Politics

For the first time in more than a decade, two long-time elected officials in Prince George’s County aren’t on the ballot — but that doesn’t mean they aren’t busy boosting candidates and trying to influence elections in their legislative district. A series of text messages this week attacked Del. Geraldine Valentino-Smith (D), who is not seeking re-election in Bowie-based District 23, and attempted to discourage voters from supporting her favored candidates.

The state House of Delegates candidate accused last week of plagiarizing a Baltimore City politician’s platform, Aisha Khan, appears to have lifted some of her Baltimore Sun voter guide responses from the platform of a third candidate seeking to represent a neighboring district in Annapolis.

One Howard County teen can’t buy cigarettes and has yet to enter college, but he’s planning his first primary election campaign in Maryland. “Running as a 17-year-old is definitely unconventional. It’s very uncommon,” Dhruvak Mirani, 17, said of his run for a position on the Howard County Democratic Central Committee. Democratic primary ballots in the county will show his name for the volunteer position, placing him on the ballot among gubernatorial, congressional and local legislative candidates.

A Baltimore man running as a Republican in Maryland’s U.S. Senate race was arrested for allegedly making false reports to police claiming an adult bookstore was trafficking a young girl by forcing her to perform sexual acts with male customers. The Harford County sheriff’s office said Ryan Dark White, 54, allegedly provided false information to detectives in April about a girl who was 10 to 12 years old. Police arrested Mr. White without incident Friday and charged him with making false statements to law enforcement and a false statement of the commission of a crime.

An expert witness hired by Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby to help her defense at her upcoming perjury and mortgage fraud trial previously called her actions “quite dumb.” Mosby’s lawyers plan to call Eric Forster, a California-based professional mortgage fraud witness, to provide insight into the two-term Democrat’s purchase of two Florida homes in 2020, according to court filings. The defense expects him to testify that the lenders should have scrutinized Mosby’s mortgage applications more carefully.

Four years ago, Marc Elrich and David Blair finished 77 votes apart in the race for Montgomery County executive. A poll released on Friday shows that — with the all-important Democratic primary just days away — the pair could be headed for another photo finish. According to Data for Progress, a San Francisco-based firm, Elrich and Blair are tied at 34%, with County Councilmember Hans Riemer at 20% and 11% undecided. Candidate Peter James, who ran for congress as a Republican in 2012, has one percent support. Early voting ended on Thursday and the primary is July 19.