Into the Ring
Doug Gansler made it official today: he will seek the Democratic nomination for the attorney general's seat being vacated by five-term incumbent J. Joseph Curran Jr.
Gansler, 43, the Montgomery County chief prosecutor who's been considering a bid for quite some time, has raised more than $1.4 million for the campaign and has been working to line up support beyond his Montgomery base. He pledged to go after gangs, those polluting the Chesapeake Bay and other criminals "whether they be terrorists, snipers or sexual predators; price gougers, polluters or common crooks."
He have some competition, namely from fellow Democrat and Montgomery County pol, Councilman Tom Perez. Perez said he plans to announce next week. On the Republican side, Frederick State's Attorney Scott Rolle has already declared his candidacy.
In Prince George's County, County Council member Douglas J.J. Peters (D-Bowie) also made an announcement today, declareing he'sll run for the state Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Leo E. Green (D).
Peters, who has served three years on the council, is the third candidate to jump into the race. The Rev. Bobby Henry, an attorney and associate minister at Jericho City of Praise in Landover and Gregory Holmes, a project manager, recently announced their intentions. Henry captured 45 percent of the vote in a failed attempt to unseat Green in 2002.
The 23rd state Senate District includes Bowie, Mitchellville, and parts of Laurel and Upper Marlboro.
Steve Vogel and Ovetta Wiggins
By Phyllis Jordan |
May 15, 2006; 5:54 PM ET
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Posted by: Bryan | May 15, 2006 11:17 PM
So far Montgomery County has no credible law enforcement. Where are the efforts targetting organized crime? Not a single case of racketeering has been prosecuted. When you have no change in policy despite record numbers of voters at the polls you smell a rat. Instead we get retrials of a sniper already convicted and locked away. How about a real investigation of the fraudulent voting machines?
Posted by: SNAFU | May 17, 2006 12:54 PM
I'm a Gansler support, and SNAFU's comment requires a response to set the record straight.
As for the comment that there have been no racketeering prosecution, there is a simple reason: there is no Maryland racketeering statute. And near the top of Gansler's agenda is a pledge to enact one. If racketeering prosecutions are SNAFU's issue, he should support Doug.
As for the "no change in policy" comment, consider this: Under Gansler, (1) the Montgomery County prosecutor's office became the first in the U.S. to fully implement community prosecution, and the approach has won national recognition, (2) he has initiated the county's first domestic violence dockets and first drug courts; (3) started Maryland's first gang prosecution unit; (4) started Maryland's first Elder Abuse Task Force in Maryland; and (5) started Maryland's first internet crime unit; and (6) lobbied for strengthening Maryland's drunk driving and gun safety laws.
Posted by: Concerned lawyer | May 17, 2006 4:11 PM
As for voter fraud I quote from an article found on WND: About the only way the county or state board of election discovers that a non-citizen has made the voter rolls is when they are called for jury duty.
Montgomery County Jury Commissioner Nancy Galvin said her office sends out 10,000 to 12,000 questionnaires every other month to prospective jurors, asking whether they are U.S. citizens. Non-citizens are not allowed to sit on juries.
"We've had many of them returned asking to be excused from jury duty because they are not U.S. citizens," she said. However, she said her office "keeps no records" of these replies, and takes no further action. A spokesperson for Montgomery County State's Attorney Doug Gansler said it was "not an offense" to do jury duty as a non-citizen and that his office "has not prosecuted anyone for this" or for perjury on the motor voter forms.
Posted by: SNAFU | May 17, 2006 9:29 PM
Organized crime? Huh?
Having lived in and grown up in Montgomery County, I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about. I don't like Gansler or Perez, but I don't really see Montgomery County on par with Tony Soprano's northern NJ.
Posted by: Bryan | May 18, 2006 1:11 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Gansler hangup-- John Muhommad, pursing 'life' instead of 'death penalty'. That'll fly great with MD voters who remember the snipers as well as 9/11/
Perez-- did we ever figure out if he could even legally run?
Rolle-- Needs to build name recognition, whereas Perez and Gansler have it in the most populous county in the state.