Maryland Politics

Maryland's governor won't be on the ballot, and the state is highly unlikely to play much of a role in the presidential election. But 2012 is nonetheless shaping up to be a riveting year in Maryland politics. Here are four major stories to watch in the year to come. A bill to legalize gay marriage cleared the Maryland Senate relatively quickly in 2011, only to stall in the House of Delegates. Advocates will have some formidable advantages this time around. Building on the experience of lawmakers in New York, which legalized gay marriage a few months after the legislation failed here, advocates have developed a smart, coordinated campaign to win over a few more supporters.

Considering that Paul Schurick faced as much as 12 years in prison for his role in a 2010 election day robocall that fraudulently urged voters to stay home from the polls, the sentence handed down today to former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s 2010 campaign manager may sound a bit light. Mr. Schurick will serve no jail time and pay no fine. He was sentenced to 30 days of home detention, four years of probation and 500 hours of community service. And he shamefully continued to insist on the courthouse steps after the sentence that a clear attempt to suppress black votes was actually a "counterintuitive" effort to turn out African-American supporters of Mr. Ehrlich.

Baltimore radio talk show host Larry Young announced on his program this morning that Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. have agreed to a debate on WOLB. It will be broadcast live on the station from 8 to 9 a.m. Oct. 21. O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese confirmed O'Malley's participation, and Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell said Ehrlich also has agreed to the debate. Young, a Democratic former city senator friendly with both candidates, has worked for months to secure a debate for his Radio One station.

Maryland's governor won't be on the ballot, and the state is highly unlikely to play much of a role in the presidential election. But 2012 is nonetheless shaping up to be a riveting year in Maryland politics. Here are four major stories to watch in the year to come. A bill to legalize gay marriage cleared the Maryland Senate relatively quickly in 2011, only to stall in the House of Delegates. Advocates will have some formidable advantages this time around. Building on the experience of lawmakers in New York, which legalized gay marriage a few months after the legislation failed here, advocates have developed a smart, coordinated campaign to win over a few more supporters.

The Associated Press hasn't called the GOP gubernatorial primary yet, but the Republican Governors Association has. At 8:51 p.m., RGA spokesman Chris Schrimpf sent reporters a statement congratulating former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. "Maryland voters know the difference Bob Ehrlich can make for their state," Schrimpf said. "Bob fought off Democratic tax increases and helped create 100,000 private sector jobs. Under [Democratic Gov. Martin] O'Malley all those jobs and more were lost and what's worse taxes went up by 1.3 billion dollars, the most in history.

Canton this morning was swarmed supporters of Bill Ferguson, the 27-year-old Teach for America volunteer who is trying to unseat 27-year Senate veteran George Della. Notepads and lists in hand, the volunteers were putting these hangers on select doors. (This one was on a door step at Maderia and Fleet streets.) The billet advertises a 46th district "Democratic Team" which names Gov. Martin O'Malley and popular U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski at the top of the ticket. Ferguson's name also appears on the list of candidates, a not-so-subtle suggestion that the young challenger has been endorsed by the Democratic establishment.

All quiet at Bernstein's watch party At JD's Smokehouse in Canton, the Bernstein party is sequestered upstairs in a room with four TV cameras, two bored bartenders and three stuffed deer heads on the wall. No sign of Democratic state's attorney challenger Gregg Bernstein, but his banner is flying proudly, right above the Reingold Lager sign behind a makeshift podium. As the polls close, a rep said he's going home to "regroup" and show up down here a little after 9 p.m. Supporters are starting to trickle in, and a rep from the police department is hanging out in the corner but made sure to say that there isn't an official police presence.

Eric Wargotz, a Republican commissioner from one of Maryland's least populated counties, has earned the unenviable task of challenging Democratic incumbent Barbara A. Mikulski in the U.S. Senate election this fall. Wargotz, a genial physician from Queen Anne's County, spent hundreds of thousands of his own dollars in outpacing tea-party favorite Jim Rutledge in the 11-way contest for the Republican nomination. According to unofficial results early Wednesday from the Maryland Board of Elections, Wargotz received 38.7 percent of the statewide primary vote to 31.4 percent for Rutledge, a lawyer from Harford County.

When Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley began airing advertisements describing his main opponent as a lobbyist for Big Oil, former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. focused on the bright side. "The first two negative O'Malley ads got us even in the polls," Ehrlich told WBAL-AM. "We think this might put us up by four or five" points. And, sure enough, within days a little-known group called Magellan Strategies published a survey showing that Ehrlich had pulled ahead of O'Malley, though numbers for the two were still within the margin of error.

(From the Maryland Politics blog) Baltimore based Cordish Cos. has received approval from Anne Arundel County to begin the construction process At Arundel Mills mall on what is expected to be the states most lucrative slots parlor. The Anne Arundel County Department of Planning and Zoning has approved Cordish's site development plan -- a first step in the construction approval process -- for its 4,750 slot parlor casino. Cordish plans to construct the project in two phases -- the first a temporary casino in the first floor of an approximately 8-story parking garage with 2,000 slot machines, which is slated to open late next year.

A Baltimore jury Tuesday found Paul Schurick, former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s campaign manager, guilty of fraud and related charges for his role in an Election Day 2010 robocall - a decision hailed by government watchdog groups who say that for too long dirty tricks have tainted Maryland politics. The robocall, sent to thousands of voters as Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley swept to a re-election victory, was designed to suppress black votes by telling recipients to "relax" and assuring them that O'Malley had been successful even though the polls had not yet closed, the jury found.

- Nearly 40 years have come and gone since Calvin Ash, a hospital kitchen worker, committed his one and only crime: At the age of 21, he shot to death his estranged wife's boyfriend. A Baltimore judge found him guilty and sentenced him to life in prison in 1972. Under the conditions of his sentence, Mr. Ash would one distant day be eligible for parole. Thirty-two years later, in 2004, the Maryland Parole Commission considered and approved Mr. Ash for release. But there was a catch: In Maryland, the governor can reject the commission's recommendations and, unfortunately for Mr. Ash, his case did not reach the governor's desk until after Martin O'Malley had been elected, in 2006.

Bob Ehrlich is taking his own advice, as offered in the title of his new book, "Turn This Car Around. " The former governor is putting Maryland in his rear-view mirror. "The book is not for a Maryland audience," the former governor said Tuesday as he launched a local and national media blitz to promote the book. "It was written with a national perspective in mind. " While Ehrlich still lives in Annapolis, he says the book, subtitled "The Road Map to Restoring America," is his pitch for a voice in national politics after having lost his last two campaigns for Maryland governor.

What does it take to get a bribery conviction in Maryland? State Sen. Ulysses Currie, who took a quarter-million dollars from a grocery store chain to advocate on its behalf, and who told no one about the arrangement, was just found not guilty on several counts of bribery by a federal jury in Baltimore. Apparently, corrupt public officials need not take paper bags of cash under the table anymore; they can just get their lucre by direct deposit. If this is to become the new standard in Maryland, a lot of lobbyists are about to be out of a job. Why bother hiring them when corporations can simply put lawmakers on the payroll?

It was very interesting to hear today that Casa de Maryland and the ACLU have hired a big name lawyer, Joseph Sandler, to help them contest what is already uncontestable, and that is over 100,000 signatures validated by the state board of elections for the Dream Act referendum bill, which is currently slated for statewide vote in 2012. ("In-state tuition opponents have the signatures for referendum" July 8.) Isn't it worth noting that when a group wants something so badly, that they are willing to go to any lengths to protect their position?

Perhaps you have seen the black bumper stickers lampooning the "Believe" stickers that originated during Martin O'Malley's stint as Baltimore mayor. The most poignant of those stickers are proving to be the ones that read "Pretend. " Pretend is the operative qualification for most everything coming out of Maryland politics, from the governor's office to the state legislature to Baltimore City Hall and, not least, from The Baltimore Sun. All you need do is pretend. Governor O'Malley didn't really implement numerous fee increases after making such a point of promising not to raise taxes.

With the Gulf of Mexico oil spill threatening to stain Maryland beaches with tar balls, talk of offshore drilling is seeping into state politics. Gov. Martin O'Malley, who had offered only mild opposition initially to President Barack Obama's plans earlier this year to open the waters off Virginia to exploration, held a public briefing last week on the state's oil cleanup capacity, and then pressed the administration to take a harder line against drilling here. Republicans, meanwhile, blasted the governor for raiding an oil cleanup fund to balance the state budget.

From the Maryland Politics blog : Gov. Martin O'Malley said Maryland's strides in public education provide the foundation for innovation that will help spur economic recovery, a key point in his State of the State address today in Annapolis. "The state of our state is stronger than it was two years ago, stronger than it was even a year ago," he said. "But better isn't good enough. " Delivered to the 188 members of the General Assembly and an audience packed with state dignitaries, the speech was sprinkled with quotes from Presidents Obama, Lincoln and Clinton.

(From the Maryland Politics blog) Gov. Martin Joseph O'Malley touched on themes of unity and progress in his inaugural address, delivered this afternoon on the steps of the State House shortly after he was sworn in for a second term. The governor used the word "forward" a dozen times to express his hope that over the next four years the state will see businesses expand, education increase, crime go down, and the environment improve. He urged tolerance and respect.