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Prince George's County
Early Voting Begins in Maryland
William J. Ford WI Staff Writer
After several legal challenges that pushed the Maryland primary election date back into this summer, voters can officially begin choosing prospective candidates Thursday, July 7.
The main race features 14 candidates for governor – 10 Democrats and four Republicans – to replace Gov. Larry Hogan who’s second, four-year term ends in January. A person elected governor cannot serve more than two consecutive terms.
Author and military veteran Wes Moore and former U.S. Education secretary John King, Jr. seek to make history for voters to choose them as the first Black man elected governor. Both have running mates for lieutenant governor who are women of color.
The majority of Prince George’s County Council supported former County Executive Rushern L. Baker III when he announced his intentions last year for the Democratic nomination. Now they support Moore.
“I do not take these endorsements lightly. I do not take this moment lightly,” Moore said June 29 at his campaign office in Largo. “This is about partnership and unity.”
Baker announced June 10 to suspend campaign activities but he and his running mate, Montgomery County Council member Nancy Navarro, represent the only team to use the state’s public financing system. Baker officially remains on the ballot because state election law requires his campaign to repay money received if he officially withdrew.
The other Democrats include: state Comptroller Peter Franchot; former U.S. and state labor secretary Tom Perez; former Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler; former nonprofit executive Jon Baron; former Obama administration official Ashwani Jain; Jerome Segal, a retired research scholar and professor at the University of Maryland in College Park; and perennial candidate Ralph Jaffe.
The four Republican candidates include: former state Commerce secretary Kelly Schulz; Del. Daniel Cox, who represents portions of Carroll and Frederick counties and has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump; perennial candidate and former state Del. Robin Ficker of Montgomery County; and Joe Werner of Baltimore County.
Early voting runs until July 14 with Election Day on July 19.
Here’s a look at two statewide and Prince George’s council races.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Four candidates seek to replace Attorney General Brian Frosh next year after his retirement.
The main race features the two Democrats: Rep. Anthony Brown of Prince George’s County and retired judge Katie Curran O’Malley of Baltimore City, wife of former Gov. Martin O’Malley and with whom Brown served as lieutenant governor.
Brown’s campaign chest of more than $941,000 succeeds Curran O’Malley’s $623,000.
The race received a bit of tension when O’Malley, seeking to be the state’s first woman attorney general, released a negative campaign ad June 25 summarizing Brown’s record.
“My opponent, Anthony Brown, is a fine congressman but he’s never tried a criminal case in Maryland and he doesn’t have the right experience for this job,” she said in the video. “I’ll be ready to fight for you on day one.”
Brown responded three days later on social media summarizing his 30 years as an attorney graduating from Harvard Law School in 1992 and his work in the U.S. Army that included command of 80 legal professionals.
“I’ve tried cases in state and federal courts and military proceedings,” he said. I’ve represented clients against big tobacco, small businesses against giant corporations and defended the constitutionality of federal laws that restricted gun sales. I’d be honored to earn your vote on July 19.”
The Democratic winner will face one of these Republicans in the November general election: Michael Anthony Peroutka, who served on Anne Arundel County Council, or Jim Shalleck, who resigned as president of the Montgomery County Board of Elections to run for attorney general.
The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state with several divisions focused on civil rights, consumer protection, courts and judicial affairs and securities.
5 Prince George’s County Council member Mel Franklin speaks behind a lectern June 29 where the majority of County Council members have endorsed Democratic candidate Wes Moore for Maryland governor. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
COMPTROLLER
The race for comptroller features two Democrats: Bowie Mayor Tim Adams and Del. Brooke Lierman of Baltimore City.
Both ran TV commercials highlighting their experience, support in public school funding and supporting small businesses. They also have plenty of cash on hand.
According to campaign finance reports filed last month, Lierman has $1.5 million. Adams funded most of his campaign and currently has $965,812.
One difference Adams will note stands from hiowning Systems Application & Technologies Inc. (SA-TECH) of Upper Marlboro that employs more than 600 people and annual revenues of almost $100 million to provide engineering, technology and other support services for the defense industry.
Lierman, a popular lawmaker in Annapolis who also works as a civil rights and disabilities attorney, garnered statewide and local endorsements including House Speaker Adrienne Jones, Senate President Bill Ferguson and Bowie Mayor Pro Tem Adrian Boafo.
The primary winner will face Harford County Executive Barry Glassman, running unopposed as a Republican candidate. The seat became open once Franchot decided to run for governor.
Besides working as the state’s tax collector, the comptroller also serves alongside the governor and state treasure on the Maryland Board of Public Works, which approves millions of dollars on government contracts and other spending.
The comptroller’s office also encompasses the Bureau of Revenue Estimates, with one of its jobs to provide fiscal analysis on the state budget for the governor and legislature.
PRINCE GEORGE’S RACES
Thirty-seven people filed paperwork to run for the 11 County Council seats to represent nine council districts and two at-large. • Council members Tom Dernoga (D-District 1) of Laurel and Jolene Ivey (D-District 5) of Cheverly are running unopposed.
Five incumbents face challenges in the primary with only one registered Republican in the entire field. Here’s a summary of each race. • At-large: seven people seek the two open seats to represent the entire county. The two incumbents, Council chair Calvin Hawkins II and Mel Franklin, have five other challengers including Rudy D.
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But in recent weeks, there’s been a less than positive tone coming through television ads from a group called United Democracy Project (UDP). It asserts Edwards’ constituent services were less than adequate during her time in Congress between 2008 and when she left office in January 2017.
“It is anything but democratic,” Edwards, who asserts millions of dollars have been spent in this race to “attack” her credibility, said in an interview Tuesday, July 5.
“Mr. Ivey has not denied at all that he is accepting and wants the help from this group,” she said. “This is outrageous that the kind of money that was used to elect [former president] Donald Trump is being spent on behalf of Glenn Ivey in this race.”
“I think it’s clearly relevant because it goes directly to what the key job for a member of Congress is which is to help your constituents, especially the ones who are having problems getting federal benefits they deserve from the government,” Ivey said in an interview. “These aren’t my ads. I think they are fair and accurate.”
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) launched UDP as a super political action committee, known as a Super PAC, that can spend millions of dollars to support candidates but not directly toward specific campaigns.
AIPAC highlights Ivey on top of its “featured candidates” page the group supports in elected races on Capitol Hill. Several Republicans are also noted such as Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the number two Republican in the House and who voted to overturn the 2020 election.
Meanwhile, Edwards has also received major endorsements from various groups such as J Street, a liberal pro-Israel group that denounced the AIPAC ads.
Edwards released a 30-second video last week that includes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who said, “Donna Edwards was one of the most effective members in Congress.”
Through the redistricting process this year, the 4th Congressional District now houses the University of Maryland in College Park, Hyattsville and Greenbelt. Portions of Anne Arundel County are now in the neighboring 5th Congressional District overseen by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland).
The seat became open after Rep. Anthony Brown chose not to seek reelection and run for Maryland attorney general.
Seven other Democrats seek the seat including: former Del. Angela Angel, who sent various text messages summarizing her campaign as abortion access advocate, a mother of five children and a domestic violence survivor.
The other Democrats on the ballot: Tammy Allison, James Levi Curtis, Jr., Matthew Fogg, Gregory Holmes, Robert McGhee and Kim A. Shelton.
Three Republicans feature Eric Loeb, George McDermott and Jeff Warner.
But most eyes remain on Edwards and Ivey.
5 Glenn Ivey speaks at a press conference June 30 after he received an endorsement from former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
WELL ‘RESPECTED’
Although Ivey’s familiar with Capitol Hill more than 30 years ago working as a federal prosecutor with the late Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Maryland) and former Sen. Tom Daschel
3 Former Rep. Donna Edwards annual gala May 26 hosted by the Maryland Democratic Party at Camelot by Martin’s in Upper Marlboro. (FILE: Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer) (D-South Dakota), he’s known locally as the former Prince George’s County state’s attorney elected in 2002.
During his time as the county’s top prosecutor, Ivey touts his work in promoting and establishing crime intervention and community-outreach programs and services for underserved children.
Ivey, 61, ran for Congress around 2012 but dropped out of the race when Edwards sought reelection.
He ran again four years later, losing to Brown by only 8,700 votes. Since then, he’s been in private practice and opened the firm of Ivey & Levetown in Greenbelt in 2020.
He announced last year to try a third time, thanks to the support of his wife, Jolene, who serves on County Council. Their son, Del. Julian Ivey, represents District 47A which includes the town of Cheverly.
Glenn Ivey also has support from a long-time friend and colleague.
“I want somebody on Capitol Hill who’s respected on both sides of the aisle – not just on the House side, but [also] on the Senate side,” said former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III during a press conference Thursday, June 30. “I am here to lend all of my support . . . and to tell everyone . . . this is the person that we need in this critical time that we face.”
Edwards, 64, elected in 2008 representing the 4th Congressional District, remains the first and only Black woman elected to represent Maryland’s federal delegation.
The former congresswoman became diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2016 while campaigning for the U.S. Senate against current Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who won to replace Barbara Mikulski after her retirement in 2017.
No woman from Maryland has been elected to Congress since.
A main staple for Edwards, if elected, is she would maintain seniority with nearly 10 years on Capitol Hill that includes her work on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. She advocated for federal agencies such as the FBI to relocate to Prince George’s when she noticed “the inequity” of those moving to other jurisdictions in the D.C. region.
The U.S. General Services Administration expects to make a decision in the fall whether to relocate the FBI headquarters to Springfield, Virginia, or one of two locations in Prince Georges: at the former Landover Mall site or near the Greenbelt Metro station.
“As we have been advocating for the FBI, I am advocating for the FBI to come to the city of Greenbelt,” said Del. Nicole Williams (D-District 22) of Greenbelt. “I want to make sure we have a strong voice in advocating for that and I believe she will do that. Congresswoman Edwards is a strong, progressive leader and the champion that we need.”
WI @WJFjabariwill
