Lieutenant Governor

On the same day that Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown announced his engagement to Karmen Bailey Walker, theft charges were dropped against Walker's sister, Karen Yvette Bailey. Coincidence? Well, yeah, probably. I love a good scandal as much as the next gal, but when The Baltimore Sun's Scott Calvert looked into the matter, Montgomery County Assistant State's Attorney Stephen Chaikin made a pretty convincing case that there was no connection between dismissal and betrothal. Chaikin did say that Bailey wasn't shy about her connection to the lieutenant governor.

When the owner of the winning horse in the 2013 Preakness Stakes mounts the podium to strains of "Maryland, My Maryland" to accept the Woodlawn Vase Saturday,  Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown will make the presentation. Gov. Martin O'Malley's office said Thursday that while the governor will make his customary visit to Pimlico Race Course on Preakness Day, he will duck out early to attend to a family obligation. Brown is an announced candidate for governor in 2014, when O'Malley can't run for re-election because of term limits, and can presumably use the exposure.

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown became the first candidate to join the 2014 Maryland governor's race Friday with a call to close the gap between rich and poor in education, health and economic opportunity. Before a crowd at Prince George's Community College that organizers estimated at 2,500, the Democrat outlined priorities that could have come straight out of the playbook of Gov. Martin O'Malley, Brown's term-limited partner in Annapolis. Brown is the first candidate, Democrat or Republican, to formally announce his candidacy, and he did so in uncompromisingly liberal terms - pledging to maintain Maryland's No. 1-ranked school system, to keep college tuition low and to invest aggressively in infrastructure and career training.

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown became the first candidate to join the 2014 Maryland governor's race Friday with a call to close the gap between rich and poor in education, health and economic opportunity. Before a crowd at Prince George's Community College that organizers estimated at 2,500, the Democrat outlined priorities that could have come straight out of the playbook of Gov. Martin O'Malley, Brown's term-limited partner in Annapolis. Brown is the first candidate, Democrat or Republican, to formally announce his candidacy, and he did so in uncompromisingly liberal terms - pledging to maintain Maryland's No. 1-ranked school system, to keep college tuition low and to invest aggressively in infrastructure and career training.

More noteworthy than the "Women of Steele" coalition launched yesterday by Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's U.S. Senate campaign was the appearance by his side of the shy woman who introduced the candidate to his audience. Reading from prepared remarks to a room of 40 or so admirers in Annapolis, Andrea Steele, the lieutenant governor's wife, explained that she was initially none too thrilled at the prospect of her husband's Senate bid. "When Michael first announced that he was going to run, I have to admit I had some reservations," she said, prompting laughter from her husband and knowing supporters.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Maryland's lieutenant governor, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, joined the parade of presidential candidate surrogates into Iowa yesterday on behalf of Vice President Al Gore, praising him as a man "who knows what is going on and knows what he's doing." Townsend visited two senior citizen centers, the Iowa State Education Association and attended a reception of the Polk County Democratic Party in a one-day trip to the Iowa capital on behalf of Gore. Her visit came after a swing across Iowa on Friday by her uncle Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, accompanied by the vice president.

DAVID Townsend suffers the fortune and misfortune of having the state's second highest elected official as his spouse. Had his wife been anyone other than Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the driver of the Baltimore County snow plow would never have let Mr. Townsend use his radio last week to speak to a supervisor about plowing Crosmorr Lane. Because his wife is lieutenant governor, a disproportionate amount of attention has been focused on whether the county should plow that dead-end street in Ruxton.

Will 1994 be the year of the lieutenant governor? Will candidates for that exalted obscurity help Marylanders decide how to vote in the race for governor?The case for such a breakthrough is straightforward:At the start of the race, candidates for governor were little known outside their home turf. They were seen as one-dimensional characters who might gain luster from just the right partner, someone with a bit of star quality, a geographic base, a useful legislative skill or some other distinguishing quality.

Polls show that Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's name is recognized by about 95 percent of Marylanders. Alan Fleischmann is known by so few that nobody's ever bothered to ask, and he would just as soon keep it that way. Chief of staff is his job, but that title doesn't begin to describe his role in Townsend's professional life. Just about anywhere the lieutenant governor goes on public business, the relentlessly cheerful Fleischmann is likely to be at her side -- providing advice, support, unwavering devotion and occasional damage control.

Errol Flynn he's not, but Michael S. Steele swings a meaner sword than your average lieutenant governor. Reviving a brief and less-than-stellar collegiate career as a fencer, Maryland's No. 2 has picked up the blade again in recent months - dueling students, a fellow politician and even challenging his boss, a gridiron star - and says he is discovering new joys in the ancient sport. "It really is like riding a bike," Steele said. "That skill never leaves you." In March, with Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in attendance, Steele thrust and parried with members of the St. John's College fencing club.

Seeking to emerge from the long shadow of Gov. Martin O'Malley, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown will make official Friday what everyone in Maryland politics has known for a long time: He's running for governor. Brown, 51, will announce his candidacy in his home county of Prince George's, where he started his political career. He enters the race with polls showing him as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination in a state where his party enjoys a 2-to-1 advantage in voter registration.

Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, pinch-hitting for Gov. Martin O'Malley as the closing speaker at the Maryland Association of Counties summer gathering Saturday, laid out a broad set of long-range priorities for Maryland — including education, health care, infrastructure and business development. Brown took on the role traditionally reserved for the governor at the MACO convention. It was the first time in his six years as lieutenant governor that he has filled in for O'Malley at the high-profile event.

With all due respect to Sun columnist and former governorRobert L. Ehrlich Jr., I am continually dismayed by his right-wing rhetoric. It's not just that his opinions differ from mine; I can accept that. It's rather the mind set that allows him to tell outright lies or twist the truth while sounding so mean and outraged most of the time just to get his point across. We do not need another Fox News in our local paper. This sort of attitude is pitting friends and family members against one another, and it's usually over falsehoods.

Maryland's LG Anthony Brown takes on a more visible role in August when he is set to deliver the annual gubernatorial address at the Maryland Association of Counties conference in Ocean City. The August four-day conference is a must-attend event for Annapolis insiders, though little of consequence typically occurs in during daily sessions. A sample of this year's program includes "Income tax revenue forecasting -- it is all about November" and "¿Maryland's new watershed implementation plan: Lots to do in Phase II. " The real work gets done in the evenings when ambitious politicians hold fundraisers at seaside bars and restaurants.

Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown used his 18 tickets to the state skybox at FedEx Field to entertain business leaders, union officials, state politicians, lobbyists, friends and family, according to records requested by The Baltimore Sun. Guests included a number of prominent African-Americans, including Democratic Party Chairwoman Yvette Lewis, former Democratic Party treasurer Kenneth R. Banks, Podesta Group partner Paul A. Brathwaite, lobbyist...

Maryland Young Republicans have put Harford County Executive David Craig on top in the organization's first straw poll for the 2014 gubernatorial election. The poll was taken at the MDYR annual convention in Annapolis Saturday, according to a news release from chairman Brian Griffiths. Craig finished first with 25 percent of the vote. Former lieutenant governor and RNC chairman Michael Steele finished second with 21 percent, followed by former Maryland secretary of state Larry Hogan with 13 percent.

People who lost loved ones to drunken drivers, street criminals, angry spouses and a deranged multiple killer met yesterday at a Rosedale diner to share their concerns about the criminal justice system with Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.Many struggled to keep emotions in check as they relayed their experiences, bringing frequent questions from the lieutenant governor. Some spoke of their involvement in helping other victims.After cheerfully thanking those who turned out for the session at the Double-T Diner, Ms. Townsend's voice quavered briefly in her closing remarks when she told them, "As you can imagine from my own life, I am a big believer in sharing and getting involved."

Having mastered one of the most powerful government positions in Maryland, House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. is contemplating a new job that would move his office up one flight of State House stairs. Taylor, an Allegany County Democrat, wants Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend to consider him as a running mate, political sources say. It's a selection that must be made before she files papers this summer making her an official candidate for governor. In the early weeks of a legislative session dominated more by politics than policy, talk of Taylor's future competes with buzz over legislative and congressional redistricting and the impending election decisions of Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and Baltimore County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger.

State Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has taken a strong lead among prospective Democratic candidates for governor in 2014 in terms of money in the bank, but his lead narrows when his fundraising last year is compared with that of three possible rivals. In a report filed Tuesday, the deadline for filing state campaign finance reports for activity during 2011, Gansler reports having almost $4.1 million on hand. That puts him far ahead of three others who are widely expected to run in the Democratic primary to succeed Gov. Martin O'Malley, who is prevented by term limits from running again.

After years of talk, BRAC has finally arrived. Effective this week, Aberdeen Proving Ground has officially made the transition from a $3.5 billion a year installation to a $20 billion facility. Make no mistake about it: this is a big deal. Anyone who has visited the post in recent months and years can see massive new construction that has replaced a lot of decidedly ancient-looking buildings that had lingered until about a decade ago. Out with the Cold War architecture, in with the new. The changes on post have come gradually.