Politics

Nearly a dozen candidates, both Republican and Democrat, aiming to be Maryland’s next United States Congressional District Six representative came to the Washington County Free Library in downtown Hagerstown on Saturday to share their remarks with the community. The forum, sponsored by the Washington County branch of the NAACP, gave each candidate a couple minutes to introduce themselves to the dozens assembled in the upstairs conference room before moderator Eddie Peters, the president and owner of Vocal Expressions, asked candidates questions prepared in advance from the nonpartisan organization’s political action committee.

With Maryland’s 90-day legislative session ending Monday night, lawmakers Friday remained at odds over the future of horse racing in the state and the process through which colleges and universities receive approval for new academic programs, among other issues. The Senate and House of Delegates say they’ve reached consensus on most major policy proposals, including the budget, juvenile justice reform and new regulations for utility marketing and sales, though it remains to be seen which bills will be rammed through in the final hours of session and which will fall short.

In the Senate chamber, lawmakers moved swiftly through dozens of bills in a Saturday afternoon session. The legislative flow was only disrupted occasionally, due to brief technical errors, confusion over which bills were being discussed, or senators away from their seats when they were supposed to lead floor discussion on legislation.

As the clock ticked closer to the end of this year’s Maryland General Assembly session — and with scores of bills still to pass — the longest debate during a Saturday gathering of the House of Delegates was one that’s been ongoing for a half-century. The Equal Rights Amendment, which proponents say would bolster protections for women in the U.S. Constitution, has always been the subject of fierce debates in state legislative chambers and in the halls of Congress.

U.S. Rep. David Trone was hospitalized Saturday for feeling dehydrated and running a fever forcing him to withdraw from a scheduled Sunday afternoon face-off in Dundalk with his U.S. Senate Democratic primary opponent, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. What was going to be the first Democratic candidate debate of the U.S. Senate race, had to pivot to a question-answer format.

Since the cataclysmic Key Bridge collapse last week, former Gov. Larry Hogan has issued the requisite expressions of sympathy and support. He has said he is lobbying Republican lawmakers to back federal funding for a new bridge. He’s met with the head of the longshoreman’s association. Yet he’s been relatively quiet — and many local leaders say Hogan’s tense history with Baltimore makes his words ring hollow, especially as he campaigns for an open U.S. Senate seat.

The Democratic candidates for Baltimore City Council president made appeals to voters during a debate hosted by WBFF FOX45 on Thursday for why each is best positioned to hold the office. Appearing live from the station’s Baltimore studio, the Democratic field, which includes incumbent Council President Nick Mosby, Councilman Zeke Cohen and former Councilwoman Shannon Sneed, touted their legislative victories, noted connections to community groups and pledged to work for city voters.

Gov. Wes Moore (D) is understandably and necessarily consumed with the Francis Scott Key bridge disaster and its myriad impacts. But the ship of state continues sailing, and as House and Senate leaders continue to clash over the governor’s $63 billion operating budget proposal in the waning days of the General Assembly session, some lawmakers wish they would get stronger signals about the administration’s preferences for how to resolve their differences.