FUNDS POUR INTO LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD RACES: A flood of cash has poured into Maryland school board races, an unusual influx sparked by culture war debates that have inflamed nonpartisan contests traditionally focused on local budgets, curriculums and teachers’ salaries. The Maryland Democratic Party and the conservative 1776 Project PAC have each injected tens of thousands of dollars into more than a dozen school board races in counties that have seen protests over books with LGBTQ-themes, tensions about a state school funding law meant to increase equity, and, in one district, a ban against Pride flags being displayed inside classrooms. Katie Shepherd and Nicole Asbury/The Washington Post.
IN-PERSON EARLY VOTING GETS OFF TO QUICK START: In-person early voting got off to a quick start in Maryland, with 154,000 voters casting ballots on Day One — a number that could be historically high, according to the state’s elections administrator. The total for Thursday, which kicked off an early voting period ending Oct. 31, eclipsed the entire early voting total for the May 14 primary, Jared DeMarinis, the administrator, posted on social media. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
- Maryland’s most populous counties – Montgomery, Prince George’s, Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties — saw the biggest turnout in terms of raw numbers. But smaller, more rural counties such as Talbot, Queen Anne’s and Calvert Counties all reported voter turnout above 6.3% for the first day. Statewide, the numbers were down slightly on Friday, but still strong. Another 135,905 voters cast ballots, representing another 3.23% of the total of registered voters in the state, according to State Board of Elections data. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
- More voters in Montgomery County cast a ballot on the first day of early voting on Thursday than in the entire early voting period for the primary election in May, according to unofficial state elections board data. Ginny Bixby/MoCo 360.
REP. HARRIS SAYS N.C. LAWMAKERS SHOULD GIVE ELECTORAL VOTES TO TRUMP NOW: Maryland Rep. Andy Harris said during a Republican dinner that North Carolina legislators should consider awarding electoral votes to Donald Trump before the election because the state otherwise risks disenfranchising Trump voters affected by damage from Hurricane Helene. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
- The video from the Republican Party dinner in Talbot County on Thursday was posted online by Ivan Raiklin, the evening’s keynote speaker who is the self-anointed “secretary of retribution” and plans to go after Trump’s enemies if he’s elected this year. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
- “How do you make the argument in other states?” Harris asked. “I mean, otherwise it looks like it’s just a power play. In North Carolina, I mean, it’s legitimate. I mean, there are a lot of people who aren’t going to get to vote and it may make the difference in that state.” Raiklin answered Harris by saying legislatures needed to act because he believed Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) and other House Democrats would otherwise prevent Trump from becoming president. Patrick Marley/The Washington Post.
- The notion of withholding electors has been circulating in some corners of the right. Rep. Harris said the plan “makes a lot of sense,” before backtracking on Friday and saying in a statement that “every legal vote should be counted.” Charles Homans and Alexandra Berzon/The New York Times.
ALSOBROOKS, HARRIS FRIENDSHIP MATTERS: The candidacies of Angela Alsobrooks for U.S. Senate and Kamala Harris for president have in many ways become synonymous with a new brand of politics being ushered in by women and women of color. With Harris at the forefront of a pipeline of Black women with advanced degrees and a powerful support network, their friendship may matter now more than ever. Hallie Miller and John-John Williams IV/The Baltimore Banner.
COMMENTARY: I DON’T ENDORSE UNSIGNED ENDORSEMENTS: MarylandReporter.com will not be endorsing any political candidates this year or any other, even if we wanted to. But we don’t. Nonprofit news media like MarylandReporter.com, or any nonprofit organization designated as a 501(c)(3) by the IRS, is forbidden from actively supporting political candidates or parties. … This opinion piece obviously is being written in the context of the decision by Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and owner of The Washington Post, that the newspaper would not endorse for president this year. Staff members were outraged, an editor resigned, and a former top editor called it “cowardice.” And many readers canceled their subscriptions. Endorsements in major races have lost their power … Publishing no endorsement is not a big deal. Len Lazarick/MarylandReporter.com.
E-ZPASS FINES BALLOON AND THERE’s NO PLACE TO TURN FOR HELP: Despite hours on the phone every week with state officials and even searching for legal assistance, Brett Wilson still doesn’t fully understand how his E-ZPass fines and fees ballooned to around $30,000. He says that the 20% down payment alone that he is being pushed to make is well over the original toll charges. But the stories of Wilson and others who spoke with The Baltimore Banner show that when billing issues crop up, customers have few, if any, avenues to turn for help. Daniel Zawodny/The Baltimore Banner.
WESTERN MARYLAND REPUBLICAN HOPEFUL ON PARROTT: Three years after proposing that their rural counties secede from the state, Western Maryland Republicans want to clarify that they never really wanted to leave. Their frustration came not only from feeling like outliers, but being consistently outvoted in U.S. House elections by a population-dense suburb that is geographically and philosophically miles away. Now the conservative, remote counties of Garrett, Allegany and Washington think they have a chance to elect one of their own, Republican Neil Parrott of Washington County, the U.S. House of Representatives. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
SINCLAIR SENDS ‘CEASE & DESIST’ LETTER TO QUESTION H OPPONENTS: Stop (smearing) Sinclair. That’s the demand made by Sinclair Inc., the parent company of local television station FOX45, to a political committee battling a ballot question financed almost exclusively by Sinclair’s executive chairman David Smith. In a letter sent to the committee last week, Sinclair attorney Chase Bales called for the group, known as Stop Sinclair, to “immediately cease and desist” publishing claims that the media company is involved in Question H, which would cut the size of the Baltimore City Council. Emily Opilo/The Baltimore Banner.
MANY WRITE-IN CANDIDATES DON’T MAKE STATE RECORDS: This November, each position up for election in Maryland will feature a “write-in” candidate line where Marylanders can vote for whomever they feel is best qualified for the job — or they can write-in a joke candidate. Be it Mickey Mouse for President, Beyoncé for Senate, or Shrek for Mayor, Marylanders have the liberty to vote for whomever they want. Just don’t expect those names to show up in state records. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
COLUMN: MUSK WELCOMED AT WEST POINT; BEN-GHIAT CANCELED AT NAVAL ACADEMY? After Elon Musk spoke to the cadets at West Point in August, Brig. Gen. Shane Reeves thanked him for an illuminating conversation. Nowhere did West Point mention that Musk is backing former President Donald Trump, who is seeking to return to the White House. Musk is donating millions through his private political action committee. Ironically, hundreds of people on Musk’s own platform saw the contrast between his welcome at West Point and the Naval Academy’s decision to cancel historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s planned lecture on authoritarian governments and the military because she has been critical of Trump. Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.
BALLOT QUESTION COULD CHANGE CHARLES COUNTY GOVERNMENT: Over several months, a group appointed to assess how Charles County government works traveled to every corner of the booming Southern Maryland county, listening to residents. They then proposed to bring a charter government to Charles County, with a county executive and five elected council members ? a change from the current home rule system, which features five county commissioners who set policy. The charter proposal is on the ballot next week. If it passes, the county government will take steps for a transition that would culminate with the election of an executive and five district-based council members in 2026. If it fails, the status quo will prevail. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
CARROLL COURTHOUSE ANNEX TO GET SECURITY UPGRADES: New security upgrades are slated for the Carroll County Courthouse Annex in Westminster. The Board of Carroll County Commissioners approved Thursday to submit a grant to Maryland’s Administrative Office of the Courts, Maryland’s central support agency for the state’s judicial branch, in the amount of $86,679.72. The approval also allows the acceptance of the funding. Sherry Greenfield/The Carroll County Times.
ACCUSER OF ARUNDEL SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE SPEAKS OUT: The woman who accused Chuck Yocum of sexual misconduct while he was a teacher at Northwest High School in Pasadena roughly 30 years ago is speaking out amid Yocum’s bid for the District 3 seat on the Anne Arundel County Board of Education. Bridget Byrne/The Baltimore Sun.
AQUATIC GRASSES IN GUNPOWDER PLUMMET IN TWO YEARS: According to a recent survey, submerged aquatic vegetation or underwater grass in the Chesapeake Bay has grown by 7% since 1983, marking one of the best levels in 40 years. By contrast, the Gunpowder River, which flows into the bay, saw a nearly 91% decline in underwater vegetation from 2021 and 2023. Andrea Durán, Daranee Balachandar and Alisha Camacho of Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.com.
