ASSESSING THE DEBATE: The single gubernatorial debate is now done and how did Democratic challenger Ben Jealous and incumbent Republican Gov. Larry Hogan perform? Editor Len Lazarick and a handful of people offer their views on Maryland Reporter. Lazarick called it a “remarkably feisty debate” that likely did not change any minds. St. Mary’s College Professor Todd Eberly called the debate a draw that helped to stop the bleeding of support from the Jealous camp. Karla Raettig of the League of Conservation Voters was disappointed that climate change didn’t figure in the debate. Rhetoric Professor Richard Vatz and conservative Brian Griffiths gave the big points to Hogan as did several others who wrote in.
- During the only debate of the governor’s race at the studios of Maryland Public Television in Owings Mills, it appeared Hogan and Jealous lived in two different Marylands. It was the first time the two men had met in person, and they did not hold back in attacking each other, Luke Broadwater writes in the Sun. The article is topped by a video analysis by reporter Michael Dresser.
- Hogan defended his record on education and the economy, describing his opponent’s attacks as delusional. Jealous, citing statistics about regional job gains, jabbed at Hogan’s assertion that he led the economic turnaround that followed the 2008 recession. Erin Cox reports for the Washington Post.
- The two traded verbal jabs for an hour, going long on answers and speaking over each other. While neither landed a knockout blow, Jealous, after weeks of bad polling and campaign finance news, showed he was not counting himself out, writes Bryan Sears in the Daily Record.
- “You lie and you scare people,” Jealous scolded Hogan during a discussion on the shortage of correctional officers in state prisons, which Hogan turned into an attack on the Democrat’s criminal justice plan, arguing that Jealous would cut public safety budgets and let 30% of all violent offenders loose, writes Josh Kurtz in Maryland Matters.
- Holden Wilen from the Baltimore Business Journal writes that from the outset, Hogan and Jealous could not even agree on the facts. While answering a question about how to improve the state’s wage growth, Jealous said Maryland’s job growth is below the national average and went on to describe his plan for making sure the government helps small businesses. Hogan responded that “not one word” of what Jealous said was true.
- One question, asked by Herald-Mail Media State House reporter Tamela Baker, focused on each candidate’s commitment to areas outside the Baltimore metro areas, where there are high numbers of students on free- and reduced-price meals, drug overdoses and fewer economic opportunities and resources, CJ Lovelace reports for the Hagerstown Herald Mail.
- Brian Witte of the AP reports that both were asked what they will do to try to stem gun violence. Jealous, who noted his “F” rating from the National Rifle Association, said Maryland must stop the flow of illegal guns into the state and treat gun violence as a public health crisis. Hogan noted his signing of the state’s red flag law, which enables families and law enforcement to ask courts for an order to temporarily restrict access to people found to be a risk to themselves or others.
- Here’s Rachel Baye’s report for WYPR-FM.
- The editorial board for the Sun opines that both candidates did what they needed to do in the one and only debate in Maryland’s 2018 gubernatorial race, and that’s better news for Democrat Ben Jealous than it is for Gov. Larry Hogan. They both gained what they could out of this encounter, but that meant much more for the challenger than it did for the incumbent. The editorial is topped by a video analysis by editorial page editor Andy Green.
- In an analysis for Maryland Matters, Bruce DePuyt gives the edge to Ben Jealous in the only televised debate of the campaign, writing that for one tense, riveting hour, Jealous provided a reminder of why he was the surprise (and runaway) winner of the Democratic primary in June. He came with a coherent message — that Maryland’s economy is under-performing, that crime is on the rise, that health care costs are skyrocketing and that teachers are underpaid.
ICYMI Here’s a link to the full debate video.
FACT CHECKING: Republican Gov. Larry Hogan and Democratic challenger Ben Jealous flung charges at each other during Monday’s first and only gubernatorial debate on issues ranging from opioid deaths to student test scores to job growth. Michael Dresser of the Sun fact-checks quite a number of assertions.
- Danielle Gaines of Maryland Matters also fact-checks a number of assertions by both Hogan and Jealous.
TAKE-AWAYS: Luke Broadwater of the Sun offers up six big take-aways from the debate, including the fact that Ben Jealous did indeed have a big moment during the event and that U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos loomed large when education was brought up.
PEREZ FOR JEALOUS: In a column for Maryland Matters, Tom Perez, chair of the Democratic National Committee writes that he is all in for Ben Jealous for governor, and that “I have to make strategic decisions about where to invest our resources, and investing in the Maryland Democratic Party’s all-Maryland field strategy, which will activate voters in every ZIP code in Maryland, was a no-brainer.”
ARCHDIOCESE TO COOPERATE WITH AG PROBE: Archbishop William E. Lori has told clergy members of the Archdiocese of Baltimore that state authorities are investigating the archdiocese’s records related to the sexual abuse of children, Jonathan Pitts of the Sun reports. Lori told priests and deacons in a letter Monday that the office of the Attorney General Brian Frosh has informed the archdiocese that it plans to “conduct an investigation and thorough review” of the records.
- Bryan Sears of the Daily Record reports that Archbishop William Lori is pledging to cooperate in an investigation and review of the Catholic Church’s handling of sexual abuse allegations.
CUMMINGS EYES ROSESTEIN FUTURE: U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings called on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Monday to conduct an emergency hearing if Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is forced out of his position by President Donald Trump, Jeff Barker of the Sun reports. The Baltimore lawmaker called Rosenstein a “firewall” because he oversees special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
- Barker also reports that President Donald Trump is to meet Thursday with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, whose job is in jeopardy following a report that he once discussed constitutional means to remove Trump and the possibility of secretly recording the president. Rosenstein had been Maryland’s U.S. attorney for 12 years when he left his office in Baltimore to serve as the No. 2 to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
SCHUH CAMPAIGN: The former Office of Constituent Services director for Anne Arundel County has been assigned to the county executive’s re-election campaign through her work with the Maryland Republican Party. Chase Cook of the Annapolis Capital writes that Nancy Schrum took a leave of absence from the county in June to work for the Maryland Republican Party. The party hired her for regional field operations in the county, where she was assigned to Steve Schuh’s re-election campaign. The Office of Constituent Services reports to the county executive.
Recent Comments