Miranda Spivack covers development and politics in the Post's Montgomery County bureau. Previously, she was the Post's editor in Prince George's County and before that served as the deputy editor for Gazette Newspapers, a Post subsidiary, helping launch several new publications in the Washington region. She worked for 10 years as a Washington correspondent for The Hartford Courant, covering national politics, legal affairs and the defense industry. She got her start covering local communities in Pittsfield, Mass. and later had a Ford Foundation fellowship at Yale Law School. An almost native of the Washington area, having moved here when she was one, Spivack attended public schools in Fairfax County before graduating from Sarah Lawrence College. She and her husband, a government lawyer, live in Bethesda and have two daughters, who on most days are close to adulthood.

Lisa Rein covers Maryland state government and politics and is based in Annapolis. She came to the Post in 1999 to cover Prince William County, discovering supervisors and subdivisions after covering Rudy Giuliani for the New York Daily News. She reported on two sessions of the Virginia General Assembly before migrating toward the Beltway to cover Fairfax County government. She started her career covering the selectmen in Brookline, Mass. for the Tab newspapers, and has reported for the the Patriot-Ledger in Quincy and The Record in Hackensack, N.J.

Rosalind Helderman covers Prince George's County government. She started at the Post in 2001, covering the education in Loudoun County, the nation's second fastest growing jurisdiction. She covered the Virginia General Assembly in 2005 and returned to Richmond for what was supposed to be 60 days in 2006. Six months and one heck of a legislative budget fight later, she finally came north again. In July 2006, she crossed the river to join the Maryland staff.

Ann Marimow covers Montgomery County government and politics from the Post's Rockville bureau. Before joining the Post in 2005, Ann spent five years at the San Jose Mercury News, writing about local and state government, including the recall of California's governor and the election of the Governator - Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ann worked at Congressional Quarterly and the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire, where she covered the presidential primary for the 2000 election.

John Wagner arrived at The Washington Post in July 2004 after working in various capacities for The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer since late 1992. His work in Raleigh included several years covering then-North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt (D) (who, coincidentally, is now a law partner in the same firm as former Maryland governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), the first governor Wagner covered for The Post). Wagner became The N&O's Washington correspondent in 2000, covering a colorful congressional delegation during a stretch that included Jesse Helms's final years in the Senate and, at age 79, his first rock concert. The Washington correspondent gig eventually morphed into a full-time job covering North Carolina's junior senator, John Edwards (D) as he sought the presidency. Since his arrival at the Post, Wagner's coverage has included the campaign and new administration of Gov. Martin O'Malley (D).