When Hogan was first campaigning for governor in 2014, he said he was personally opposed to abortion but would not seek to change state law.

But is that line still cogent in the current political environment?

“I think that she’s going to be pushed on the issue more than Hogan was pushed on it during his eight years or during his two elections, just because of the decision today,” Kromer said of Schulz.

Hogan may not have helped Schulz’s cause when he vetoed a bill this year to expand the types of medical practitioners who can perform abortions — which the legislature overrode — and then withheld funding to provide training for those medical professionals. It served as a reminder that even with abortion protections in place, a governor can have an impact on how the laws are administered.

“I think Kelly Schulz’s statement was particularly interesting,” said Alexandra Hughes, former chief of staff to House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) and the late Speaker Michael Busch (D). “Fundamentally, [she] is a political pragmatist. Her problem is, there are a lot of suburban and urban women who are not buying this Susan Collins ‘walk the line’ thing.”

Schulz’s principal GOP primary opponent, Del. Dan Cox (R-Frederick), posted a minute-long video on Facebook praising the Supreme Court decision.

“Thank God, thank President Trump, thank the Supreme Court for doing what is right,” said Cox, who has been endorsed by Trump in the primary. “My wife and I for years and years have been fighting for the unborn. That’s one of the reasons why we’re in politics.”

Cox also took a swipe at Schulz, saying “my opponent wants to enforce taxpayer-funded abortions. She will do nothing to stop illegal actions against these precious babies.”

Democratic fissures

The upcoming primaries may expose certain Democrats who have opposed abortion rights.

Lily Bolourian, executive director of Pro-Choice Maryland, said the organization has in recent days retooled its endorsement policy to only focus on the strongest advocates on abortion rights. And, she said, the group is determined to defeat as many anti-abortion Democrats as possible.

“There is no room in the Democratic Party or in any progressive movements for anti-abortion elected officials. Period,” she told Maryland Matters. “It’s unacceptable, and we intend to continue building power to target any politician who voted against the Abortion [Care] Access Act.”

That’s a reference to Kelly’s legislation expanding the array of medical providers who can perform abortions. When the bill initially passed the House, 89-47, six Democrats voted against it: Dels. Dalya Attar of Baltimore City, Anne Healey of Prince George’s County, Shaneka Henson of Anne Arundel County, Cheryl Landis of Prince George’s, Mary Ann Lisanti of Harford County, and Geraldine Valentino-Smith of Prince George’s.

After Hogan vetoed the bill, the House voted 90-46 to override the veto. Attar, Henson, Landis, Lisanti and Valentino-Smith voted against the override. Healey did not vote. It takes 85 votes to override a gubernatorial veto in the 141-member House of Delegates.

“Democrats who voted against the abortion access bill are going to get pressed about it on the [campaign] trail,” Hughes predicted.

Landis and Valentino-Smith are not seeking election this year. Lisanti is running for state Senate in a competitive primary with former Del. Mary-Dulany James. Henson is one of two Democratic incumbents running in a two-member district, without opposition, so she will be safe in the primary.

It’s unclear whether Attar faces a competitive primary, in a district where Dels. Samuel Rosenberg (D) and Tony Bridges (D) are also seeking reelection. Former Del. Bilal Ali and Chris Ervin, a trucking company owner and civic activist, are also competing in the Democratic primary.

But Pro-Choice Maryland is clearly targeting Healey, who was first elected in 1990. The group has endorsed Ashanti Martinez, a research and policy analyst with CASA, the immigrants’ rights group, and he launched a digital ad earlier this week slamming Healey.

“It’s tough to understand why, in one of our state’s most progressive House districts, Anne Healey, a purported Democrat, is aligning herself with the positions of the far right,” a narrator says in the ad.

Healey could not be reached for comment Friday. But the Women Legislators of Maryland caucus released a series of statements from the caucus leaders, including one from Healey, the immediate past president.

While eight statements were full-throated denunciations of the Supreme Court decision, Healey’s was somewhat more measured.

“Regardless of what the Supreme Court said today, abortion in Maryland remains a private, medical decision,” she said. “The law we have in place makes sure that only the pregnant woman herself has the final say. I voted earlier this year to secure this policy as part of the Maryland Constitution. I would do so again.”

Her statement was in reference to a bill sponsored by House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) this year that would have set up a November referendum to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. The bill passed through the House but stalled in the Senate, to the consternation of many abortion rights supporters in and out of government. (Henson, Landis and Lisanti also voted in favor of the speaker’s bill.)

Healey is running on a ticket with the other incumbents in District 22, including Sen. Paul Pinsky (D), who spoke at the abortion rights rally in Wheaton on Friday evening, and Del. Nicole Williams (D), a vocal abortion rights advocate. But the delegation in that district has traditionally not been as close as lawmakers in many other districts.

The Abortion Care Access Act passed 28-15 in the state Senate this year, and the vote to override Hogan’s veto was 29-15. In both cases, two Prince George’s County Democrats — Sens. Michael Jackson and Ron Watson — voted against the measure.

Jackson, who also represents Calvert County, has nominal opposition in next month’s primary. Watson is in a three-way race against Raaheela Ahmed, a former member of the Prince George’s County Board of Education, and Sylvia Johnson, a business owner, in a district that has traditionally elected some anti-abortion legislators.

Asked Friday if he is concerned that abortion could become a late-breaking or defining issue in his primary, Watson replied, “I’m not worried about it. We have a lot of important issues we have to deal with in this upcoming legislative session.”

It takes 29 votes in the 47-member Senate to override a governor’s veto, so the veto-proof majority is in jeopardy this year. Sen. Obie Patterson (D-Prince George’s), an abortion rights supporter, is retiring, and his likely successor, former Sen. Anthony Muse (D), has opposed most abortion rights measures during his legislative tenure.

Pro-choice Sen. Katie Fry Hester (D-Howard) is considered vulnerable in November, though Democrats tried to firm up the Democratic majority in her district in the latest round of redistricting. Democrats and abortion rights advocates have a pick-up opportunity in Anne Arundel County, where Sen. Ed Reilly (R) is retiring and Democrats are rallying around attorney Dawn Gile, who is unopposed in the Democratic primary.

In the 18th District, where an abortion rights supporter, Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher (D), is seeking a second term, Pro-Choice Maryland has endorsed his challenger, Max Socol, because of what Bolourian called Waldsteicher’s “failure to lead” on the constitutional amendment that stalled in the Senate this year.

Bolourian said her group has “absolute confidence in Max’s tenacity to push to get the strongest abortion access bills passed. My core message to anti-abortion Democrats is to expect us.”

A special session?

The House has twice launched the idea of a constitutional amendment to codify abortion rights, in 2018 and this year, but both times Senate leaders resisted. Now it is a top priority for several Democrats, including the men running for governor.

Jones reiterated that point in a statement Friday.

“It is a dark day for our country,” she said. “The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade will put women’s lives in jeopardy across America. Here in Maryland, access to the full range of reproductive health services will not be limited by this decision. I will continue to put the full weight of my office behind a Maryland constitutional amendment to protect women’s healthcare and reproductive liberty. The recent decisions of the Supreme Court are dragging America backwards. We cannot and will not give up. Now is the time to mobilize for the country we all deserve.”

Earlier this week, Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) issued joint statements condemning Thursday’s Supreme Court decision on a gun rights case, and on calls to hold a special legislative session to discuss a proposed gas tax holiday. But they notably went their own way when it came to reacting to the Roe v. Wade verdict.

Ferguson’s statement said in part: “In the weeks and months to come, women will likely come to Maryland seeking reproductive care in a State that understands the importance of the right to privacy and equality. While many may now question the future of reproductive rights in America, in Maryland, that right will always be protected and enshrined in State law. We will welcome those who seek care in our State.”

Some Democrats and abortion rights advocates are now pressing the presiding officers to schedule a special session to move the constitutional amendment on abortion rights and force Hogan to fund the training this year for abortion providers. That seems unlikely for now — though matters could change.

King and Siri reiterated the call at the rally in Wheaton Friday evening.

“If folks can jump up and down out there and call for a special legislative session for a gas tax holiday, we sure as hell can have one for our bodily autonomy,” said Siri, the head of the Maryland Women’s Law Center and former president of the state’s Planned Parenthood board.

Local government reacts

Within hours of the Supreme Court decision, the Montgomery County government banned county employees from engaging in official travel to any of 25 states deemed likely to roll back access to abortion in the wake of the ruling. 

“By taking action to restrict access to reproductive health care services, the following states have possibly put the health and safety of our employees at risk while on official business,” Chief Administrative Officer Richard S. Madaleno wrote in a memo to county managers. 

“Our County taxpayers expect the County’s resources to uphold County values and Maryland state law,” he added.

Conference or other travel approved prior to the ruling must be canceled in those instances where monetary penalties will not be imposed, Madaleno said. The ban on official travel to anti-abortion states would not apply to members of the County Council, though they would be encouraged to follow the executive branch’s lead, a county spokesman said.

The 2023 National Association of Counties annual convention is scheduled to take place in Texas. 

In an interview, Elrich, the county executive, said Montgomery intends an aggressive effort to woo companies located in states “that are about to move back to the Stone Age.” 

“These tech companies that brought in all these young people to Austin, [Texas], I can’t imagine them being really comfortable there right now,” he said. “We want to encourage those companies to come to a state where everybody’s free.” 

In light of the rise in remote work, Elrich said Montgomery’s campaign will target both out-of-state employers as well as employees.

Several large companies announced after the ruling that they intend to compensate workers who are forced to travel to access abortion services.

The states on Montgomery’s travel ban: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. 

In Baltimore on Friday, Mayor Brandon Scott (D) announced that the city would provide $300,000 in grants to organizations that offer abortion and family planning services.

“It is crucial that we invest in abortion and family planning so that we can welcome women seeking these services with open arms,” Scott said. “We are morally obligated to make Baltimore a safe haven for care-seekers, and we are committed to doing just that.”

Earlier this week, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby (D) and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy (D) vowed that they would not prosecute women seeking abortions from other states, medical providers, or anyone who assists women who obtain abortions in Maryland.

“They’re doubling down to protect our staff and abortion providers all across Maryland,” said Karen Nelson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Maryland.

Battles ahead

Abortion rights foes in Maryland exulted in the Supreme Court ruling.

“Today we CELEBRATE!” Maryland Right to Life wrote on a Facebook post Friday.

The Maryland Catholic Conference, on Twitter, wrote: “Today’s Supreme Court decision on life is a historic moment in our nation. We renew — and invite all to join — our commitment to support both women and their children.”

Kelly, the state delegate and abortion policy leader, said Marylanders who support reproductive rights should not take Maryland’s current laws for granted. She said she fears that national anti-choice groups will start to focus more on Maryland, both with political advocacy and spending, and in intimidation of abortion providers and women seeking abortions.

“We become a target,” she said. “We are the southernmost state on the East Coast that’s considered a safe haven for abortion.”

Kelly said the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade shows how formidable the anti-abortion forces are.

“We’ve seen what this movement has been able to do,” she said. “They don’t have to expend their energy on states like Mississippi anymore. They can focus on Maryland.”

By Josh Kurtz

Bruce DePuyt and Nene Narh-Mensah contributed to this report. 

The Baltimore Banner, a multi-platform news organization established by The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, today announced the launch of its digital news publication. The publication will bring trustworthy, locally-owned news to the community as it works to develop a sustainable business model for local news.

Late last year, Maryland businessman Stewart Bainum, Jr. and his family announced the founding of the Venetoulis Institute of Local Journalism, with a goal to launch The Baltimore Banner in the summer of 2022. Today, The Banner has 42 journalists on staff that will provide solutions-based reporting covering state and local government, arts and culture, criminal justice and education. The Banner expects to have approximately 70 reporters and editors by the end of year, which will make it the largest newsroom in Maryland.

“We established The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism to reinvigorate local news through nonprofit ownership and to bring trustworthy, locally-owned news to the Baltimore region,” said Stewart Bainum, Jr., Chairman. “I know Ted would be enormously proud of today’s launch of The Baltimore Banner, but he would also say that our work is just beginning. I’m grateful to the collective team, countless supporters, and the talented professional journalists for their tireless effort and commitment to the publication over these past few months. The work we are doing has never been more important for our community and our democracy.”

“Our growing team of journalists has already begun covering stories that matter to the residents of Baltimore and the region” said Kimi Yoshino, Editor in Chief. “Consistent with our mission, our reporting will go deeper as we examine and re-examine issues, look for solutions and highlight arts and lifestyle stories that will help strengthen and inspire our community.”

“While today is the culmination of a two-year journey to bring a news organization to Baltimore that tells the varied stories of its different communities, it also marks the first day in a long journey towards sustainability,” said Imtiaz Patel, Chief Executive Officer, Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism. “Thanks to Stewart’s generous gift, we can start having an impact immediately with a newsroom at scale. How well we serve the communities of Baltimore will be how we will judge our success.”

Along with staffing veteran journalists such as Justin Fenton, Liz Bowie and Tim Prudente, Managing Editor Andrea K. McDaniels and Deputy Managing Editor Richard Martin, The Banner established a “Creatives in Residence” program, which aims to amplify the work of artists and writers from the Baltimore region, and will feature work from D. Watkins, Kondwani Fidel, Kerry Graham, and Mikea Hugley, among others.

The launch of The Banner comes nearly a month after the announcement of a joint operating agreement with Your Public Radio (WYPR) 88.1FM, Baltimore’s NPR news station that will allow the nonprofit organizations to work collaboratively to deliver quality journalism across the state.

The Spy interviewed Stewart Bainum about the Baltimore Banner a few months ago. That conversation can be seen here.

The Baltimore Banner can be found here check out the latest coverage at www.thebaltimorebanner.com.

 

When Sen. Chris Van Hollen felt a sharp pain in his neck, then felt light-headed, two minutes into a speech at the Rocky Gap Resort last month, he had to make a quick decision.

Should he tell his audience, which had gathered for the Western Maryland Democratic Summit, that he wasn’t feeling well, and sit down? Or should he ignore his symptoms and “muscle through”?

He decided to continue speaking, propping his arm on the lectern for balance. “It was a pretty good speech, after all,” he recalled with a chuckle.

To those in the crowd, he showed no visible signs of being in distress at the time.

Although he finished his remarks, his condition deteriorated, and that evening Van Hollen was rushed from his home in Kensington to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. That’s where he received the “scary” diagnosis: The pain he was feeling was due to a neck vein that had burst — a “sub-arachnoid bleed.”

He had suffered a “minor” stroke, doctors said.

Doctors kept him in the hospital for a week, for observation. He then recuperated for a few days at home before returning to work — remotely while the Senate was in recess, then in the office.

A 63-year-old who is seeking a second term in November, Van Hollen (D) is back in the office, looking and sounding no different than before the May 14 episode.

“I feel much better,” he said in an interview in his Capitol Hill office on Wednesday. “Getting better by the day.”

The bleeding in the senator’s neck stopped on its own. Van Hollen said doctors have told him they don’t know what caused the tear, but they believe the likelihood of a recurrence is very small.

“They looked at my entire vascular system and said there is no underlying condition,” he said. “They also don’t know why this happened.”

Dr. Dimitrios Sigounas, a GW cardiologist who treated the senator, expressed optimism about Van Hollen’s prospects for a full recovery.

“This type of a venous bleed has no long-term consequences in terms of a patient’s ability to recover,” he said in an interview. “It has an excellent prognosis, with nearly zero percent risk of recurrence.”

Signounas said he kept Van Hollen in the hospital for a week “to make sure that there wasn’t anything that needed treatment.”

“There should be no long-term effects on cognitive ability or stamina,” the doctor added. “He should make a complete recovery.”

Van Hollen still feels “some residual, periodic neck pain,” for which he takes Tylenol. He is also on blood pressure medication “temporarily.”

“When you have blood in the head in places that it’s not supposed to be, it creates pressure, and it takes time for that to subside,” he said.

Doctors have suggested that Van Hollen ease back to his old routine. He said his wife Katherine is policing his schedule.

“(They said) no yard work,” Van Hollen said. “I said, ‘Okay, that sounds good to me.’”

Van Hollen said he’s received “hundreds and hundreds” of text messages, calls and cards from Senate colleagues, state and local leaders throughout Maryland, and constituents. “I’m grateful for the outpouring of support and well-wishes and love,” he said, his voice cracking.

“I have a fresh appreciation for doctors, nurses and all the health-care providers, really,” he added. “It’s just a first class team at GW.”

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris phoned him during his seven-day hospital stay. “I’ve been there, buddy,” the president said, a reference to the aneurysm he suffered while working in the Capitol decades ago.

Now that he’s back at work, Van Hollen is working with fellow Democrats to advance gun safety legislation. He said his party is also looking to “salvage” elements of the Build Back Better bill, including the provisions that would allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, climate measures, a proposal to expand veterans health care, and an end to certain tax breaks for corporations and the ultra-wealthy.

“Of all the issues that I’ve dealt with here in Congress, [firearms safety] has been the most disappointing in terms of lack of progress,” he said. “At the point where disappointment merges into just anger at the inaction.”

By Bruce DePuyt

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) announced on Monday that Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Environment Horacio Tablada will succeed current Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles starting June 1.

Grumbles is leaving to become executive director of the Environmental Council of the States, a national nonprofit, nonpartisan association of state and territorial environmental commissioners based in Washington, D.C. Grumbles has served as the environment secretary since Hogan took office in 2015, making him the longest serving environment secretary in state’s history, according to a Hogan administration news release.

“Horacio Tablada has committed his career to serving the public and protecting the environment and public health,” Hogan said in a statement. “He will lead MDE’s ongoing work to protect and restore the environment, including the Chesapeake Bay, boost jobs and our economy through the safe redevelopment of brownfields, and help the state achieve its climate goals through partnerships.”

This change comes as Hogan wraps up his second term as governor next January and an increasing number of high-ranking administration officials begin to move on.

Tablada has worked for the Maryland Department of the Environment for the last three decades, starting out in the department’s environmental regulatory programs in 1985 and later as the director of the department’s Land Management Administration and then eventually as deputy secretary starting in 2015.

“I look forward to serving the citizens of Maryland and continuing to advance the science-based policies that have resulted in cleaner air, a cleaner Chesapeake Bay, sustainable and restored properties and protection of our children from lead poisoning,” Tablada said in a statement.

Tablada is a native of Nicaragua who came to the United States in 1975. He and his wife live in Elkridge. They have three grown children and four grandchild.

Grumbles has been the Hogan administration’s leading ambassador to the environmental community, though they have not always seen eye-to-eye. He recently faced criticism from environmental advocates and lawmakers for his department’s enforcement and understaffing issues, following concerns about the state’s drinking water systems and a backlog of expired water quality permits.

Last month, the General Assembly passed sweeping climate change legislation that sets a goal for the state to reduce its carbon emissions to 60% below 2006 levels and be carbon neutral by 2045. This goal will be partially met by requiring owners of large buildings to significantly reduce their use of fossil fuels starting in 2030.

In response to the backlog of so-called “zombie permits,” referring to the period after a permit expires and before a new one is issued, the legislature also passed a bill requiring MDE to clear the backlog of these permits by 2026 and inspect each facility that is in significant noncompliance with its water quality permit once a month starting in July. The agency will also be required to inspect facilities operating under “zombie permits” once every 90 days.

Kim Coble, the executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters and co-chair with Grumbles of the Maryland Commission on Climate Change, said she has “full confidence” in Tablada’s ability to run the Department of Environment, as he has “great command of the technical issues” and knows the agency’s history.

Coble said she hopes Tablada builds on the General Assembly’s work addressing climate change, which made clear with the passage of Climate Solutions Now that climate is a priority and an urgent issue in the state — and that the Department of the Environment has a big role in implementing the bill, Coble said.

“It’s a big, big job, and it’s going to take real leadership from the governor and from the agency to make sure that [implementation] happens,” Coble said.

Coble said she also hopes the Department of Environment will prioritize enforcing water quality permits and have enough staff, which is funded by the governor’s budget, to be able to fulfill its mission.

Victoria Venable, the Maryland director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said she hopes the agency can more quickly to update state regulations around methane pollution released in landfills. In 2017, the department held its first meeting on what new regulations could look like, but has stalled in the process, Venable said. Methane has 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere.

Last year, an environmental group revealed that MDE had greatly underestimated the amount of methane coming from landfills in the state, reporting four times less than the amount actually emitted. The state department of the environment said this was due to mathematical and data-based errors.

Suzanne Dorsey, assistant secretary for the Department of the Environment, will take Tablada’s place as deputy secretary.

In Grumbles, the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) gets a veteran regulator who has worked in government and has headed a nonprofit, the U.S. Water Alliance. He has also been director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, assistant administrator for Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and senior staff counsel to two congressional committees.

“We are delighted to have a visionary leader of Ben’s caliber step into the role of ECOS executive director,” said Myra Reece, director of the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control, who was the ECOS search committee chair. “Not only does he know the association inside and out, but he has an unparalleled depth and breadth of policy knowledge.”