Monday, September 3, 2012

Delegate Liz Bobo of Howard County to Retire // Several Columbia-Area Politicos May Seek District 12 Seat in 2014

Delegate Liz Bobo
The Baltimore Sun's Explore Howard site is reporting that longtime Delegate Liz Bobo of Howard County will not seek re-election in 2014 (excerpt below):
EXPLORE HOWARD: Columbia Democrat Liz Bobo's long political career will come to an end in 2014. Bobo, 68, a former Howard County executive now serving as a state delegate from District 12B, announced Thursday in an email to constituents that she does not plan to run for re-election when her term ends in 2014....

Currently, Bobo is the sole delegate from District 12B, which covers west Columbia and parts of Ellicott City. Halethorpe Democrats Steven DeBoy and James Malone, both of whom have expressed interest in running for re-election in 2014, currently represent District 12A, which includes parts of Elkridge, Ellicott City, Jessup, as well as parts of Baltimore County.


In 2014, District 12 will no longer have two subdistricts. Whoever runs will have to run in the entire district, which is also represented by Sen. Ed Kasemeyer, a Columbia Democrat....

Bobo said she still hopes "a progressive Democrat from west Columbia" and someone who would "be willing to bear the consequences from going against the trend" will take over her seat.

POTENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR DISTRICT 12 DELEGATE IN 2014: Shortly after Delegate Bobo announced her retirement, a Maryland Juice reader from HoCo forwarded us thoughts on who might seek Bobo's seat in 2014. We are printing this reader's speculation about 2014 candidates completely unfiltered, so take this all with a grain of salt. In fact, our source comments that all of the candidates they are aware of are from the Columbia-area, so this list may not be thorough. Also note that District 12 is a newly created 3-member Delegate District in 2012, and Bobo's two Delegate colleagues from 12B are likely to run for re-election. That means candidates for Bobo's seat in 2014 will also be going up against the two incumbents. Indeed, Bobo has been concerned about whether a progressive will succeed her in the House. One of the final messages on her website, for example, criticizes the gambling expansion push in Maryland. Meanwhile, her colleague, incumbent Delegate Steve DeBoy, for example, voted against marriage equality earlier this year. We also consulted a HoCo politico for thoughts, and he suggested that County Councilmember Mary Kay Sigaty may take a look at the race. If you are aware of other possible 2014 candidates, please contact david@marylandjuice.com or leave a comment below:

MARYLAND JUICE READER: Be mindful that the District also contains Elkridge and Catonsville and the names below are Columbia potentials only. Also, there will probably be other candidates who show themselves to start organizing asap. A lot of movement is going to take place in Howard County in 2014, and fresh faces will want to be apart of it. With solid sources, you should consider the following possibilities from the Columbia area:
  • Mary Kay Sigaty (Howard County Councilmember)
  • Alan Klein (ran against Sigaty in 2010 in primary; backed by Bobo and lost)
  • Terri Hill (Doctor Ethel Hill's daughter. Ethel is president of HoCo Thurgood Marshall group)
  • Dylan Goldberg (works for HoCo delegate in Annapolis, Young Dem)
  • Clarence Lam (Doctor, HoCo Community Action Council Chair, HoCo Dem Central Committee member, DNC Delegate, President of HoCo Young Dems, community activist)
  • Lee Richardson (Chair of the Town Center Community association) 

See the new District 12 boundaries below:
Maryland State House District 12 - 2012

Howard County State Legislative Districts 2012

1 comment:

  1. I have heard that Janer Siddiqui, who serves on the board of education or her nephew Jahanatab Siddiqui

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