Gansler

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, a Democrat, was all but assured of re-election Tuesday when no challenger from either party emerged to run against him by an evening filing deadline. More than one-fifth of the 47-member state Senate found itself in the same position in a year in which anti-incumbent sentiment appears to be a prevailing mood nationally among voters. When elections offices closed, the field of candidates for fall races was largely established. Some of the most prominent contenders, including Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley and Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., filed days earlier, but others, including some incumbents, waited until the final hours.

When he first ran for attorney general on the platform of environmental activism, Douglas F. Gansler said advisers warned him he'd be tagged as a "tree-hugging liberal." As he seeks re-election this year, and with an eye on the 2014 governor's race, Gansler has embraced another left-of-center cause that he predicts is headed toward mainstream acceptance: gay marriage. Gansler, a Democrat who faces no opponent yet this fall, is transforming his campaign trail into a sort of rally for gay rights, jumping off from his controversial opinion, issued in February, that Maryland should recognize same-sex unions legally performed in other states.

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler endorsed fellow Democrat Kevin Kamenetz for Baltimore County executive on Wednesday, saying the councilman's support for "innovative crime-fighting technology" had made the county safer. The two attorneys, both former prosecutors, discussed crime prevention and video surveillance of shopping centers at a press conference near Towson Town Center. As a member of the Baltimore County Council, Kamenetz sponsored legislation that requires major shopping centers to install video devices.

Can former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., now running for his old job this year in a rematch against Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley, continue to host his popular talk show on WBAL Radio without declaring his time on the air as an in-kind campaign contribution? That's the question Maryland Democrats are asking the state elections board to resolve. Mr. Ehrlich says he doesn't have to report the air time's value — which potentially could be worth tens of thousands of dollars — until he formally files as a candidate with the state elections board in July.

The dismissal by the House of Delegates' Democratic leadership of Del. Don Dwyer's motion for a full floor vote on the impeachment of Attorney General Douglas Gansler marks a monumental departure from the law of the land: the Maryland Constitution ("Impeachment effort rejected, April 1). The events that transpired undermine the Maryland Constitution, which the delegates have taken an oath to uphold. The subversive tactics employed by the elected officials are unprecedented and, more to the point, unconstitutional.

A Maryland House of Delegates committee on Wednesday rejected a Republican lawmaker's attempt to impeach the Maryland attorney general over a controversial opinion he recently issued on same-sex marriage. Del. Don H. Dwyer Jr. of Anne Arundel County had asked his fellow delegates to initiate the impeachment process for Douglas F. Gansler, a Democrat, who said Maryland should recognize same-sex marriages performed out of state. Dwyer believed Gansler wrongly overturned state policy on such unions.

A group of black lawmakers appears to have blocked Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler's effort to end voters' ability to choose Circuit Court judges. Gansler's proposal, which aimed to replace contested elections with retention elections every 10 years, is languishing in key committees in the House of Delegates and the Senate. The chairmen of both said Monday that the Legislative Black Caucus' strong opposition has doomed Gansler's bill. "That spelled its demise," said Sen. Brian E. Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat and chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, who does not plan to forward the legislation to the full Senate.

A group of black lawmakers appears to have blocked Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler's effort to end voters' ability to choose Circuit Court judges. Gansler's proposal, which aimed to replace contested elections with retention elections every 10 years, is languishing in key committees in the House of Delegates and the Senate. The chairmen of both said Monday that the Legislative Black Caucus' strong opposition has doomed Gansler's bill. "That spelled its demise," said Sen. Brian E. Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat and chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, who does not plan to forward the legislation to the full Senate.

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor says she is "all for" a proposal that would end competitive elections for Maryland's Circuit Court judges, championing a concept that is attracting new attention in Annapolis this year because of loosening campaign finance rules and increasing concerns about money flowing into judicial races. "The independence of the judiciary is something that we all ought to care about," O'Connor said at a hearing in Annapolis on Wednesday afternoon.

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler was threatened with impeachment by a legislator for his recent opinion on same-sex marriages, and now his office has offered another opinion: The legislature doesn't have the authority to do that. "This is simply ludicrous," Del. Don H. Dwyer said yesterday. The Anne Arundel County Republican had threatened impeachment last week after Gansler issued an opinion that same-sex marriages performed elsewhere should be recognized in Maryland.