Treasurer-elect Dereck Davis
DERECK DAVIS CHOSEN FOR STATE TREASURER: The Maryland General Assembly on Thursday elected longtime Delegate Dereck Davis as the new state treasurer. Members of the Legislature filled out paper ballots and the Senate leadership accompanied their votes into the House of Delegates chamber where, after a careful tally, nearly all the votes went to Davis. Alexandra Radovic/Capital News Service in Maryland Reporter
- Davis quickly rose through the ranks in the house and for 19 years was the chair of the Economic Matters Committee. Davis’ time as a member of the House is winding down, after spending half of his life in the legislature. Josh Kurtz/ Maryland Matters
- Davis’s election follows the retirement of Nancy Kopp, whose two-decade tenure as treasurer made her the longest-serving woman to hold the post. She tangled with Maryland’s two Republican governors over spending priorities. Ovetta Wiggins and Erin Cox/ The Washington Post
HOGAN VETOES REDISTRICTING MAP, GENERAL ASSEMBLY QUICKLY OVERRIDES: Gov. Larry Hogan Thursday vetoed congressional redistricting legislation favored by Democrats. Hogan took that action in the middle of an afternoon news conference at the State House in Annapolis. The veto comes less than a day after the Senate voted to send the legislation to his desk. Bryan Renbaum/Maryland Reporter
- With the stroke of his veto pen, Hogan declared the map null and void. But before the ink even dried, the House and Senate began the process of overriding the governor’s veto, and by the afternoon had voted to do so. David Collins/ WBAL-TV
- Hogan predicted that Democratic lawmakers would swiftly override his veto but vowed to mount a legal battle against the maps and contended that the courts would have the final say over what he claimed were “disgracefully gerrymandered” and “illegal” congressional districts drawn by Maryland Democrats. Pamela Wood and Bryn Stole/ The Baltimore Sun
- The veto lasted less than two hours before the House and Senate overrode Gov. Larry Hogan’s action. The Senate voted 32-14 on a straight party line vote to overturn Hogan’s veto. That vote came minutes after the House voted 96-42 to override the veto. Bryan Sears/ The Daily Record
- There was one delegate who broke party lines. Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery Village) was the only Democrat to break ranks and vote against a map drawn up by a legislative committee, saying his vote was about right and wrong, not Democrats and Republicans. Ana Radelat/ Bethesda Beat
- Politicians across the U.S. this year have been gerrymandering — drawing districts that either pack voters of the opposing party into a few districts or split them among multiple ones to dilute their influence. Republicans have done so in such states as Georgia and Texas and Democrats have done it in Illinois and Oregon. Brian Witte/Associated Press in Cumberland Times-News
CRIME BILLS STOPPED FOR THIRD YEAR: Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) railed against Democratic lawmakers Thursday afternoon for not passing his crime bills for the third year in a row. Hannah Gaskill/ Maryland Matters
BALTIMORE COUNTY REDISTRICTING MAP APPROVED BY COMMISSION: Baltimore County’s Redistricting Commission approved Thursday a proposed map that would create one majority-minority council district as well as keep in place another district that is predominantly Black. Some say that doesn’t go far enough to make sure enough minority candidates get elected to the council. John Lee/ WYPR
SENATOR CALLS FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION IN SCHOOL DISABILITIES TREATMENT: State Sen. Michael Hough is calling for the Maryland superintendent of schools to investigate Frederick County Public Schools’ use of seclusion and restraint on students with disabilities. Jack Hogan/ Frederick News-Post
SPORTS BETTING STARTS WITH A MD BET: Sports betting began in Maryland on Thursday after multiple delays as Gov. Larry Hogan put money on an all-Maryland Super Bowl between the Washington Football Team and the Baltimore Ravens. AP on WBAL-TV
- But his long shot-of-long shots $50 parlay wasn’t a winner for the governor, who called Washington the “Redskins” — a name the team dropped before the 2020 season following complaints by activists and corporate sponsors that it disparaged Native Americans. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun
CARROLL SCHOOL BOARD DELAYS POLITICAL NEUTRALITY VOTE: A new policy aimed at maintaining political neutrality in classrooms was scheduled to be approved during Wednesday’s Carroll County school board meeting. But it was tabled after a board member pitched a mechanism for reporting alleged violations and tracking teachers who didn’t stick to the curriculum. Kristen Griffith/ Carroll County Times
WES MOORE PICKS ARUNA MILLER: Maryland Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore has picked Aruna Miller, a former state delegate from Montgomery County, to be his running mate in the 2022 campaign. Pamela Wood/ The Baltimore Sun
- Moore is the second candidate in a crowded Democratic field to choose a running mate from Montgomery County. Ana Radelat/ Bethesda Beat
UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF MD TO APPROVE $15 MINIMUM WAGE: The University System of Maryland Board of Regents is expected to approve a measure on Friday that will establish a $15 minimum wage for all system employees. Johanna Alonso/ Daily Record
