Politics

Democratic candidate April McClain Delaney has fundraised $536,557 and is leading all candidates for the Maryland Sixth District Congressional race after just one quarter of campaigning, according to the latest campaign finance reports from the Federal Election Commission. The most recent reports, which were due midnight on Wednesday, cover the campaign financing period that started on Oct. 1 and ended Dec. 31, 2023.

The race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger in Maryland’s 2nd Congressional District has attracted fewer candidates, so far, compared to the races for the seats of retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin and outgoing U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes. Ruppersberger, a Democrat, said last week he would not seek a 12th term in November.

Maryland labor unions on Thursday renewed their push for lawmakers to grant collective bargaining rights to state supervisory employees, graduate assistants and public library workers. While proposed collective bargaining for supervisors and library employees hasn’t received the opposition it did last year, the push for bargaining rights for graduate assistants may continue to face powerful resistance.

Maryland State Treasurer Dereck Davis told Governor Wes Moore that he does not share his excitement regarding the agreement to sell the Orioles. “Nothing against the new owners, but I feel lied to,” Davis said. “I feel misled. We were asked about that Orioles deal, ‘are you up for sale?’ John Angelos came out on Dec. 8 in the Baltimore Banner, categorically denied that they were for sale.”

Maryland lawmakers this session are again targeting the process by which vacancies in the General Assembly are filled. Changing the system has been a goal of good government groups including the Maryland Public Interest Group and Common Cause Maryland for several years. Those changes have failed even as the public grows irritated with how appointments are made to fill open seats.

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday warned that Chinese hackers are preparing to “wreak havoc and cause real-world harm” to the US. “China’s hackers are positioning on American infrastructure in preparation to wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities, if or when China decides the time has come to strike,” Wray told the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

Stephanie Wilkinson told Maryland lawmakers in Annapolis Wednesday that personal protection for judges would prevent families from enduring future heartache. As she dabbed a tissue underneath her nose, Wilkinson said a man began to search online for her family’s address in July. Three months later in October after a divorce proceeding, the man shot and killed her husband, Washington County Circuit Court Judge Andrew F. Wilkinson, in front of their home.

U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-6th) continues to pump millions of dollars into his U.S. Senate campaign. His latest campaign finance report, delivered to the Federal Election Commission Wednesday night, shows Trone spent $13.7 million between Sept. 1 and the end of 2023, $13.5 million from his own pocket. All told, Trone has spent $23.2 million so far this election cycle, as he battles Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks for the right to replace U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D), who is retiring at the end of this Congress.