Politics

Democratic candidates for the Maryland Congressional District 6 seat weren’t afraid to challenge each other and make jabs at campaign practices and policy views during a forum at Rocky Hill Middle School in Clarksburg on Sunday, marking the final weeks till the May 14 primary election. Top fundraiser April McClain Delaney, an attorney with a telecommunications policy background, was notably absent from the event, and Del. Joe Vogel (D-Dist. 17) took the opportunity to draw attention to her absence during his closing statement.

When Mayor Brandon Scott first proposed a goal of reducing Baltimore shootings by 15% per year, his staff “almost fainted” and others laughed, Scott recalled Monday. Midway through his five-year violence prevention plan, residents are beginning to see the fruits of that work, and those double-digit declines are becoming reality, Scott said at a news conference.

In their first televised primary debate, Rep. David Trone and Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks each sought to position themselves as the Democratic Party’s best chance of defeating the state’s popular, two-term former Republican governor in November. With similar stances on key issues such as education and reproductive rights, the leading Democrats in the race for U.S. Senate emphasized contrasting experience in making their pitch to primary voters — all while agreeing on the stakes.

The day after Iran attacked Israel, House Speaker Mike Johnson was on the phone with a man who suddenly held the keys to his legislative agenda and potentially his own future: House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. In a phone call that has not been previously reported, Johnson said he was ready to act on foreign aid, even though that would enrage Republicans who did not support additional assistance to Ukraine and could potentially cost him his job, a source familiar with the conversation told CNN.

Del. Robbyn Lewis (D-Baltimore City) has never been to a Democratic National Convention before. So when the call came for candidates interested in serving as delegates to this summer’s convention in Chicago, Lewis went to the State Board of Elections office and signed up to run in the May 14 Democratic primary as a delegate from the 7th congressional district pledged to President Biden.

With mail-in voting already under way, and the election less than a month from now, the number and pace of high-profile endorsements is intensifying in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. On Thursday, two powerful Black women officeholders from Prince George’s County announced they were backing U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-6th) over their own county executive, Angela Alsobrooks (D), who is bidding to become the first Black woman to win statewide office in Maryland, and just the third elected to the U.S. Senate.

Mayor Brandon Scott’s latest television campaign ad on Baltimore’s mayoral race makes two assertions about his opponent former Mayor Sheila Dixon’s record on crime that are deserving of scrutiny. According to polls, Scott, who is seeking a second term, has opened a lead over Dixon, his chief competition in the Democratic primary that begins with early voting beginning May 2 and Primary Day on May 14.