Politics

Maryland state elections officials say Aug. 16 is the latest possible date for this year’s primary election, if the state’s highest court decides to accept challenges to the legislative redistricting map. The Court of Appeals has scheduled arguments for Wednesday. The court will consider a Republican challenge to the Democratic-drawn map of 47 districts in the state House of Delegates and state Senate.

The General Assembly passed bills raising the minimum age for marriage without parental consent and banning many uses of chemicals known as PFAS as they began the final day of this year’s 90-day legislative session Monday. Lawmakers convened at midday for a last push to pass bills before the legislature adjourns amid celebrations at midnight and most of them strike out on the campaign trail ahead of upcoming elections.

The already-delayed redevelopment of Laurel Park faces additional questions about how it will move forward as costs have risen and pushed the project over budget. Maryland lawmakers now intend to pass legislation that seeks to expedite the redevelopment of Pimlico Race Course while the Maryland Stadium Authority prepares a study to determine how much it will cost to get Laurel Park done. A deal ratified by Maryland lawmakers in 2020 aimed to have redevelopments of both Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park completed by 2025.

On October 14, 2021, Ashley Vaughan became the Harper’s Choice representative on the Columbia Association (CA) Board of Directors, replacing Alan Klein, who was removed from the CA Board following an ethics violation. Now, six months later, Klein is challenging to win back the director position – Klein and Vaughan are the two Columbia Council candidates in the Harper’s Choice election to select a representative to sit on the CA Board member for a two-year term.

Opponents of Maryland’s legislative redistricting plan filed challenges on Friday to a high court adviser’s recommendation to keep the boundaries drawn by the General Assembly. Special Magistrate Alan M. Wilner, a former Court of Appeals Judge, said in a Monday report that the legislative maps should stand. Four petitions were filed objecting to that map, which was enacted by lawmakers in January. All of the petitions argue that the legislative map violates the Maryland Constitution’s requirement that legislative districts be compact and respect natural and political boundaries.

Bill Ferguson wore a detached expression and spoke in a monotone. One after another, General Assembly Republicans pressed the state Senate president to specify which Democratic lawmakers or staff drafted the latest map of Maryland’s congressional district lines and what their priorities were. Ferguson’s demeanor suggested he wanted to be anywhere but the livestreamed hearing. “I answered the question,” he replied to one delegate who was insistently seeking more details about how the map was redrawn after a judge rejected an initial version as extremely partisan.

The Maryland General Assembly voted on Saturday to override Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.’s vetoes of abortion access and paid leave bills, enacting the measures into law. The bills were among 10 measures a Democratic supermajority in the legislature enacted over the Republican governor’s objection on Saturday. House Bill 937, titled the Abortion Care Access Act, was overridden in the House of Delegates by a vote of 90-46, and in the Senate by a vote of 29-15.

Gov. Larry Hogan used his social media account to draw attention to Maryland’s stance on the war in Ukraine on Sunday. He announced on Twitter that he, as commander in chief of the Maryland National Guard, would continue to stand with America’s allies, which include the citizens of Ukraine, Estonia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina. Hogan has publicly shown support and empathy for the plight of the Ukrainians since Russia invaded the country and began bombing it on Feb. 24. Since then, he has taken many steps to break ties with Russia.