POLL FINDS HOGAN LEADING IN SENATE RACE, WHILE DEM CONTROL AN ISSUE: With control of the U.S. Senate in play, voters in deep-blue Maryland favor Republican Larry Hogan by double digits over potential Democratic rivals, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll. Erin Cox, Scott Clement, Lateshia Beachum and Emily Guskin/The Washington Post.
- The moderate Republican led Rep. David Trone, 49 percent to 37 percent, and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, 50 percent to 36 percent. But the poll, of 1,004 registered Maryland voters March 5-12, also showed that 55 percent of voters want Democrats in control of the Senate, compared with 35 percent who favored Republicans. Olivia Alafriz of Politico.
JUDGE DISMISSES SUIT TO BLOCK BELTWAY, I-270 EXPANSION: A federal judge Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a coalition of environmental and preservation groups seeking to block a proposed expansion of the Capital Beltway and Interstate 270. U.S District Court Senior Judge Deborah K. Chasanow rejected a request for summary judgment sought by the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club, Friends of Moses Hall, National Resources Defense Council, and the Northern Virginia Citizens Association. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
SEN. ARIANA KELLY TO BECOME HEAD OF COMMISSION ON WOMEN: Sen. Ariana Kelly (D-Bethesda) is leaving the Maryland General Assembly to become executive director of the Maryland Commission for Women. Although Kelly has served in the legislature for nearly a decade and a half since her election to the House of Delegates in 2010, her departure comes little more than a year after she was appointed to fill the Senate seat previously held by Susan Lee of Bethesda, now Maryland’s secretary of state. Louis Peck/MoCo 360.
STADIUM AUTHORITY OKs ORIOLES SALE: The impending sale of the Orioles is still awaiting formal approval from a full vote of Major League Baseball owners, but it took another step Wednesday: approval by the Maryland Stadium Authority board. Hayes Gardner/The Baltimore Sun.
WASTEWATER STUDY BILL FOR WASHINGTON COUNTY ON HOLD: A state bill key to the growth of the Washington County community, designed to study Washington County’s water and wastewater needs, has been put on hold this year, according to a senator who sponsored it. Dwight Weingarten/The Hagerstown Herald Mail.
RUPPERSBERGER, BAKER, CLIPPINGER HONORED IN STATE HOUSE: U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker and state Del. Luke Clippinger were honored by the state House of Delegates for their contributions to Maryland. Four months after taking over as chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, Ken Ulman announced Wednesday his picks to be executive director and deputy executive director of the state party. Josh Kurtz and Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
BA CO RESIDENTS PUSH FOR EXPANDED, DIVERSE COUNCIL: About 20 Baltimore County residents crowded into a Woodlawn conference room to plead for council representation that looked more like them. The County Council has had seven members since its founding in 1956, although the population has almost tripled from 270,273 to 854,535. While the county is 32% Black and nearly half nonwhite, the council is made up of six white men and one Black man. The state’s third-most populous county requires each council member to represent about 122,000 constituents, the highest ratio in the state. Rona Kobell/The Baltimore Banner.
B’MORE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS EXPERIENCE THREATS – FROM PARENTS: Baltimore school principals and staff have been threatened with guns, punched in the face, pulled to the ground, kicked and stalked. Some have landed in the hospital. Others have installed cameras and more locks at home. They aren’t afraid of their students. It’s the parents they worry about. Liz Bowie/The Baltimore Banner.
T. KITTLEMAN, SEEKING HO CO ED SEAT, REMOVES NAME FROM MOMS FOR LIBERTY: Trent Kittleman, a founding member of the Howard County Moms for Liberty, is seeking a spot on the Howard County School Board. Once she decided to seek elective office, she asked Moms for Liberty to take her name off its rolls. Kittleman is a former state delegate who was deputy secretary of Transportation under Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich. She is the widow of former state Sen. Robert Kittleman, and stepmother of former Howard County Executive Alan Kittleman – both known for their moderate views. Joel McCord/Baltimore Fishbowl.
RAWLINGS BLAKE TO BE HONORED WITH NATIONAL AWARD: Former Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake will be honored for her contributions to justice and equality alongside national figures like Cher in an awards ceremony hosted by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump. Maya Lora/The Baltimore Sun.
FORMER SEN. LARRY LEVITAN DIES AT 90: Laurence Levitan, the former powerful chair of the state Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, has died. He won his first election as delegate in the Maryland State House in 1970, ran for state Senate from District 15 in Montgomery County in 1974. In 1978 he was named the chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee, a position he held for the next 16 years. Obituary Notice/Legacy.com.
- Levitan, a former Democratic state senator from Montgomery County who chaired the Budget and Taxation Committee for 16 years and then became a State House lobbyist, died early Wednesday in Bethesda after a brief illness. He was 90 years old. Staff/Maryland Matters.
