Len Lazarick, Author at MarylandReporter.com

State Roundup, June 23, 2014

Candidates switch into get-out-the-vote mode; is Maryland not as liberal as its government?; Maryland lost jobs last month; out-of-state groups spend on attorney general race; 16,000 vooting machines on the go; continuing problems with the health care exchange; two Anne Arundel Council candidates labeled “extremists” by law center; Harris aims for leadership; controversy in Anne Arundel delegate races; Del. O’Donnell endorses Neuman over Schuh; media organizations win dispute over emails in Carroll County; spending, issues in Carroll County races; HoCo teachers at impasse over contract; O’Malley spends two days in Iowa and gets a good reception; Montomgery school board candidates highlight achievement gap; in PG, County Exec Baker seeks even more control over school board; and local summary of Dorchester and Talbot county races

Kagan, Simmons battle fiercely for Senate in Montgomery District 17

One day away from the primary election, contenders statewide are gearing up for the final stand against their opponents, but few battled as fiercely as the Democratic candidates for the Senate seat in District 17. For months, Cheryl Kagan, a former member of the House of Delegates, and Del. Luiz Simmons have traded blows and sent flurries of discrediting mailers against each other in a district covering the Rockville and Gaithersburg areas of Montgomery County.

Rascovar: Early voting myth: it doesn’t increase turnout

We’ve had our share of recent news stories on increased early voting prior to Maryland’s June 24 primary election.
From those reports it sounds like this reform is catching on, right? Making it easier to get more people to participate in elections, right? That bit of conventional wisdom is wrong. Early voting doesn’t increase turnout, despite all the hype surrounding this much-ballyhooed reform.

State Roundup, June 20, 2014

With the state closing in on the deadline to have a functioning health exchange website, it’s difficult to determine where it stands, if its on budget and who’s overseeing it; immigrant advocates criticise O’Malley policy that was supposed to help; in runup to the June 24 primary, the Democratic race for state Attorney General is getting tighter; Del. Griffith hopes to overcome establishment to win Sen. Currie’s seat; who’s running for delegate in District 36? It’s a crowded field; former Gov. Ehrlich finds himself in demand by other Republicans; 11 interesting tidbits about gubernatorial candidate Heather Mizeur, including how to pronounce her last name; and Montgomery County exec candidates listen at forum.

Record turnout of 141,590 for early voting

With a surge of 29,000 voters on Thursday, a record 141,590 Marylanders voted early for Tuesday’s primary, with slightly more than 5% of eligible Democrats (105,339) going to the polls.

As they have in the past two elections with early voting, Republicans continue to show up in smaller numbers, with only 3.5% (34,112) casting ballots. However, the highest percentage turnouts in the state were among GOP voters in two Eastern Shore counties, where 12.5% of eligible Republicans (1,415) voted in Talbot County, and 9.2% (1,438) in Queen Anne’s County.

Senate Republican leader Brinkley challenged from the right

In a legislature where the GOP is already drowned out by the majority Democrats, Senate Republicans are in danger of losing a voice many Democrats have come to respect in SEnate Minority Leader David Brinkley. Brinkley, 54, faces a younger, energized challenger in Del. Michael Hough, 20 years his junior, who insists that Brinkley’s conservative record just isn’t conservative enough for the constituents of District 4 in Frederick and Carroll counties.

State Roundup, June 19, 2014

Early voting ends tonight while Wednesday sees the strongest turnout since early voting began in 2010; gubernatorial candidate Mizeur accepts the mantel of encourager-in-chief for other women seeking office; Hogan blasts Patent Office decision on Redskins name; Brown walks a balancing beam between loyalty to O’Malley and independence; U.S. Rep. Delaney begins running ads, despite lack of primary opposition; and GOP primary race for Anne Arundel exec race is one of the more contentious.

Strongest turnout for early voting so far

Wednesday had the strongest turnout for early primary voting since the procedure began in the 2010 election, with 21,407 voters showing up at 63 polling stations across the state.

A record total of 111,630 voters have now cast early ballots in the gubernatorial primary, with Democrats making up three out of every four of them.

Sen. Currie faces strong challenge from veteran delegate

After being censured by the General Assembly for an ethics violation, Sen. Ulysses Currie could be particularly vulnerable to election year attacks.

But his primary challenger, Del. Melony Griffith, has decided not to dwell on this issue when she speaks about him.

Franchot goes ballistic over $1M school aid study by Denver firm

The Board of Public Works approved Wednesday paying $1 million to a Colorado-based contractor that will study whether Maryland schools receive adequate funding. The irony of this was not lost on Comptroller Peter Franchot, who emphatically protested the decision.

Len Lazarick

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