ERVIN WON’T APPEAL: Valerie Ervin will not appeal an Anne Arundel County Circuit judge’s ruling that Maryland’s June 26 primary ballot should not be reprinted or amended with stickers to include the names of her and her running mate as candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, reports Josh Kurtz in Maryland Matters.
DEMS GUB HOPEFULS TAKE BRASH STANDS: Several of the Democratic candidates for Maryland governor staked out brash positions during a televised debate Wednesday — supporting such actions as impeaching President Donald J. Trump, disbanding the Baltimore Police Department and ordering state troopers to confront federal immigration agents, Michael Dresser of the Sun reports.
- There are few issues that divide the Democratic primary candidates for Maryland governor. But the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to allow legalized sports betting is prompting sharp — and varying — reactions from hopefuls about the possibility of the industry finding a home in the Old Line State, Arelis Hernandez of the Post reports.
MADALENO AD TAKES ON TRUMP: Maryland gubernatorial candidate Richard Madaleno is launching an ad that highlights several ways he’s stood up to President Trump — a far better punching bag among the state’s Democrats than highly popular Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, Steve Thompson of the Post reports. The ad ends with an on-screen gesture designed to irritate Trump’s conservative base: a lip-smacking kiss between Madaleno, a longtime state senator who if elected would be the state’s first openly gay governor, and his husband, Mark Hodge.
- Here’s Michael Dresser’s breakdown of the ad for the Baltimore Sun.
ON BEN JEALOUS: In the first in a Washington Post series of profiles of Maryland’s Democratic gubernatorial primary candidates, Ovetta Wiggins writes that the sparse crowd chanted, “Bernie! Bernie!” as former NAACP president Ben Jealous and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders arrived on the makeshift stage. “We’re going to change that to ‘Ben! Ben!’?” said Sanders (I-Vt.), who was appearing for the third time to support Jealous’s run for Maryland governor. “While we have a president who wants to win votes by dividing us up .?.?. this is going to be a governor who brings us together.”
BIDEN, OTHERS DROP IN ON MARYLAND: Political celebrities are coming to Maryland in the days ahead, culminating with an appearance by former Vice President Joe. Biden at a Democratic unity rally days after the June 26 primary. But before then, Republicans will dominate the scene, beginning Monday, when Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel will headline a fundraising luncheon for the Maryland GOP, Josh Kurtz of Maryland Matters writes.
TRONE MEMO, TRONE APOLOGY: Congressional candidate David Trone apologized to Frederick Alderman Derek Shackelford after a leaked memo revealed Trone’s plans to attempt to land the black vote in the upcoming primary election. A memo from Trone, a Democrat running in the District 6 race, specifically named black aldermen Roger Wilson and Shackelford, and County Executive Jan Gardner as integral pieces to helping him win the black vote in the upcoming primary for the sixth district in U.S. Congress, Allen Etzler of the Frederick News Post reports.
- Ryan Miner of A Miner Detail blog revealed the leaked memo two days ago. You can read it here.
ANOTHER LEAKED MEMO: David Trone staffers leaked another email to A Miner Detail that reveals an unnerved Trone, angry at his campaign staff over scheduling his wife to attend the annual Montgomery County Minority Legislative Breakfast, when he thought she should have stayed home. Trone says that while his wife could have stayed home that morning, he “allowed” her to come with him. “While I certainly could have left her home, I allowed her to go given you felt so strongly about it.”
POLICE DREW GUNS IN MANNING WELLNESS CHECK: Four Montgomery County police officers—three with guns drawn and another holding a Taser—entered Chelsea Manning’s Bethesda apartment for a welfare check late last month, according to a video published by The Intercept on Tuesday. The video depicts police officers pointing guns as they responded to Manning’s home after she posted what appeared to be two suicidal tweets on her Twitter account on May 27. Manning, a 30-year-old whistleblower and U.S. Senate candidate in Maryland, was out of the country and the apartment was unoccupied at the time, Joe Zimmerman of Bethesda Beat reports.
- Here’s is the Intercept story with the video topping it. “This is what a police state looks like,” Manning later said. “Guns drawn during a ‘wellness’ check.” In 2018 alone, police have shot and killed at least 64 people who were suicidal or had other mental health issues, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
SENATE 41st DISTRICT RACE HEATS UP: An increasingly negative state Senate race between members of two storied Baltimore families pursuing a seat vacated by a felon whose name remains on the ballot is dividing powerful city Democrats. State Sen. Jill P. Carter, the 53-year-old daughter of renowned civil rights leader Walter P. Carter, has been the subject of negative online ads from challenger J.D. Merrill, the 27-year-old son-in-law of former Gov. Martin O’Malley, .
- Former Baltimore Mayor Sheila A. Dixon is expected Thursday to endorse J.D. Merrill, a candidate for Maryland Senate from West Baltimore’s 41st District. Merrill campaign mailers notifying voters of Dixon’s backing and of three earlier endorsements began landing in mailboxes of likely 41st District Democratic primary voters this week, William Zorzi of Maryland Matters writes.
MO CO TEACHERS BACK ELRICH: The Montgomery County Education Association has decided to throw its support behind Marc Elrich in the six-way Democratic primary for county executive, Louis Peck of Bethesda Beat reports. Sources close to the union, which represents 13,500 teachers in the county school system, said the MCEA’s representative assembly of 200 members voted late Wednesday afternoon to back Elrich.
- Elrich has racked up a panoply of other endorsements — many from labor unions and progressive groups — in his bid to win the six-way Democratic primary race, which in liberal Montgomery is tantamount to winning the general election, reports Jennifer Barrios in the Post.
BA CO EXEC HOPEFULS DEBATE: Four of the leading candidates for Baltimore County executive outlined their visions for the county’s future at a forum Wednesday. The three candidates in the competitive Democratic primary — County Councilwoman Vicki Almond, state Sen. Jim Brochin and former Del. Johnny Olszewski Jr. — offered largely similar visions, though they emphasized a few differences and took occasional swipes at one another. The one Republican on stage — state Del. Patrick L. McDonough — described a county that he said is plagued by crime, drugs and poverty, Pamela Wood of the Sun reports.
- Among the candidates for county executive, support for Baltimore County interim school superintendent Verletta White breaks down along party lines, with the Democrats willing to give her a shot and the lone Republican at the forum saying she must go, John Lee of WYPR-FM reports.
ON PAT McDONOUGH: In the first of a series of profiles of candidates for Baltimore County executive, Alison Knezevich of the Sun writes that the way Del. Pat McDonough sees it, Baltimore County is a runaway train going off a bridge. In his eyes, the county is rife with corruption. Schools aren’t teaching kids what they need to know. Some neighborhoods are crumbling, struggling with crime and vacant homes. “My objective is to stop that train,” said the 74-year old Republican. “Four years from now, I don’t think I can fix it.”
CITY PROSECUTOR CANDIDATES TO DEBATE: With early voting starting next week, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby today is scheduled to face challengers Ivan Bates and Thiru Vignarajah in the first three-way debate of their race to be the city’s top prosecutor. Mosby, Bates and Vignarajah will take the stage at 11 a.m. for a forum, writes Luke Broadwater for the Sun.
- As the three candidates for Baltimore state’s attorney prepared for their first debate today, two of them — incumbent Marilyn Mosby and Thiru Vignarajah — held competing news conferences on Wednesday that highlighted family members of city residents who have been killed, Tim Prudente reports in the Sun.
BIG WIGS TIP SCALES IN SMALLER AA RACES: Chase Cook of the Annapolis Capital reports that Democrat and Republican leaders have been picking sides in Anne Arundel County races as they push hard for open seats and contested County Council districts. Early endorsements have drawn criticism from candidates such as Chrissy Holt, who said elected officials can tip the scales in the process against smaller-time candidates. She also said their support in the District 30 state Senate primary has left her without access to Democratic resources such as money and access to a campaign office.
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