The Maryland Senate has spoken: there will be no repeal of the death penalty this year. But we learned a few valuable things from the process. First, Senator Rich Madaleno (D-18) issued this description of today’s events: Earlier today, we finished the debate on the death penalty repeal, probably ...

The Baltimore Sun and Maryland Moment summarize the twists and turns in today's death penalty debate. But the most interesting comments come from - surprisingly - one of the state's most liberal Senators and the state's most prominent conservative blogger. At 2:30 PM today, Senator Rich Madaleno (D-...

Maryland voters overwhelmingly approved early voting last year and an upcoming state bill would allow it in the District 4 special election. In a county full of liberals that supported early voting, what could be wrong with this? Plenty, say some opponents. Maryland’s early voting system goes back...

Are you as excited as I am at the prospect of Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson running for Governor? Of course you are! But just in case you’re not, let’s list all the reasons why we should support Johnson for Governor. Bold Leadership Back in December 2007, Jack Johnson boldly su...

For all the discussion of developer contributions a year ago, none of the four District 4 candidates last time had any record on the development issue. This year, two of them do. But to find out what those records are, we had to go back over a decade to one of Montgomery County’s most hard-fought ...

Today, we examine the campaign funds of some of Maryland’s leading state and local politicians as well as those of a few potential challengers. All data pertains to the year ending 1/14/09. Strongest Position 1. Attorney General Doug Gansler (Balance $1,255,115.52, Net Gain $609,184.48)No statewid...

The recently passed federal stimulus package will help Maryland balance its FY 2010 budget with fewer program and aid cuts than originally proposed by the Governor. But as of right now, the FY 2011 budget is projected to have a deficit of $630 million. We reproduce the summary documents from the Gov...

Today, we examine the campaign funds of Montgomery’s county-level office holders. All data pertains to the year ending 1/14/09. Strongest Position 1. George Leventhal, At-Large (Balance $59,677.53, Net Gain $366.03)Leventhal is the strongest of the at-large members. He has a broad base that reache...

Once again, it’s time to look at the mother’s milk of politics: cold, hard cash. Today, we examine the campaign funds of Montgomery’s statehouse delegation, as well as those of a few potential challengers. All data pertains to the year ending 1/14/09. We then weed through the data (with a litt...

MPW readers have seen before that Delegate Saqib Ali (D-39) is a vigorous man. Accordingly, his efforts to advocate for his local bill banning the sale of sexual stimulants to minors have gotten some members of Montgomery’s statehouse delegation aroused. But not in a good way! Delegate Ali sent th...