By Barry Rascovar Aug. 5, 2020 — With Donald Trump repeatedly flogging mail-in voting as a fraud on the American people (though he lacks evidence), voting analyst extraordinaire John Willis sent me an extended reply regarding Maryland’s summer mail-in primary (see the full document in “Recent Comments” in the right-hand column). Willis served as Gov. Parris Glendening’s Secretary of State overseeing Maryland presidential elections. He also has a long record as an academic and published author on voting trends and results. He takes a far more positive view of Maryland’s mail-in primary that I ..read more

By Barry Rascovar July 13, 2020 — There’s no mystery why Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ordered state election officials to conduct a high-risk, in-person Nov. 3 election — it helps his budding presidential ambitions. Why else would he flatly dismiss recommendations of medical experts and those most experienced in running elections? The state election board gave him three options for the upcoming balloting and he picked the least viable — by a country mile. Democratic Attorney General Brian Frosh nailed it when he said Republican Hogan’s insistence on holding a traditional election at 1,600 polling ..read more

By Barry Rascovar June 4, 2020 — It’s a toss-up to figure out which bungling election board in Maryland is more incompetent — the one in Baltimore or the one in Annapolis in charge of statewide coordination. Both boards bear direct responsibility for screwing up Maryland’s once-delayed primary election that took place June 2. Two days after the polls closed, we still don’t have a clue who won the most important race — by far — on the ballot, the Democratic mayoral primary. Indeed, they didn’t count any city ballots at all on Wednesday or Thursday. Why rush? In overwhelmingly Democratic Baltimo ..read more

By Barry Rascovar April 10, 2020 — In the Age of Covid, there’s a right way and a wrong way to run an election. Despite the spread of the lethal Covid-19 pandemic, the U.S. political calendar continues to march forward. Unfortunately, those stuck solidly in the cement of continuing to conduct elections as in the past are putting lives at risk — literally. In a sensible move, Maryland’s primary election balloting has been moved back to June 2. But the special election for the vacant 7th Congressional District seat formerly occupied by the late Elijah Cummings of Baltimore still is set for April ..read more

By Barry Rascovar Feb. 27, 2020 — Despite sky-high poll numbers and the luxury of knowing he doesn’t have to mount an energy-sapping, time-consuming campaign for another term as Maryland governor, Larry Hogan still isn’t feeling the love. He refuses to try to get along with Democratic leaders in the General Assembly. As a result his Republican agenda gets smashed every year, and 2020 is no exception. MD Gov. Larry Hogan Hogan is a persistent critic of virtually all things related to Baltimore City. Then he wonders why he fails to win the backing of city officials for his legislation. He is e ..read more

By Barry Rascovar Feb. 6, 2020 — Former Congressman Kweisi Mfume is headed back to Capitol Hill, a fact that will be confirmed by voters on April 28. He obliterated 23 other Democrats in Tuesday’s special primary election. Even if you add together the votes gained by the second, third and fourth-place finishers, Mfume still would have won by a big margin. He got 42.8% of the total Democratic vote; the next three, combined, got 30.6%. Former Congressman Kweisi Mfume The widow of the late Rep. Elijah Cummings got drubbed by far better than 2-1. So did state Sen. Jill Carter. State Del. Terri H ..read more

By Barry Rascovar Nov. 26, 2019 — There was nothing fancy about the scam hatched by former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh: It was an updated version of a Ponzi scheme, designed to enrich the perpetrator with money essentially stolen from the donors. Pugh happened upon this self-enrichment plan well before she became mayor. Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh As a state senator from West Baltimore, she sat on the board of the University of Maryland Medical System. She came up with the idea of a cartoon booklet for children explaining how to stay healthy. She took the idea to Bob Chrencik, C ..read more

By Barry Rascovar Nov. 4, 2019 — The stampede is on to fill the late Elijah Cummings’ prized seat in Congress. By the time filing deadline passes late on Nov. 20, there could be a half-dozen or even a dozen “contenders” — though many will be “pretenders” on ego trips. The odds-on favorite is former Rep. Kweisi Mfume. The results may not even be close. Given the incredibly lopsided Democratic majority in Maryland’s 7th Congressional District,  the winner of the special Democratic primary on Feb. 4 will be the person filling out Cummings’ term — and also the lopsided favorite to be re-nomin ..read more

By Barry Rascovar Oct. 28, 2019 — Leave it to Maryland’s longstanding Senate President, Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr.,  to mastermind a seamless transition of power without a whimper of dissent. After 33 years Miller Time may be ebbing but Mike Miller’s management skills are as sharp as ever. Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr. The messy leadership transition in the Maryland House of Delegates earlier this year may have served as a warning to ambitious Democratic senators not to bring dissension and lasting bitterness into the upper chamber of the State House. It also may h ..read more

By Barry Rascovar Sept. 9, 2019 — We live in an era where fewer and fewer politicians are willing to take the high road. Doing the right thing has become an increasingly alien term. Some examples of recent vintage: Egregious Injustice Five wrongly imprisoned inmates petition the state seeking reimbursement for having been unfairly prosecuted and convicted of crimes they didn’t commit. One of them, age 71, spent 31 years locked away from society, denied freedom of movement and “the pursuit of happiness.” Another has been homeless, living in the woods at times. All told, they spent 120 years beh ..read more