GANSLER SAYS HIS PRIMARY LOSS WOULD MEAN CONTINUED GOP LEADERSHIP: Former state attorney general and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Doug Gansler said Monday that if he loses the primary election next June Marylanders will likely wind up electing another Republican to succeed popular two-term incumbent Gov. Larry Hogan, Bryan Renbaum reports for Maryland Reporter. State Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz is considered the establishment favorite for the GOP nomination.
McINTOSH RETIREMENT ANOTHER BIG CHANGE IN ANNAPOLIS: Del. Maggie McIntosh’s decision not to run for re-election is the latest in a string of retirements and resignations in the Maryland General Assembly that will contribute to a significant number of new faces sitting in the House and Senate chambers starting in 2023, Pamela Wood of the Sun reports.
HOGAN ANNOUNCES PLANS TO FIGHT ASIAN HATE: Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday announced a series of proposals to combat anti-Asian hate crimes, including improved training for state police, better coordination among agencies and increased outreach efforts, Pamela Wood reports in the Sun.
- “Issues like this require sustained effort and commitment to achieve real and lasting change,” said Robert Hur, a former U.S. Attorney in Maryland and an Asian American who led the work group. Bryan Sears of the Daily Record reports that in Maryland, hate crimes targeting Asian Americans have more than doubled since 2018, according to the governor’s office.
GOV TO PROBE PHONEY CITATIONS: Someone has been counterfeiting governor’s citations and handing them out to members of the Asian community, and Gov. Larry Hogan’s office is trying to figure out who is doing it — and why, reports Pamela Wood for the Sun.
VOTERS TELL LEGISLATIVE PANEL HARRIS DISTRICT NEEDS COMPETITION: Marylanders said the state’s solidly Republican 1st Congressional District should be redrawn to be more competitive at a Monday evening Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission hearing, citing U.S. Rep. Andy Harris’ vote earlier this year against certifying the 2020 presidential election results, Bennett Leckrone of Maryland Matters reports.
CASINOS UNITE TO PRESS STATE ON SPORTS BETTING: Three Maryland casinos that typically regard one another as competitors banded together on Monday to press the state to act on promised sports betting licenses, Bruce DePuyt of Maryland Matters reports. Horseshoe Baltimore, Live! Casino, and MGM National Harbor are eager to get their sportsbooks up and running during the NFL season.
CLIMATE VOTERS GUIDE: JOHN KING: John King Jr., a Democratic candidate for governor, targeted Dem nominee rival and Comptroller Peter Franchot. “We should be leading in Maryland on climate action and environmental justice and we haven’t been,” he said, adding, “I think there’s a level of denial from Gov. Hogan and frankly the Board of Public Works, including Peter Franchot, about the existential threat that we face, and a lack of urgency to move us from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy, and a lack of vision for the number of economic opportunities that the green economy presents.” Josh Kurtz writes the story for Maryland Matters.
OLSZEWSKI SEEKS TOP LEGAL ADVICE ON BEVINS SITUATION: Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. has asked Maryland’s top lawyer to weigh in on who may remove a sitting council member from office if they run afoul of local law, Taylor DeVille of the Sun reports. The inquiry comes after Councilwoman Cathy Bevins moved into a home she and her husband purchased in Perry Hall, outside the boundaries of her 6th District.
FREDERICK TEACHERS HIGHLIGHT STRESS FROM UNDERSTAFFING: During an often-emotional emergency meeting Monday night, Frederick County Public Schools employees told the school board stories of the ways severe understaffing is affecting their day-to-day work, Jillian Atelsek of the Frederick News-Post reports.
ARUNDEL HEALTH DEPT GETS $5.4M FOR COVID FIGHT: The Anne Arundel County Department of Health was given $5.4 million of supplementary appropriations funding from the county’s budget to continue to combat COVID and bolster the department’s resources to help vaccinate children 5-11, after the Anne Arundel County Council voted four to three along party lines in favor of the ordinance, Dana Munro of the Capital Gazette reports.
ANNAPOLIS GOVT TO BEGIN COVID TESTS OF UNVAXXED EMPLOYEES: With about 87% of its workforce fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Friday, the city of Annapolis will this week begin requiring employees who are not vaccinated to submit to weekly testing, Brooks DuBose reports in the Capital Gazette.
CAMBRIDGE MAYOR CHARGED WITH DISTRIBUTING REVENGE PORN: The mayor of Cambridge, a small Eastern Shore city in Dorchester County, has made national news. Andrew Bradshaw has been charged with 50 counts of distributing “revenge porn,” Madeleine O’Neill of the Daily Record reports.
- Bradshaw is accused of posting revenge porn of a former girlfriend to social media dozens of times throughout the months of April and May 2021. The disturbing posts were laced with sexually explicit captions, Hannah Cechini reports for WMDT TV in Salisbury.
- The woman contacted authorities in May after learning that the photos were posted on Reddit. She told authorities that she had sent the photos only to Bradshaw while they were in an intimate relationship and she didn’t give him permission to redistribute them, the document states. She said they were no longer in a relationship, the AP is reporting.
- Sarah Burris of Rawstory also writes about the situation.
