Politics

Democratic U.S. Rep. Anthony Brown won the race for Maryland attorney general, becoming the first Black person elected to the office. The Associated Press called the race for Brown at 11:09 p.m., after the congressman maintained a sizable lead over Republican Michael Peroutka in the hours after polls closed. Brown will succeed the state’s current chief legal officer, Brian Frosh, a Democrat who served two terms as attorney general and did not run for reelection. His victory comes on a historic night for the state, which elected its first Black governor in Democrat Wes Moore.

Baltimore Del. Brooke Lierman made history Tuesday night, becoming the first woman elected as state comptroller and to an independent state government office in Maryland. “It’s been 20 years since the one and only time Democrats nominated a woman for one of our three statewide offices and I’d like to give a shout out to that woman, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend — as well as all the women who’ve run and whose shoulders I stand on: from Eleanor Carey to Valerie Ervin to Heather Mizeur and Kelly Schulz,” Lierman said to a packed hotel ballroom in Baltimore. “We represent more than 51% of the population here in this state and tonight I’m humbled that for the first time in our state’s 200-plus year history, we have finally elected a woman to one of our top three offices.”

Maryland voters approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday to legalize adult-use cannabis. The vote on the issue was called by the Associated Press at about 9:33 p.m. when unofficial election results showed nearly two-thirds of voters opting for legalization. Maryland joins Washington, D.C., and 19 other states that have legalized adult-use cannabis. Voters four other states also were voting Tuesday on recreational marijuana. Even though Maryland voters chose to legalize recreational cannabis, it doesn’t mean that any adult aged 21 and older will be able to walk into the nearest dispensary and legally buy cannabis. Tuesday’s vote essentially gives Maryland lawmakers the green light to go ahead and set up a recreational industry that could start as soon as July 1.

When D.C.-area voters head to the polls on Election Day, chances are some of the people assisting in the process are veterans who’ve volunteered to help address the growing shortage of election workers across the country. Some of those veterans got involved through “Vet the Vote,” a nonpartisan coalition of 30 organizations with one goal in mind: to “help make democracy happen for our fellow citizens,” board member Joe Plenzler told WTOP. Plenzler, who retired after serving in the Marines and lives in Charles County, Maryland, stressed that the organization has no political affiliation. “It’s really important that folks understand that we’re operating at the level of civics and not politics,” he said.

Arguing that its hands were tied by the likely implementation of term limits, the Baltimore City Council advanced a bill Monday reducing the number of years required for elected officials to receive a pension. The legislation, introduced by Council President Nick Mosby, calls for Baltimore to offer pensions to city officials after eight years of service. Currently, the requirement is 12. The council voted, 9-2, in favor of the bill that city retirement and finance officials warned could be costly for the city in years to come. Three members, Councilmen Mark Conway and Eric Costello and Councilwoman Phylicia Porter, abstained. Councilmen Zeke Cohen and Ryan Dorsey voted against the measure. The bill still faces one more vote from the council before it heads to the desk of Mayor Brandon Scott.