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March 26, 2023

The Chestertown Spy

An Educational News Source for Chestertown Maryland

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Gubernatorial Candidates Talk Eastern Shore Economic Development at Crisfield Clam Bake and Crab Feast

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Droves of visitors swelled the population of Crisfield, the southernmost town in Maryland, on Wednesday for the J. Millard Tawes Clam Bake and Crab Feast.

The feast – typically held at the end of July each year and delayed since 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic – is one of two major annual events hosted by the coastal town’s Chamber of Commerce.

Ahead of and during Wednesday’s event, Maryland Matters spoke to each of the candidates vying to be Maryland’s next governor about their ideas for boosting the Eastern Shore economy ― though some offered more details than others and, in some cases, the proposals are essentially repackaging their broader campaign themes.

Here is a sampling of their views:

Former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D)

Baker, who only recently returned to the campaign trail following his wife’s death, was not on hand in Crisfield — though he made news this week by announcing that Montgomery County Councilmember Nancy Navarro (D) was joining his ticket.

Baker said that with its outdoor recreation opportunities and low cost of living, the Eastern Shore is “the perfect place to attract technology companies or other employers that primarily provide virtual services and folks who can work remotely.”

“In order to do that, we have to invest in infrastructure like high speed broadband and 5G in every community,” he said. “We can also utilize the state’s economic development fund to attract new companies to the region. That’s exactly what I did as county executive with 2U, an education technology company that we convinced to build their headquarters in Lanham… They employ over 5,000 people now. Between technology and the pandemic, our economy is transforming as we speak and there are lots of opportunities for communities on the Eastern Shore if we have the right leadership that’s prepared to take advantage of them.”

Jon Baron (D)

Baron, a former Clinton administration official making his first run for office, moved slowly through the circus-sized tent erected by Annapolis lobbyist Bruce C. Bereano, introducing himself to the elected officials and political insiders congregated inside.

“I love it, I really do,” he said. “I’m talking to a lot of people. I like talking to them and learning what’s on people’s minds. I’m talking about some of my policies and they’re giving me feedback.”

Baron’s core message is that the state’s biggest challenges have existed for decades and that current programs aren’t addressing them. He has held leadership positions at policy-oriented nonprofit groups and believes that there are proven solutions to to problems with health care, education, economic development and the criminal justice system that can be borrowed from different jurisdictions around the country and can be applied in Maryland. For the Eastern Shore, he said, “broadband especially” has been a vexing challenge.

Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D)

Franchot has been to more Crisfield crab feasts than any other candidate for governor, and he moved through the crowd with the largest entourage — most of them sporting electric blue T-shirts. It displayed an incumbent’s strength — Franchot is completing his fourth term as comptroller — but also kept him from engaging in substantive conversations.

Franchot said that “when” he wins, his administration will “reverse some of the policies that have prevented the state from really prospering,” like impediments on homeownership and the effects of redlining in areas with high concentrations of poverty.

“We’re gonna address that very vigorously,” Franchot said.

Anecdotally, Franchot is seen as having the strongest support among Eastern Shore Democrats, at least at this early stage.

Former Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D)

Gansler, sporting a red golf shirt, moved in and out of the tents, greeting old friends.

Gansler said he’s the only candidate in the race “besides the tax collector” — Franchot — who has a long, solid relationship with the Eastern Shore and intends to augment the job market that exists there.

“Too often,” he said, politicians “pay lip service to the Eastern Shore … and we need to make sure we support our businesses on the Eastern Shore and bring Democratic values back to the Eastern Shore.”

Gansler recently rolled out his environmental plan, which includes off-shore wind energy for Ocean City, “which is a no-brainer and far past its time and due,” he said. He also wants to build a power plant on the Shore to help convert millions of pounds of chicken manure into energy and economic opportunity.

“I’m the only one with a record of environmental accomplishment,” Gansler said.

Ashwani Jain (D)

Jain, a former Obama administration official, did not attend the crab feast.

Jain said he plans to make state government more accessible to the Eastern Shore.

“When I talk to residents — when I see their concerns, when I hear what they’re always talking about — they always feel that, no matter what … their specific local economy is going through, no one at the high levels are actually listening to them or making them feel like they’re being heard and respected,” he said.

Jain also said he wants to eliminate the state income tax for anyone who makes less than $400,000 and proposes to create the nation’s first guaranteed jobs program.

“In that way, we’re going to make sure that everyone has [a] lower cost of living, more disposable income in their pocket, and a good job if they need one and they can’t find one,” he said.

Former U.S. Education Secretary John B. King Jr. (D)

King was not in Crisfield, but he had a handful of campaign volunteers handing out fliers by the marina entrance.

In an interview, he said it is important to ensure Eastern Shore residents have access to affordable child care and health care while thinking about economic development in the region.

He suggested the development of a state bank, which would hold state assets and give loans to businesses that private commercial banks may not give, would help provide smaller businesses on the Shore with greater access to capital.

Wes Moore (D)

Moore, the author and former nonprofit CEO, was a sought-after figure at the crab feast, having lengthy conversations with scores of voters.

Moore said the economic challenges facing the Eastern Shore are not new — and there is no “one solution.”

“The reality is there are three jurisdictions in the entire state of Maryland where 100% of the children are on free and reduced lunch; two of them are on the Eastern Shore.” In many homes, parents and children face other challenges, like mental health and substance abuse.

“When the Shore says we have felt ignored and left out of the conversation, they’re not wrong,” Moore said.

The candidate said he would focus on “accessible broadband,” improved transportation and “smart jobs/green jobs.”

Moore said he is spending a lot of time on the Eastern Shore.

“I want to show people that how we are campaigning is how I plan on governing,” he said. “When people say, ‘you guys are working hard’ and ‘you’re everywhere,’ that’s exactly how I plan on governing.”

Former DNC Chair Tom Perez (D)

Perez, a former state Labor secretary and former Montgomery County councilmember, is not a stranger to the crab feast. He called it “retail politics, I think, at its best.”

Perez said he believes the Eastern Shore has the potential to have a robust diversified economy by complementing its seafood, poultry and tourism industries with the budding clean energy economy in offshore wind.

The Shore, he said, could be a “vital engine of a clean energy economy,” especially with offshore wind offering good union jobs, Perez said. “Extreme weather is a huge challenge for the Shore and for our survival and that is why becoming a solar and wind capital of America is an existential interest and it’s vital to our economic survival,” Perez said.

As governor, Perez said he would work with local community colleges, universities and businesses to build a pipeline of workers, especially in the clean energy industry. He referred to the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future’s expansion of career and technical education programs as something to take advantage of on the Shore.

Not only is access to broadband important for the Eastern Shore, but it is also vital to its economy, Perez said.

“Broadband is like water — it’s an essential public utility that should be affordable and accessible to everyone,” he said.

Michael Rosenbaum (D)

Rosenbaum, a Baltimore-based tech CEO, missed the crab feast — “the logistics of trying to be in every corner of the state are complicated sometimes,” he said. But Rosenbaum said he believes his prescription for jump-starting the economy, by offering training programs that propel workers into the middle class, will especially resonate on the Shore.

“We have not made it possible for folks to have a pathway to economic opportunity,” he said.

Rosenbaum points to his own work as a job creator in the private sector and says the state needs “a coherent strategy” to do the same on the Eastern Shore — a strategy that also includes affordable, accessible child care, better transportation, and stronger health care coverage.

“We need to support the jobs for the people on the Eastern Shore to support a family,” he said. “We need to create the resources to make it easier to work.”

Del. Daniel L. Cox (R-Frederick)

Cox, who is running as a vocal supporter of President Trump, had a tent at the crab feast and moved through the crowd with a small but enthusiastic group of supporters.

“Above all,” he said, Maryland’s next governor should lift restrictions on watermen.

Cox said he opposed bills in the General Assembly to expand Maryland’s oyster sanctuaries, and he pointed out that one of the Democratic candidates, Franchot, recently angered watermen by suggesting he would phase out wild fishery and oystering.

“I want to make sure the Eastern Shore has the freedom it needs to grow its watermen, its water industry, as well as its farming industry,” Cox said. “I think those are two crucial areas that need to be honored and respected. We need to protect it.”

Robin Ficker (R)

Ficker, the attorney and perennial candidate whose Cut Sales Tax by 2 Cents signs lined the highways leading to Crisfield, said his focus on cutting Maryland’s sales tax by a third would help the state attract businesses generally and would specifically help economic fortunes on the Eastern Shore.

“We have an 85-mile border with Delaware, which has no sales tax at all, so a 6% difference. That’s enough to get people to move across the line,” said Ficker, who moved aggressively throughout the crab feast crowd. “So we’re going to cut the sales tax, give everyone a tax cut, give everyone a fiscal stimulus each and every year and bring business in here and bolster our economy.”

Maryland Commerce Secretary Kelly M. Schulz (R)

Schulz also had a presence at the event, pressing the flesh while accompanied by supporters in white T-shirts.

“We have a very positive message about the state of Maryland moving forward and what we can do in this race for governor,” she said.

Schulz touted Maryland’s Outdoor Recreation Economic Commission as a way to “bring tourism and recreation into the business world,” which is also a shared goal of the Department of Commerce she heads and the state’s Department of Natural Resources. Recently, Hogan established the Office of Outdoor Recreation in response to one of the commission’s proposals.

Schulz also said she would also support the Shore’s agricultural, forestry and waterman industries as governor.

By Bruce DePuyt, Danielle E. Gaines, Hannah Gaskill, Josh Kurtz and Elizabeth Shwe

Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates Outline Housing Policies At Forum

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Six Democratic gubernatorial candidates laid out their plans to tackle housing insecurity and protect tenants at a Tuesday night forum, coalescing around reforms like access to counsel in eviction cases and rent stabilization.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot, former Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, former Obama administration official Ashwani Jain, former U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr., former nonprofit CEO Wes Moore and former U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez attended the Tuesday evening forum hosted by the Montgomery County Renters Alliance.

Maryland Matters Founding Editor Josh Kurtz, alongside Baltimore Sun reporter Pamela Wood and Washington Post reporter Kyle Swenson and attendees asked candidates about a wide range of proposed housing reforms.

Here’s what the candidates had to say about tenant protections, eviction prevention and affordable housing in Maryland:

Access to counsel in eviction cases

The Maryland General Assembly passed a bill from Del. Wanika T. Fisher (D-Prince George’s) during their 2021 legislative session to provide tenants access to counsel in eviction cases — but a separate bill that would’ve raised court filing fees and eviction surcharges to pay for that access to counsel didn’t pass before the session ended.

Candidates expressed their support for giving tenants the right to counsel in eviction cases at the forum.

King said his progressive advocacy organization Strong Future Maryland supported Democratic Attorney General Brian Frosh’s effort last year to raise court fees and summary ejectment surcharges to fund access to counsel.

“We have to have a right to counsel for tenants that is funded so that tenants are supported when they go to court,” King said in his opening remarks.

Perez said that Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) should use some federal rent relief funding to pay for the expanded access to counsel until the General Assembly passes a more permanent funding solution. He also said the state should include diversion programs as part of the eviction process.

“This governor can solve this emergency with a stroke of a pen,” Perez said.

Franchot, who pushed for the fast disbursement of rent relief funding at a recent Board of Public Works hearing, said federal rent relief funding needs to be used to fund the initiative in the short term. He said Marylanders at risk of eviction can’t afford to wait until the General Assembly reconvenes for assistance.

“Hundreds of thousands of low-wage earners who are facing eviction couldn’t care less about what the legislature’s doing and what might be done down the road,” Franchot said.

Moore said that while the vast majority of landlords have counsel in eviction cases, only a small number of tenants do. He said providing tenants with access to counsel is “the just thing to do and it is the right thing to do.”

Gansler said he supports a full right to counsel in civil cases including evictions, and said the state should promote legal aid services until such a law is passed.

“When both sides have counsel, you’re more likely to come to a satisfactory resolution for both sides,” Gansler said.

Just cause eviction laws

HB 1312, introduced by Del. Jheanelle K. Wilkins (D-Montgomery) during the 2021 legislative session, required that landlords provide a “just cause” to evict a tenant. Just cause eviction laws are meant to shore up housing stability and protect tenants from unnecessary evictions, according to the housing policy organization Local Housing Solutions.

Just cause provisions were removed from Wilkins’ bill in committee, and the legislation failed to pass before the end of the 2021 legislative session, but candidates praised the proposed reform Monday night.

“We have to have just cause protections to make sure that the landlord is required to provide you with a notice, a reasoning, and at least some sort of effort to remedy the issue before going straight to evictions,” Jain said. “And again, not only is that going to help more people stay in homes and housing, but it’s going to be better for the economy and better for the community as a whole.”

King said candidates need to be clear about their policy stances on issues like access to counsel and just cause eviction reforms — which he supports — in their campaigns.

“One of my fears is, if this campaign is waged in generalities, not in specifics, we will not have a clear mandate to act,” King said. “Just Cause Eviction laws, yes or no? If yes, say it in a campaign and let’s campaign on that.”

Gansler likewise voiced his support for just cause legislation.

“We have to have a governor who stands for the principle that people should not be evicted from their home, unless there’s just cause to do so,” he said.

Perez said his “biggest disappointment” of the 2021 legislative session was that a package of housing reforms, including Wilkins’ bill, didn’t pass. He said he hopes the General Assembly will try again when they return to session.

“Success is about persistence and it’s not just just cause, but it’s other things,” Perez said. “I’d like to deal with appraisal issues in the home purchase context and some real barriers to entry for people who are trying to buy a home.”

Moore said conversations around eviction reforms like just cause legislation need to go beyond housing policy.

“We’re talking about things like how do we make rent more affordable and how do we think about preventing eviction and just cause, all really important things,” Moore said. “The other thing we must also couple that with is how are we making sure that people are getting paid a fair wage.”

Rent stabilization and affordable housing

Candidates also discussed rent stabilization, a reform highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic when some local jurisdictions in Maryland, including Prince George’s County, placed temporary restrictions on rent increases and late fees. They also touched on how they would increase the state’s stock of affordable housing as governor.

Maryland has no statewide rent stabilization or rent control, although the city of Takoma Park has a longstanding stabilization law.

Jain said he supports rent control — but said such a program should only be undertaken if the state limits its property tax increases.

“Rent control is really important in terms of providing people a sustainable way of paying their bills, knowing what bills are going to come up,” Jain said. “The only exception is, we can only do that if we’re not raising property taxes.”

Franchot agreed with Jain, and said he was concerned about small landlords’ property taxes if rent stabilization rules are enacted.

“The devil’s in the details,” Franchot said.

King said Maryland needs a “statewide approach” to rent stabilization and other tenant issues. He advocated a holistic approach to housing policy by funding public transit and building up communities in addition to housing, and said he supports building the Red Line in Baltimore.

“By not building the Red Line project in Baltimore City, Gov. Hogan set Baltimore back 20, 30, maybe even 40 years,” King said, adding that he supports building light rail in southern Maryland. “We have to invest in transit as we invest in housing.”

He also argued for reforming zoning laws in order to make affordable housing easier to develop.

Moore said building affordable housing also needs to mean investing in education, transit and access to medical services within communities.

“This is not about how we move people to opportunity, this is about how we move opportunity to people,” Moore said.

Gansler advocated for renovating existing buildings into affordable housing rather than building entirely new units, citing concerns about urban sprawl.

“I don’t think the answer is to build more houses,” Gansler said. “There’s plenty of houses out there.”

Franchot echoed Gansler’s concerns about urban sprawl.

Speeding up rent relief funding

Maryland has received hundreds of millions in federal rent relief funding, but that money has been slow to get to tenants and landlords. While state and local governments’ disbursement of rent relief funding has increased in recent months, candidates said the state should be doing more to speed up the process.

Franchot reiterated his calls for streamlined rent relief throughout the forum.

“It is held up in a kind of pattern of incompetence that results in the very meager allocations that are made,” Franchot said.

Moore said the state government needs to work more closely with local jurisdictions to get out rent relief funding, and cautioned against putting all the blame on local governments for slow rent relief disbursement.

“The state can do a better job, and the state can actually take leadership and work in partnership with a local jurisdiction,” he said.

King said the state could be learning from local programs, like some jurisdictions’ partnership with United Way to bundle rent relief applications by working directly with landlords.

The current administration has a broader pattern of not coordinating with local governments, King said. “You talk to county executives and they’ll tell you they heard about some of the COVID policy changes at the governor’s press conference,” he said.

Perez said state officials should be working with the judiciary and sheriffs to find out which tenants are facing eviction in order to expedite rent relief funding to them.

“We should know, every person in this state, who is about to get evicted, so that we can provide that relief. We can move them to the front of the queue, so that doesn’t happen,” Perez said.

Baltimore tech entrepreneur and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Rosenbaum, who along with former Clinton administration official Jon Baron was not invited to the forum, said in a statement that “despite millions of dollars being available to keep people in their homes, the vast majority of funds still haven’t made it into the pockets of struggling Marylanders. This is what frustrates people about government, and it spotlights why we need new leadership who understands how to make these systems work for regular people.”

Former Prince George’s County Executive and gubernatorial candidate Rushern L. Baker III (D) withdrew from the forum following the death of his wife, Christa Beverly Baker, on Sept. 18.

Watch the full forum here.

By Bennett Leckrone

Wes Moore Launches Bid for Governor With Vow to Eliminate Racial Wealth Disparities

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Wes Moore launched his highly anticipated bid for governor Monday, blending his personal and inspiring life story with a full-throated call for a more equitable Maryland.

Moore, the 42-year-old military veteran, best-selling author and former CEO of an anti-poverty organization, formally joined the Democratic primary race by releasing a campaign video that’s heavy on biography and his desire to close the wealth gap in Maryland.

“One thing has become clear to me: Opportunity is readily available to some and dangerously absent to others,” Moore says in the campaign ad.

In an interview, Moore said that even though he’s seeking the Democratic nomination against seasoned Maryland officeholders and potentially two former members of President Obama’s cabinet, he believes that after holding leadership positions in the military, in business, and with a high-profile philanthropy, he has the right experience to prevail in the primary and the general election — and to achieve his ambitious policy goals.

“There is nobody who is more experienced to tackle the challenges of today and lead a forward-facing conversation about the future,” he said.

Moore, who rose from poverty to become the CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation, a New York-based philanthropic organization that distributed $600 million during Moore’s tenure, has resisted entreaties to run for public office before. But he said he was moved to do so this time because of the unequal devastation in Maryland wrought by COVID-19.

“Coming out of the pandemic we have got to focus in this state on closing the wealth gap in a way that we haven’t before,” the Baltimore resident said, adding that he planned on “being very deliberate about using the power of the second floor [of the State House] in Annapolis.”

Moore said his ultimate priority as governor would be to make Maryland the first state to “eliminate the racial wealth gap.” He noted that despite great pockets of affluence in Maryland, 45% of children live in poverty.

“This should not be allowed to stand,” he said.

With that goal in mind, Moore said that on the campaign trail he plans to emphasize issues like education, economic opportunity, wages and workforce development, entrepreneurship, equitable loan and investment programs, public transportation, and affordable housing.

Moore knows a thing or two about emerging from poverty and achieving great success. It’s long been part of his narrative as he’s made his way through a business career, his philanthropic work and becoming a best-selling author. Now he’ll attempt to use his biography as a potent political weapon.

A recent poll on the nine-candidate Democratic primary field found Moore in fifth place, with 2% of the vote. Significantly, he was unknown to 76% of the likely Democratic primary voters surveyed.

But Moore said that since he began traveling the state to explore a run for governor earlier this year, he discovered that through the coverage of his career and the books he’s written on the criminal justice system, poverty, and the aftermath of Freddie Gray’s death in Baltimore, voters seemed to know his story. “On name recognition, people’s acknowledgement and knowledge of our work is bigger than people think,” he said.

The campaign’s two minute and 48 second introductory video of Moore reinforces his narrative and aims to show that the candidate is equally fluent and effective in the halls of power and on city streets. The ad was produced by SKDK, a leading national Democratic media firm, and except for a brief segment where a man is talking in a barbershop that Moore is visiting, the candidate narrates throughout the entire piece.

“My name is Wes Moore,” he says as the ad begins. “When I was 3, I watched my dad die in our home. By 11, I felt the feeling of handcuffs on my wrists. My life could have gone a different way. But I was lucky. I had a mom who believed in me before I believed in myself. Kids like me, we didn’t think there was a world where anything was possible. We liked to say that my mom wore sweaters so we could wear coats.”

The video features footage of actors playing a young Moore and his mother, and there are frequently split-screen images of run-down areas and desirable neighborhoods. Some of the most arresting images come when figures on one side of the screen appear on the other, to make points about Moore’s background and success story or about the challenges facing the state. One features a woman cleaning a window on the left side of the screen who then appears on the right side in a white lab coat, completing a complex mathematical equation on a whiteboard.

“I believe no matter what roads you start down, you deserve a path to success,” Moore says in the ad. “Unlike most who run for office, I know what it’s like to struggle, and I know what it’s like to achieve dreams my parents couldn’t even have imagined.”

Moore joins a crowded Democratic primary field that already includes former Prince George’s County executive Rushern L. Baker III, former Clinton administration official Jon Baron, state Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot, former state attorney general Douglas F. Gansler, former Obama administration official Ashwani Jain, former U.S. Education Secretary John B. King Jr., and Baltimore tech entrepreneur Michael Rosenbaum. Former Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez is also pondering the race.

Moore has assembled a seasoned team of campaign staffers and advisers that includes several with prior Maryland experience.

“We’re going to have the best team in the field,” Moore said. “It’s a team that knows how to win.”

Moore declined to say what his campaign’s fundraising goals are, but said, “I have a full degree of confidence that we’re going to raise what we need to be successful. It has already started and it’s already exciting.”

By Josh Kurtz

Gansler Launches Gubernatorial Campaign With Call to Legalize Marijuana

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Former state Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D) launched a second bid for governor on Tuesday with an embrace of “progressive” policies aimed at addressing long-simmering inequalities.

He also said the time has come for Maryland to legalize and tax marijuana.

A former two-term A.G. who served eight years as Montgomery County State’s Attorney, Gansler lost the 2014 gubernatorial primary to then-Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D).

He has been out of politics for seven years, serving as an attorney in private practice in Washington, D.C. One of his current clients, an international consortium of road-building companies, is suing the Maryland Department of Transportation.

Gansler said his loss in the 2014 primary was “really tough. I had never lost an election before. It was like getting a bucket of ice water poured over my head. It was a very humbling experience.”

The prep school and Yale-educated former prosecutor rubbed some people the wrong way early in his career. Many considered him too brash.

But Gansler said his defeat “made me a better person. … It’s made me a better listener.”

If elected, he will seek the legalization and taxation of recreational marijuana. He also said it’s important that the state expunge the records of people who’ve been convicted only of recreational use.

“Look, it’s time,” Gansler said. “It will allow us to regulate the product for safety [and] educate people on how to consume it responsibly.”

He enters an increasingly crowded Democratic primary field that includes Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot, former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, entrepreneur Mike Rosenbaum, former U.S. Secretary of Education John King, philanthropist Jon Baron, and Ashwani Jain, who served in the Obama White House.

Gansler said that as attorney general, his staff worked with every agency in the state, giving him a working knowledge of government that the political newcomers in the field lack.

“People are thirsting for experience, somebody who has a progressive record of getting things done,” he said. “And I would argue that that’s unique to my candidacy in this race.”

Gansler entered the 2014 race having won back-to-back statewide races with 61% and 98% of the vote. But his campaign for governor was tripped up by multiple controversies, including one involving a photograph of him at a party that one of his underage sons attended in Dewey Beach, Del.

Political science professor Mileah Kromer said Gansler will have twin challenges — re-establishing his political persona and dealing with issues from his last race, like the “red Solo cup” flap.

“It’s not starting from scratch, in terms of name recognition,” the Goucher College of Maryland pollster said. “He’s not coming out of nowhere. But he’s going to have the same sort of uphill battle as everybody else to reintroduce himself to voters.”

Gansler raised $224,300 in the filing period that ended on Jan. 13. He reported $428,241 cash on hand.

During the same period, Franchot (D) raised $770,631. His war chest stood at a formidable $2,216,592.

Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz is running in the Republican primary, as is Robin Ficker.

By Bruce DePuyt

Schulz Wastes No Time After Rutherford Bows Out; Glassman Expected to Run for Comptroller

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Hours after the news hit that Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford (R) will not run for governor in 2022, state Commerce Secretary Kelly M. Schulz announced her candidacy with an online video and a new website.

“We’ve come a long way over the course of the past few years, but there is still so much work we have left to do,” Schulz said in her announcement video. “I’m running for governor so we can continue to build upon all of our past successes and fulfill the great promise and potential of our state.”

Analysts expect the Frederick County resident and former state delegate to play up her role in the cabinet of Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), whose job approval numbers remain at historic highs.

Democrats immediately sought to tie Schulz to former President Trump, who is wildly unpopular among voters here.

In what appeared to be a coordinated move, Schulz waited until Wednesday to launch her candidacy in deference to Rutherford, who announced in a Maryland Matters interview that he will not seek the post that Hogan is vacating due to term limits.

Rutherford, who has served alongside Hogan since 2015, cited a lack of support from his wife and three grown children, who urged him to forego the rigors of a campaign.

The lieutenant governor would have entered the race as the early favorite for the GOP nomination, and his decision not to run makes it more likely that multiple candidates will get into the race. Anti-tax gadfly and frequent candidate Robin Ficker is already seeking the GOP nomination.

But in what appears to be part of a broader coordinated effort among leading Maryland Republicans, Harford County Executive Barry Glassman, who considered a gubernatorial bid, is expected to announce on Thursday that he is running for comptroller, multiple sources said. He has scheduled a kickoff event at 11:30 a.m. at the Level Volunteer Fire Company in Havre de Grace.

Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, who served as lieutenant governor from 2003 to 2006, said on Wednesday that he is considering a run for governor but he has yet to reach a decision.

Several political professionals — especially Democrats — said they expect a Republican more closely affiliated with the Trump wing of the party to also run for governor, though no one has emerged yet.

Schulz, 52, is sure to highlight her biography as a single mother who got her college degree relatively late in life before starting a business career as she charts her campaign for governor. Schulz was a program manager for a defense contractor and a partner in a small cybersecurity firm. She also served in her local PTA when her children were in school.

“I’m running for governor so we can continue to build upon all of our past successes and fulfill the great promise and potential of our state,” she said Wednesday. “Together, we can get Marylanders working, help our struggling families and small businesses, and restore and strengthen our economy.”

Schulz got her political start serving on the Frederick County Republican Central Committee — and was county GOP chair from 2008 to 2010.

She ran what she assumed to be a longshot bid for a state House seat in 2010, but wound up beating four-term Del. Paul S. Stull by six votes in the GOP primary. Shortly after winning a second term in the House, Schulz was tapped to lead the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation when Hogan took office.

For Hogan’s second term, she moved to the Department of Commerce, which oversees business and job growth and workforce development. The agency is also involved in efforts to help companies impacted by COVID-19.

In launching her campaign, Schulz stressed her administration service and her private sector experience — though she never mentioned the governor by name. But several Republicans said they expect key members of Hogan’s political team to aid her candidacy either informally or in consulting roles, including Red Maverick Media.

Todd Eberly, a political science professor at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, said Rutherford’s decision not to run makes it more difficult for Republicans to win next year’s race.

“Regardless of who runs, the chances of the Republican Party holding onto the governorship for a third consecutive election in Maryland is already incredibly slim,” he said. “The chances are very small.”

Within hours of Schulz’s announcement, Democrats signaled they will try to tie her to Trump.

In a statement, a party spokesman called her “another obstructionist Republican standing in the way of progress for Marylanders.”

“Unfortunately for Schulz, who celebrated former President Trump’s win at an inaugural gala, any Republican running for governor won’t be able to get away from Trump’s deeply unpopular and failed record,” party spokesman Zachary Holman added.

Eberly said that while Rutherford might have been able to “scare some other folks from getting into the race” due to his proximity to Hogan, name recognition and access to resources, the same may not be true for Schulz, even with her ties to the popular governor.

But Paul Ellington, a former executive director of the Maryland Republican Party, said that while she may not be as well known as Rutherford statewide, Schulz could be a very solid candidate in both the primary and the general election, and is someone who will connect with party activists thanks to her time on the Frederick GOP central committee.

Ellington said that with Schulz and Glassman on the ballot, Republicans will be fielding serious contenders with potential crossover appeal to independents and Democrats who will benefit GOP candidates in down-ballot elections.

“The state is well-served when you have competitive races,” Ellington said.

Strategists in both parties say Schulz’s potential could depend on the identity of the Democratic nominee. Republicans are sure to try to paint the Democratic candidate as a dangerous socialist and would contrast Schulz as a moderate suburban mom. Democratic opposition researchers will no doubt be scrambling to comb through her five-year voting record in the legislature.

Meanwhile, Steele, Maryland’s first African-American lieutenant governor, said the timing of Schulz’s candidacy has no bearing on his decision-making process.

“I’m going to take my time and do it right,” he said. “At the end of the day, what someone else does really doesn’t change too much what I do.”

By Bruce DePuyt and Josh Kurtz

Commentary: Slicing and Dicing the Democratic Vote for Governor by Josh Kurtz

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The goal in any election is to get 50% of the vote plus one — or, in a multi-candidate field, to get one more vote than everybody else.

So as we contemplate the 2022 Democratic primary for governor, where will the vote come from and how much does a candidate need to become the nominee?

The answer to the second question obviously depends on the size of field. Right now, it remains a lopsided two-person race between Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot, with his 15 years in statewide office and 35 years as an elected official, against Ashwani Jain, a former Obama administration official who hasn’t even been on earth as long as Franchot has been in public office.

But the field of course is going to grow — and probably soon. So let’s talk about the candidates, official and potential, and see where their vote might come from.

It’s always nice to have a political base in a statewide contest. That’s an advantage for Baltimore County Executive John A. Olszewski Jr., who is contemplating a run for governor.

In fact, of all the potential Democratic candidates, assuming as we do that Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks isn’t planning to run, Olszewski may be the only candidate with a real geographic base. Add to that the fact that he is the only potential Democratic candidate for governor on Baltimore TV regularly, and Johnny O’s geographic base looks even more formidable.

But how secure is that base, really? Olszewski got just a third of the vote in the 2018 Democratic primary for county executive, and while he would probably be a lock if he ran for re-election next year, there are certainly some Democratic voters at home who would oppose him in a gubernatorial primary — either because he raised taxes or for other policies they don’t like, or because some might just prefer another candidate.

Remember, in the 2018 Democratic primary for governor, then-Prince George’s County executive Rushern L. Baker III took just 49.9% of the vote in his home county in a race with nine candidates on the ballot. That’s a cautionary tale for Johnny O.

And let’s not forget about the appeal in Baltimore of Wes Moore, the author and anti-poverty activist, if he runs for governor, which is looking increasingly likely.

Moving to the other population center of the state, a lot of Democrats look at the field of announced and potential Democratic candidates for governor and see an awful lot of people from Montgomery County. True enough.

But while Franchot lays his head on a pillow in Montgomery County every night and represented the county’s most liberal legislative district for 20 years in the House of Delegates, he may not enjoy any kind of home field advantage. Until recently, Franchot as comptroller has marked out territory as a moderate with statewide appeal, geared to the swing voters of Dundalk and Cambridge who love Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) more than the wild-eyed lefties of Takoma Park and Silver Spring.

Similarly, former state attorney general Douglas F. Gansler, who seems compelled to run for governor a second time, is a Montgomery County guy. But Montgomery County is an increasingly diverse place, and Gansler seems to fit in only a part of it. Yes, Gansler has eight years of statewide connections, from his time as AG and his frequent appearances on the state’s Democratic rubber chicken circuit. But where is his base?

And what if U.S. Rep. David J. Trone runs for governor? He’s also a white guy from Montgomery County, though in an economic and social stratosphere all his own. If he ran, he wouldn’t rely on a geographic base so much as his ability to self-fund — which becomes a significant factor in and of itself.

Jon Baron, the former Clinton administration official and policy analyst who is exploring a run for governor, also comes from Montgomery County.

And there are two other potential candidates from Montgomery County. But beyond geography they seem to have several similarities that could cancel each other out.

Former Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez and former U.S. Education secretary John B. King Jr. are both progressive former Obama cabinet secretaries of color who live a couple of miles from each other — ironically, in Franchot’s old legislative district. Both travel in the same political circles and have many of the same national contacts. Do they have to come to some kind of agreement or risk canceling each other out in a Democratic primary?

On top of that, Jain is a former Obama administration official of color who lives in Montgomery County — albeit one who held a much lower profile position than Perez or King.

It is inconceivable that there won’t be a strong Black candidate in the race.

If Moore is the only significant candidate of color, he should get a substantial amount of the minority vote in the primary and would give Olszewski a run for his money in Baltimore, and could have broad statewide appeal — even though there are always risks with a novice candidate. But with King and Perez taking a look at the race, along with U.S. Rep. Anthony G. Brown, there could be no shortage of candidates of color for voters to choose from.

Here’s another potentially important segment of the Democratic electorate: organized labor. If Perez, a former U.S. and Maryland Labor secretary, is able to line up a significant portion of union support in the primary, that’s significant.

But Johnny O is a former teacher, and is personally close to the president of the Maryland State Education Association, Cheryl Bost, who is a teacher in Baltimore County. Does that give him an advantage in lining up the teachers’ endorsement? Franchot has already won the endorsement of the Laborers International Union of North America, a construction trades union that is eager to see if the comptroller votes for the interstate widening proposals that will come before the Board of Public Works soon.

We’ve had three competitive Democratic primaries for governor in the past 28 years. In 2018, Benjamin T. Jealous won the nine-candidate race with 40% of the vote. In 2014, Brown won 51% in a three-way race. And in 1994, Parris N. Glendening won 54% of the vote in what was essentially a four-way race (Glendening, the Prince George’s County executive at the time, won about 70% of the primary vote on his home turf).

It’s way too early to know for sure who will be at the starting gate when the filing deadline for governor finally rolls around in February 2022. But it’s not too early to start thinking about how the numbers add up. They’ll have to add up for somebody — the question is how, and for whom?

And once again, we look at this field and wonder: How is it possible that a woman of substance and character isn’t gearing up to seek the Democratic nomination for governor?

By Josh Kurtz

Md. Voters Back Statewide Ballot Questions

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Maryland voters said state lawmakers should have more say over the annual budget and voted for the legalization of sports and events betting.

There were two statewide ballot questions up for vote on Nov. 3.

Question 1 will allow the Maryland General Assembly to make changes to the budget proposed by the governor as long as the total does not exceed the governor’s proposed budget.

Currently, state lawmakers may not increase budget items or add new items to the governor’s proposed budget. Once the budget is passed, it cannot be changed or vetoed by the governor.

With passage of Question 1, state lawmakers could move spending between agencies and/or add spending for new items as long as the total budget doesn’t exceed the governor’s proposed budget.

The governor would be able to veto items added or increased by state lawmakers.

The change will begin with the 2024 budget, presented during the 2023 legislative session.

Maryland voters approved the constitutional amendment by 74% for to 26% against.

Question 2 asked voters whether commercial gaming should be expanded to sports and events betting “for the primary purpose of raising revenue for education?”

Maryland voters approved the measure 67% to 33% against.

Maryland will join Washington, D.C., as well as nearby states of New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York in legalizing sports gambling.

Lawmakers are expected to discuss and vote on additional details like who should get sports wagering licenses after the state legislature convenes in January.

Sen. Craig Zucker, D-Montgomery, and other lawmakers envision casinos and racetracks to be able to obtain sports wagering licenses, which could allow Marylanders to place bets on professional and college sporting events.

Zucker told Capital News Service that the Washington Football Team could obtain a sports betting license if owner, Daniel Snyder, keeps the organization in Maryland.

According to Zucker, sports betting would generate between $20 million and $40 million per year that would likely go into public schools.

“It’s a pretty non-political, non-partisan issue that both parties agree is good for the state of Maryland in terms of capturing that lost revenue especially during this global pandemic,” Zucker said. “The economy has been hurt and sports betting would help fill in some of the holes that we’ve seen with education funding.”

Capital News Service reporters Philip Van Slooten and Ryan McFadden contributed to this article.

Question 1: Md. Voters Will Weigh in on Increased Budgetary Power for State Lawmakers

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With early voting set to begin Monday, Marylanders will consider a proposed constitutional amendment granting the legislature the ability to increase, decrease and add items to the state budget.

Legislators advanced the measure in March, largely along party lines, with lead sponsors arguing it seeks to balance the budget process while opponents say it removes a check on lawmakers.

If approved by voters, ballot question 1 would authorize the General Assembly to make changes to the state budget as long as those changes do not cause the budget to exceed the total amount submitted by the governor.

“To my knowledge, there is not another legislature that is limited in its ability to be able to change the budget, other than decrease amounts,” Stella M. Rouse, associate professor and director of the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland emailed Capital News Service on Oct. 9. “This is a bit unique.”

The legislature’s budget authority was limited by a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1916 in an effort to avoid a financial crisis. A balanced budget amendment in 1974 set further restrictions on Maryland’s “unique” budgetary process.

“Under the current Maryland constitution, unlike every other state legislature in the country,” Sen. James C. Rosapepe, D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel, told the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee when introducing Senate Bill 1028 on March 4. “We have an extremely limited ability to make decisions about how money is spent in the current year’s budget.”

Currently, Article III, section 52 of the Maryland constitution prevents the state legislature from increasing funding or adding any new appropriations to the governor’s executive budget, but lawmakers can decrease funding.

Over the years, legislators developed budgetary tools, which former Senator P.J. Hogan, an early sponsor of similar budget amendments, told the Senate committee back in March were ineffective. One of these is a process of earmarking money known as “fencing off.”

Another way lawmakers direct spending is to mandate it through legislation passed by the majority-Democrat General Assembly.

“What has not worked is ‘fencing’ as an example,” P.J. Hogan said. “Think about the number of times you have fenced off money and said it can only be spent for ‘this’ and a governor says, ‘I’m not going to release the money for that.’ Or you go the other route for mandating spending and that causes problems because you are trying to predict the future.”

Rosapepe explained to the committee that the bill’s title, “Balancing the State Budget,” referred not only to ensuring the state’s finances remain fiscally balanced, “but also balanced between the responsibilities of the governor and the responsibilities of the legislature.”

“One way different groups get a voice in government is through the legislature, through the budget process,” Rosapepe recently told Capital News Service. “Since 1916, the voice of the people does not have a role in allocating money in the budget. It limits the voice of the people in setting priorities in the budget.”

He said one goal of the amendment is to give state lawmakers the same authority that other legislatures across the country and even city councils across the state have when allocating funds toward constituent priorities and giving them a role and a voice in government.

“This is actually a fairly simple change,” Delegate Marc A. Korman, D-Montgomery, said in an email to the Capital News Service. “That provides the Maryland legislature a power 49 other states have, and most Marylanders believe we already have, to let the people’s branch of government fund the people’s priorities.”

While Rouse was not willing to go so far as to say the Maryland General Assembly’s current limited budget authority was unprecedented among other states, a detailed assessment of Maryland’s budget process conducted in 2003 by the Department of Legislative Services, using materials prepared by the National Conference of State Legislatures, found “in most states the governor’s proposal establishes a framework for budget discussion.”

But the study reported in Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia the legislature had limited power to increase or decrease budget items. Korman, Rosapepe and other amendment supporters argue this limits Marylanders’ ability to influence the budget.

However, a Goucher College Poll released this week revealed how complex ascertaining the public’s funding priorities could be, as shown in Marylanders’ “mixed” responses to questions on police funding.

“Maryland residents are largely supportive of key police reforms that are currently being discussed by state lawmakers and have dominated our national discourse,” said Mileah Kromer, director of the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center at Goucher College in a statement released with the poll results.

“But there’s a mixed message on police budgets,” she added. “Residents support both increasing funding to hire more or better trained police officers and reducing police budgets to allocate more money to social programs.”

Republican opponents of the budget amendment say the governor is in the best position to interpret Marylanders’ priorities.

Sen. Bryan W. Simonaire, R-Anne Arundel, who recently assumed the position of Senate Minority Leader, told Capital News Service it was appropriate for the governor to have his current role in the budget process because his responsibilities are to the entire state and not just a district.

“The people of Maryland elect the governor for a statewide office,” he explained. “I’m elected by 1/47th of the population of the state while the governor has to have the perspective of the whole state.”

The Maryland Department of Budget and Management, in an opposition letter submitted on March 4 to the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, stated the proposed amendment weakens the executive budget system put into place by voters in 1916.

“The rationale for the Executive Budget Amendment,” the statement reads. “Is that the Governor is the official best suited to preparing a comprehensive plan of expenditures because he has daily responsibility for the administration of State government.”

Simonaire added that Marylanders have shown they prefer a divided government through a Republican governor and a Democratic legislative majority. He believed a new budget amendment could offset this power balance.

He also cautioned that if legislators had more power over the budget process they could use it to benefit their districts, particularly larger ones. A few other Republicans agreed.

Back in 2014, the state’s less-populous yet reliably Republican jurisdictions helped propel Hogan into the governorship, while denser jurisdictions such as Montgomery and Prince George’s counties and Baltimore tend to vote more Democratic. These more populous districts have more representation in the General Assembly.

Delegate Kathy Szeliga, R-Harford and Baltimore counties, who is also opposed to the amendment, wrote in an email to her constituents on Oct. 8 that she would vote against expanding “the legislature’s ability to spend tax dollars and increase spending.”

“The current system creates a check and a balance on the legislature’s desire to centralize funding to the urban areas of Maryland,” she stated.

Delegate Susan W. Krebs, R-Carroll, also mentioned the current system as a check on legislative budgetary power in an email to her constituents this week. She stated she would be voting against the amendment as well.

“The current system creates a check and a balance on the legislature and forces compromise with the governor,” she wrote. “And I think that is good for the entire state.”

But other legislators, Democrats, disagreed.

“This is a restoration of our role. This is not us imposing ourselves on any gubernatorial power,” Delegate Gabriel Acevero, D-Montgomery, who sponsored the House version of the bill told the Appropriations Committee on March 18. “This is a restoration of the legislature’s role to ensure Maryland does not continue to be the weakest state legislature in the union as it relates to the budget. And we’re doing it in a democratic fashion by putting it to the people.”

The Maryland Center on Economic Policy wrote in their statement of support that the limits placed on the General Assembly in 1916 were “in response to a problem that no longer exists,” and that the current amendment “offers a better way to share decision-making authority between the branches.”

Henry Bogdan of the Maryland Association of Nonprofits further testified before the committee in March that the public is currently cut out of the budget process because “You, their representatives, have no power to advance any particular thing that needs to be done.”

“It’s much harder for a constituent or community group to get the attention of the governor on a problem than it is for the constituents or community groups in your districts,” Bogdan said. “You all tend to be much more responsive to people, and you should be able to respond to issues where people want to advance causes in the budget.”

Ultimately, as Delegate Maggie McIntosh, D-Baltimore, chairman of the Appropriations Committee pointed out on March 18, it is up to the people of Maryland to decide what happens next.

“This bill, if it goes to the ballot,” she told the committee before the measure passed, “your constituents have just as much power as you do. Equal power. Their vote is just as powerful as yours.”

By Philip Van Slooten