JUICE: Delaney Out for Governor, House of Cards Extortion, MoCo School Board Races, D4, D16, D45 & D46 & Much More

Below Maryland Juice provides a round of updates to news of interest to politicos:

JUICE #1: REP. JOHN DELANEY NOT RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR // PLUS: A DEEPER DIVE INTO RECENT GUBERNATORIAL POLLS - The race for Maryland Governor is finally settling in with a pair of developments in the last week. First, Congressman John Delaney, who had been rumored to be weighing a run for the office has instead filed for re-election to Congress. The Washington Post's John Wagner reported on the development this week (excerpt below):

WASHINGTON POST: Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) filed for reelection Tuesday, a move likely to end speculation that he could run for governor. There had been chatter for more than a month about the first-term congressman from Montgomery County making a late entry into the Democratic field, fueled in part by a telephone poll that included Delaney’s name as an option for governor.... Delaney was spotted at the State Board of Elections office in Annapolis filing to run again for his 6th District seat. He did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment about the decision.

Meanwhile, a pair of fresh polls seems to confirm the current status of the Governor's race. We previously reported on a Baltimore Sun poll claiming the following results:

• Undecided - 40%
• Anthony Brown & Ken Ulman - 35%
• Doug Gansler & Jolene Ivey - 14%
• Heather Mizeur & Delman Coates - 10%

But now The Washington Post has released results of a gubernatorial poll showing very similar findings:

• Undecided 43%
• Anthony Brown & Ken Ulman 34%
• Doug Gansler & Jolene Ivey 15%
• Heather Mizeur & Delman Coates 8%

There are a few things to note here: 1) Brown has a sizeable lead right now (not surprising), 2) Mizeur is coming dangerously close to Gansler in both polls, and 3) there are a large number of undecided voters. All that being said, it is worth taking a closer look at one aspect of the polls. In The Washington Post survey results, if you strip the poll down to voters who lean Democratic and consider themselves likely voters, Brown's lead increases a bit (see question 4 in The Washington Post crosstabs):

• Anthony Brown & Ken Ulman 41%
• Doug Gansler & Jolene Ivey 19%
• Heather Mizeur & Delman Coates 10%

JUICE #2: KEVIN SPACEY WANTS $15 MILLION FROM MARYLAND TAXPAYERS // "HOUSE OF CARDS" THREATENING TO LEAVE MD WITHOUT A HANDOUT - Maryland Juice just started watching the second season of the popular Netflix series "House of Cards" last night. But this morning, I woke up to some irritating and ironic news about the Kevin Spacey series about political corruption. The Washington Post has reported that Maryland taxpayers have been subsidizing "House of Cards" to the tune of millions of dollars, and now the producers are demanding even more money or else they'll shoot in another state (excerpt below):

WASHINGTON POST: A few weeks before Season 2 of “House of Cards” debuted online, the show’s production company sent Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley a letter with this warning: Give us millions more dollars in tax credits, or we will “break down our stage, sets and offices and set up in another state.”

A similar letter went to the speaker of the House of Delegates, Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel), whose wife, Cynthia, briefly appeared in an episode of the Netflix series about an unscrupulous politician — played by Kevin Spacey — who manipulates, threatens and kills to achieve revenge and power.

In recent years, Maryland has spent more than $40 million to reward movie and television production companies that choose to film in the state, and most of that largesse has gone to “House of Cards.”

“This just keeps getting bigger and bigger” Del. Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery), who until now has supported film tax credits, said at a hearing on the issue last Friday. “And my question is: When does it stop?...”

In his letter to O’Malley, Charlie Goldstein, a Media Rights Capital senior vice president, wrote that the filming schedule for Season 3 has been pushed back to June to ensure that a big enough increase has been approved....

JUICE #3: MULTIPLE CANDIDATES FILING TO CHALLENGE MOCO SCHOOL BOARD INCUMBENTS // PLUS: ALAN BOWSER FILES FOR MOCO CLERK OF COURT - The candidate filing deadline in Maryland is next Tuesday, but already some interesting things are happening in Montgomery County's local races. First, numerous candidates are filing to challenge incumbent Board of Education members. The school board races are non-partisan, so in the primaries, the top two vote-getters will advance to the General Election ballot. Here is the current list of candidates:

Board of Education At Large (open seat):

• Edward Amatetti
• Shebra Evans
• Merry Eisner Heidorn
• Jill Ortman-Fouse

Board of Education District 1:

• Judy Docca (incumbent)
• Kristin Trible

Board of Education District 3:

• Laurie Halverson
• Pat O'Neill (incumbent)

Board of Education District 5:

• Mike Durso (incumbent)

MOCO CLERK OF CIRCUIT COURT RACE: Meanwhile, another unusual local race will be contested in the upcoming elections: Clerk of the Circuit Court. The current incumbent, Loretta Knight, is retiring at the end of her term this year. Two candidates are currently filed for her position in the Democratic Primary:

Clerk of the Circuit Court (open seat):

• Alan Bowser
• Barbara Meiklejohn

JUICE #4: TRANSGENDER NONDISCRIMINATION BILL PASSES OUT OF SENATE JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS COMMITTEE - The Maryland Senate's Judicial Proceedings Committee has finally passed a transgender nondiscrimination bill, after years of failed efforts. The shift toward civil rights puts the effort on track to finally pass this year. According to Equality Maryland, eight State Senators on the committee voted for the nondiscrimination effort:

1. Brian Frosh
2. Lisa Gladden
3. Jim Brochin
4. Jennie Forehand
5. Anthony Muse
6. Jamie Raskin
7. Norm Stone
8. Bobby Zirkin

JUICE #5: ISRAEL-PALESTINE POLITICS CLASH WITH ACADEMIC FREEDOM IN ANNAPOLIS // DEL. BEN KRAMER BILL BANS ACADEMICS FROM BOYCOTTS  - The Gazette's Kate Alexander reported last week that the politics of the Middle East and academic freedom are emerging as issues in Annapolis this session (excerpt below):

GAZETTE: An academic boycott of Israel by a U.S. academic association has Maryland lawmakers questioning how the state’s colleges and universities spend public funds. The American Studies Association — a national organization devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and history — voted in December to boycott Israeli academic institutions.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County remained a dues-paying member of the association even after the vote to boycott, so Del. Benjamin F. Kramer has introduced a bill that would restrict the ability of universities and its faculty to spend public money on participation in organizations that engage in such boycotts....

University President Freeman Hrabowski and Provost Philip Rous have openly opposed the academic boycott.... Just as UMBC opposed the boycott, it vigorously opposes Kramer’s bill....

This is not the first time the legislature has questioned how Maryland universities spend public funds. In 2010, Perdue chicken farmers Alan and Kristen Hudson of Worcester County were sued by the Waterkeeper Alliance of New York over Chesapeake Bay pollution. The University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic represented the plaintiffs....

“…[W]e believe that it constitutes a very serious threat to academic freedom and to the autonomy and integrity of the state’s publicly-supported colleges and universities,” Nathan Brown, president of the Middle East Studies Association of North America, said in a letter.... “Faculty in Maryland should not be subjected to a political litmus test concerning their involvement in academic organizations....”

Peace Action Montgomery issued the following email alert on this issue:

PEACE ACTION MONTGOMERY: ... Senate bill 647 and House bill 0998 would prohibit state financial aid for public colleges and universities that fund teachers' membership or participation in academic organizations that support boycotts against higher-eduction institutions in other countries....

Along with the Center for Constitutional Rights, the National Lawyers Guild, the ACLU, and the New York Times editorial board, we believe that this bill is an unconstitutional infringement of free speech and that it is very dangerous....

In coalition with many other groups in MD, we have joined an ad hoc coalition to oppose SB 647 and HB 0998. You can read more details about this bill, its background, and the broad-based opposition to it on the ad hoc coalition's Web site.... 

JUICE #6: IKE LEGGETT & DOUG DUNCAN CLASH OVER BIOTECH INCUBATOR IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY - As Montgomery County's race for Executive heats up, incumbent Ike Leggett and former Exec Doug Duncan are increasingly clashing over policy matters. The latest skirmish resolves around a Montgomery County biotech business incubator. The Washington Business Journal reported that Duncan threw the first punch on the issue (excerpt below):

WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL: Doug Duncan, the former Montgomery County executive who is running this year for his old job, issued a broadside Friday against the county's decision to close its largest biotech incubator.

In a guest commentary in this week's Business Journal, Duncan attacks what he refers to as a "questionable county action" to evict more than three dozen startups from the William Hanna Center for Innovation at Shady Grove to make way for a cybersecurity center.

The 60,000 square foot facility — also referred to as the Shady Grove Innovation Center — has been in operation for about 15 years. The vast majority of its occupants are biotechs, which make use of the lab space provided by the incubator. In its place will be a federally-funded "center of excellence" for non-defense cyber run by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)....

Duncan's letter signals that the incubator's closure has spilled into the county executive race, where he is seeking to unseat two-term executive Isiah "Ike" Leggett. "In 2013, his seventh year in office, Leggett announced a new 'open for business' initiative. That’s certainly not the impression given to the companies that will be displaced," Duncan wrote. "Nor was it the message perceived by the biotech world, both in and beyond the county, which sees Montgomery County as a haven for fostering biotechnology and life science innovation...."

The Gazette's editorial board weighed in on the issue on the side of Ike Leggett (excerpt below):

GAZETTE: In Doug Duncan’s quest to reclaim the reins of Montgomery County political power, he has attacked Isiah Leggett’s decision to relocate some biotech businesses out of a Gaithersburg incubator. The move is to make room for the county’s effort to become a cybersecurity center for Maryland.

On this, Duncan is wrong and Leggett is right.

Duncan, who will face Leggett in the Democratic primary in June, believes the county should find a way to keep the biotech companies in place and find somewhere else for the cybersecurity businesses.... A new location to house cybersecurity start-ups would cost $3 million, the county says. The cost inside the William Hanna Center for Innovation: $750,000. Where would Duncan find the difference? He doesn’t say....

We appreciate Duncan’s desire to assist growing biotechs.... However, his recent actions cast him as a politician who has forgotten the financial difficulties of the last six years. Adding millions to the county’s bottom line looks like a 20th-century thing to do.

JUICE #7: GOP DEL. MICHAEL HOUGH CHALLENGING GOP SEN. DAVID BRINKLEY, CALLING HIM O'MALLEY'S "RUBBER STAMP" - Maryland Juice reader Howard Gorrell forwarded us news of intra-party battle between GOP lawmakers Del. Michael Hough and Sen. David Brinkley. Hough announced the Republican Primary challenge on a press release on his website (excerpt below):

MICHAEL HOUGH: ... Today Maryland State Delegate Michael Hough (Frederick & Washington Counties), announced he is running for state senate in district 4 (Frederick & Carroll Counties). Hough said, “Frederick and Carroll Counties deserve a true conservative Republican, not ‘O’Malley-lite.’ To quote one of my heroes President Ronald Reagan, we need to be a party of bold colors, not pale pastels....”

Hough concluded, “Senator David Brinkley’s record shows that he is nothing more than a rubber stamp for O’Malley’s and the Democrats’ liberal agenda. Frederick & Carroll counties deserve a state senator who will fight out-of-control taxes and stand firm for our conservative values.

JUICE #8: ROCKVILLE COUNCILMEMBER TOM MOORE LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN FOR MOCO COUNCIL DISTRICT 3 - Rockville City Councilmember Tom Moore hosted a kickoff event for his campaign for the MoCo Council District 3 this week. Incumbent Phil Andrews is vacating the seat to run for County Executive, and so far Gaithersburg Mayor Sid Katz, Gaithersburg Councilmember Ryan Spiegel, and activist Guled Kassim have announced plans to run for the seat. Below you can see a photo from Tom Moore's kickoff:

JUICE #9: JULIUS HENSON VIOLATING PROBATION TERMS BY RUNNING AGAINST D45 STATE SENATOR NATE MCFADDEN - Julius Henson, who was convicted of election fraud in a case involving robocalls he created on behalf of GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Ehrlich, had previously announced a Democratic Primary challenge to D45 State Senator Nate McFadden. But The Baltimore Sun's Luke Broadwater reports that Henson may be violating the terms of his probation by running for office (excerpt below):

BALTIMORE SUN: Veteran political consultant Julius Henson pledged Wednesday to continue running for a Maryland Senate seat even though the state says that may violate the terms of his probation.

“Whether I’m free or in prison, the contest will go on and I plan to win this race,” Henson, 64, said during an afternoon news conference in the living room of his East Baltimore home. He vowed to “retire” longtime Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden, whom he plans to challenge in the June 24 Democratic primary.

Henson is serving three years probation stemming from his conviction in a high-profile election-fraud case. As part of the sentence, Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Emanuel Brown ordered that Henson “shall not work in any political campaign paid/volunteer during probation....”

At issue is whether Henson is prohibited from running for office or only from working on another candidate’s campaign. Gerard Shields, a spokesman for the state prison system, said Henson’s probation agent alerted the court of the potential violation after learning that Henson was planning to run for state Senate. A hearing before Judge Brown is scheduled for Feb. 27....

JUICE #10: KYLE LIERMAN OPTS AGAINST D16 CAMPAIGN // PLUS: SISTER BROOKE LIERMAN POISED TO WIN D46 DELEGATE SEAT - Bethesda Magazine's Lou Peck today reported that former D16 Delegate candidate Kyle Lierman has opted against a 2014 run for office (excerpt below):

BETHESDA MAGAZINE: Kyle Lierman, who had been mulling a race for an open state Senate seat, has decided to forgo a run in Bethesda/Potomac-based District 16 this year, sources said late Thursday.

His decision all but assures Delegate Susan Lee’s election this year to the seat being vacated by Sen. Brian Frosh, who is running for state attorney general. With only four days until the filing deadline for the June 24 primary, no other Democrats have filed for the slot – and no one else appears to be on the horizon in the overwhelmingly Democratic district.  

Lierman came within several hundred votes of capturing the Democratic nomination for a state delegate seat in District 16 four years ago, and also had been mulling a reprise run for delegate. His move further reinforces the status of health policy advocate Hrant Jamgochian and attorney Marc Korman as the strong favorites this year to capture two open delegate seats created by Lee’s run for Senate and Delegate Bill Frick’s candidacy for the attorney general slot also sought by Frosh....

BROOKE LIERMAN SURGING: Meanwhile, Kyle's sister Brooke Lierman is a candidate for Delegate in Baltimore-based District 46. Brooke looks well-poised to win a Delegate seat given the broad support her campaign is receiving. First, the D46 Democratic incumbents (Senator Bill Ferguson & Delegates Pete Hammen and Luke Clippinger) have formed a slate with Brooke Lierman. Additionally, Congressman Elijah Cummings, Baltimore Councilmember Edward Reisinger, the League of Conservation Voters, and others have also endorsed Brooke for D46 Delegate. Dems in other parts of the state have apparently taken notice, as we received a statement of endorsement for Brooke Lierman from MoCo Del. Jeff Waldstreicher (excerpt below):

JEFF WALDSTREICHER: We need more progressive voices in Annapolis. We need Brooke Lierman. I endorse my friend Brooke without hesitation or reservation. She is the best candidate to ensure our great state reaches its full potential--a green, safe, & prosperous Maryland....

JUICE #11: ADVOCATES SEEK TO REDUCE RECIDIVISM & MASS INCARCERATION WITH THE "MARYLAND SECOND CHANCE ACT" - Last year, Maryland Juice wrote about a worthy effort by some Maryland lawmakers to bring some sanity to our criminal "justice" system by allowing residents to shield minor crimes from public view after a few years (think minor nonviolent misdemeanor offenses and simple pot possession charges, as examples). Currently, a conviction for a minor crime can stick on one's public record for years and create unnecessary obstacles to employment. This session, advocates are making another effort to pass reform legislation.

The 2014 shielding legislation is now titled the Maryland Second Chance Act of 2014.  This year's proposed legislation would allow persons to petition the courts to shield certain nonviolent misdemeanor convictions from public view.  Law enforcement, courts and certain employer would maintain access to shielded records.

Last year, the shielding legislation came very close to passing, but fell victim to the drama of the House Judiciary and the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee over an unrelated bill.  This year, however, there is a strong chance that it could pass given current local (and national) conversations around mitigating the collateral consequences of those with a criminal record - particularly those convicted of nonviolent misdemeanor offenses and persons and color.   It won't be easy, but at least folks are interested in Annapolis.  Sponsors this year are Senators Jamie Raskin and Verna Jones-Rodwell and Delegates Curt Anderson and Jeff Waldstreicher.  The fact sheet for the bill (from the Job Opportunities Task Force) is below:

Maryland Second Chance Act 2014 Fact Sheet

JUICE #12: MOCO COUNCIL HOLDING PUBLIC HEARINGS ON CLEAN ELECTIONS PROPOSAL - The Montgomery County Council is debating a program for public financing of local elections (aka "clean elections"), and they have scheduled a public hearing for Tuesday, March 4th, at 7:30 pm.

Under a public funding program, candidates for County Council or County Executive would raise low-dollar donations from individual donors in their district to qualify for public funds, and in exchange turn down large donations from wealthy donors or corporations.

• To testify, call 240-777-7803 and ask to be added to the witness list. Make sure you speak to a live person as leaving a message on the voicemail system will not sign you up on the list.

The bill file, including the language of the bill, is available at the County Council website. You can watch a video from the press conference launching this initiative below:



JUICE #13: STATE OF BLACK MONTGOMERY EVENT SOLD OUT FOR THIS SATURDAY - Maryland Juice received an invitation to a forum titled "The State of Black Montgomery." The event this Saturday is sold out, but there may be standing room available for late registrants. Here's the event description:

The African American Democratic Club of Montgomery County (AADCMC), the Montgomery County Young Democrats (MCYD), and other organizations throughout the metropolitan area are joining forces to convene a call to action forum that will explore and address topics pertinent to the black community. The State of Black Montgomery will bring together Montgomery County’s elected officials, business leaders, community activists and the community at large to advance the successes of the black community in Montgomery County.

Panel Topics Include:

• Empowering and Engaging Our Youth
• Increasing Our Political Participation 
• Addressing Our Social Justice Issues 
• Advancing Our Economic Power

Senate President Mike Miller Shuffles Committee & Leadership Posts for Brinkley, Feldman, Getty, Hershey, Pugh & Robey

Maryland Juice just received the following press release from the office of Senate President Mike Miller announcing new committee assignments an leadership posts to account for the new members appointed to the body. The shifts impact State Senators David Brinkley, Brian Feldman, Joseph Getty, Stephen Hershey, Catherine Pugh and James Robey. Robey and Pugh are taking the leadership posts previously held by Sen. Rob Garagiola (eg: Majority Leader & Senate Finance Health Subcommittee Chair, respectively). The remaining committee assignments are highlighted below:

PRESS RELEASE

Senate President Miller Announces new Committee & Leadership Positions

Announcement comes after Feldman, Hershey Appointments

Annapolis, MD – Today, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., announced new committee assignments and Democratic leadership appointments resulting from the resignation of Senators Garagiola and Pipkin as well as the appointments of Senators Feldman and Hershey.

“I am pleased to announce these appointments and know that these Senators will be very successful in these roles. We have incredible talent and knowledge in the Maryland Senate and I am certain all of these appointments will serve our State well," said Senate President Miller.

In appointing Senator James Robey as Senate Majority Leader, Senate President Miller remarked that "We have a true and demonstrated leader in the Senate with a career of public service that we all admire and for this reason I am pleased to appoint Senator James Robey as the Senate Majority Leader. While we are all saddened by his decision not to seek re-election next year, we are excited to have him serve in this role in his final year in public service.”

Senate President Miller also announced the appointment of Senator Catherine Pugh as the Senate Finance committee Health Subcommittee chair following the departure of Senator Garagiola, stating, "I can think of no one better than Senator Pugh to help our state move forward in this new and complex era of health care delivery."

Senate President Miller also announced the following committee assignments:

Committee Assignments:

• Senator Brian J. Feldman – Finance Committee
• Senator David R. Brinkley – Finance Committee
• Senator Joseph M. Getty – Budget & Taxation Committee
• Senator Stephen S. Hershey, Jr. – Judicial Proceedings Committee

###

HACKING POLITICS: The Death of Aaron Swartz, The Birth of Maryland Juice & State Senator David Brinkley // Read My Book

MYSTERIES OF MARYLAND JUICE REVEALED

Dear Maryland Juice Reader:

Maryland Juice's alter-ego (David Moon) has just co-authored a new book called "Hacking Politics" [Paperback available now & eBook available on a "Pay What You Want" basis for a limited time]. The collection of writings from myself and numerous figures in tech policy and online organizing chronicles the 2012 battle to defeat Internet censorship legislation called SOPA/PIPA. But rather than post some self-congratulatory and shameless plug for the project, I thought it would be better to break my silence on a few matters in the fairly lengthy piece below. 

What does it mean to actually "be the change?"

INTRODUCTION: I thought it was about time for me to provide a little bit of context surrounding the circumstances of this blog's formation and explain why I volunteer my spare time to expose the inner workings of Maryland's political system. Along the way, you'll read some hints about my future plans, and you'll also hear a few untold stories about how my work on Maryland Juice relates to the late Internet activist Aaron Swartz and (oddly) to Maryland State Senator David Brinkley. The collective of political hackers called Anonymous even makes a cameo appearance (kind of). 

I've been steadily working on this piece over the course of the last few months but always found myself lacking the mental energy (and the time) to finish the job. In recent weeks, however, several incidents have pushed this persistent "almost-article" into the front of my mind.

It's been great meeting so many wonderful people around the area over the last year and discovering that they are readers of Maryland Juice. I am truly honored that you've chosen to spend time reading about Free State politics through this progressive civil libertarian's lens. But I've also heard from a few detractors who say my blog is biased, sometimes snarky, and might even have an agenda. Let me be clear: I think that's exactly the point.

Maryland Juice was formed in August 2011, a few months after I started working for an Internet activist group called Demand Progress. I had decided to take a pause from campaign work after several years of back-to-back election cycles on the trail for a range of candidates including State Senators Jamie Raskin & Rich Madaleno; Delegates Al Carr, Ana Sol Gutierrez & Jeff Waldstricher; MoCo Councilmembers Nancy Navarro & Hans Riemer; and the Maryland Democratic ticket in 2010. After that election cycle, I even applied for a job trying to bring my electoral reform experience (built up while working at a group called FairVote), to try and setup an election monitoring system in Tunisia. I needed to be working on something different.

But instead I ended up at Demand Progress, and the work I was doing there very quickly began to influence the way I approached how to use my blog. Remember that nationally Democrats had just gone through the bruising Tea Party cycle of 2010. So somewhere between the models of the Maryland Politics Watch blog and the aggressive activist tactics of The Tea Party, Occupy, Susan G. Komen protests, and more -- I started developing a new theory of change for progressive politics. I had already tried affecting change on the campaign trail, in nonprofits, through ballot measures, with a law degree, with a PAC, in primaries, in generals, and even from within the government itself. But weaponizing information (especially information that might go viral) was something new to me.

Naturally, Maryland Juice began coopting some of the tactics I saw providing some measure of success for online organizers and conservative activists. For example, when the political shaming strategies of Rupert Murdoch's rightwing NewsCorp were revealed to the world, I paid close attention. The curation of Maryland Juice is an experiment in learning from some of the aforementioned tactics -- but unlike some other pratictioners, I've been trying to use these strategies to promote social and economic justice. And during much of the time I've been writing the blog, I've had an entirely parallel activist life that I haven't talked about much on Maryland Juice -- until now.

The tragic events described below have made me impatient for change and determined to shock the conscience of voters into awakening. As a result, the blog itself has over time evolved into an aggressive attempt to hack politics. You and I are participating in an experiment in state-based progressive activism that I call Maryland Juice, and among the central theories driving this project are the ideas that to create change we must insist that decorum and inertia yield to justice, and that we must stop "waiting for Superman" to fix politics.

DECORUM MUST YIELD TO JUSTICE: This point was never so clear to me as it was last January, when my friend and colleague Aaron Swartz hung himself with a belt from the window of his Brooklyn, New York apartment. He was only 26 years old. 

Aaron co-founded and helped develop numerous cutting-edge sites and online information-sharing technologies including reddit.com, RSS 1.0, Creative Commons, and (as we discovered after his death) the New Yorker's online system for receiving anonymous news tips. His high-profile pursuits were noted as early as age 14, marking the arrival of one of the most interesting child prodigies of our time. This August Aaron is posthumously being inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame alongside titans like Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and a documentary film is being made about his life (watch the trailer). Lastly, in response to Aaron's high-profile death, last month a bill called "Aaron's Law" was introduced in Congress to prevent future tragedies. 

You see, the U.S. Department of Justice (under Eric Holder's leadership) decided to try and make a criminal out of Aaron and threatened him with thirty-five years in prison for unbelievably trumped up felony "hacking" charges. In truth, if Aaron had been convicted, he would've been a political prisoner. I explain why down below.

---

"Be curious. Read widely. Try new things. I think a lot of what people call intelligence just boils down to curiosity."

 - Aaron Swartz 1986-2013

---

Practically the entire time I knew Aaron and worked with him, he was living under the cloud of a menacing prosecution. But he was intensely private about the whole affair and refused to do more than shrug his shoulders when I asked him about it. I would later come to discover that Aaron's friends were being dragged before federal officials to testify against him. All the while, Aaron kept his head high and continued his activist work and projects. He never stopped thinking about ways to make positive change on complex issues of justice. But in some ways I feel I may have let him down, as there would come to be signs that the prosecution was taking a personal toll on him.

MAY 2012: AARON SWARTZ FOR NY MAYOR? - One of the last times I saw Aaron alive, he had come to Silver Spring, Maryland (near where I live) to give the keynote speech at the annual Freedom to Connect conference. I didn't arrive at the AFI Silver Theatre in time to hear his remarks, though the YouTube replay has now been viewed by over 400,000 people. Sadly, I couldn't have known then that this would be one of Aaron's final public addresses. Nevertheless, after his speech Aaron wanted a ride to Union Station so that he could catch the next train back to New York. And as soon as we got in my car, he asked plainly, "what's on your mind these days?" Aaron was always curious to hear more about what others were working on.

I described to him my frustrations with the lack of political courage on criminal justice reforms that would end the mass incarceration of Americans for non-violent offenses (who, by the way, are disproportionately poor and of color). I ranted about the fact that across the nation, Democrats had all but given up on challenging corporate power in our political system. And I also told Aaron I had been thinking about running for public office in Maryland.

Given Aaron's interest in open information, I tried to tickle his interest in experiments with activist legislating for the cause. In particular, I described to him some possible things an elected official could do to force complacent legislative leaders to grant the public access to information about what their government is doing. Maryland, for example, had only recently started publishing committee votes online. But why couldn't a diligent lawmaker simply have gotten some staff or interns to systematically scan and publicly upload all of the committee votes themselves? And just like that, we started gaming out different ways of going rogue to create disclosure of government proceedings that the public ought to be able to see.

It was at this time that Aaron told me he had recently plotted out a hypothetical run for New York mayor in his head, as he wanted to see what it would take to mount a serious bid. Though it didn't seem he was actually talking about running, it was clear to me that this was a continuation of a conversation we had the first time I met Aaron only one and a half years earlier.

DECEMBER 2010: HACKING POLITICS - In September 2010 Aaron co-founded the online activist organization Demand Progress with my high school friend, former Rhode Island State Rep. and congressional candidate David Segal (who grew up in Montgomery County). Aaron and David brought me in to serve as Demand Progress' "Washington Guy" a few months after launching the organization. Though Aaron is not able to see what's become of his work with us, I think he would be pleased to know that we now amplify the voices of 1.5 million members in the aggressive defense of civil liberties, progressive causes and Internet freedom.

At the time, Aaron was most widely known as an open information advocate, who happened to believe that access to taxpayer funded academic research should not be a luxury reserved for wealthy nations and institutions. He was also a wildly creative and idealistic activist who looked for opportunities to make real change. When PACER (the U.S. court system's database of federal court documents) announced a pilot project to provide free access to public records at some libraries, Aaron found a way to download millions of the court documents and upload them into the cloud. Like a modern-day Robin Hood, Aaron made the files publicly available and was investigated by the FBI for his activism. At the time, PACER charged users 8 cents per page for public records and allegedly ran a surplus of nearly $150 million. 

Though Aaron's PACER stunt was discussed in the mainstream media, I didn't know about the law enforcement distaste for his tactics when I first started working for Demand Progress. A passage from my new book Hacking Politics describes the first time I met Aaron Swartz, and it also details the beginning of a running dialogue we had about how to get justice-minded candidates to seek public office (excerpt below):

DAVID MOON (VIA HACKING POLITICS) - [Demand Progress'] primary function is to mobilize the public to advance civil liberties and progressive causes. We do so primarily during key moments in the public dialogue, when the actions of a few can be leveraged into results for many more.... Our work to stop SOPA/PIPA ... fits the paradigm for activism today: harnessing grassroots disruption to advance social change....  The Arab Spring protests, Occupy, the Tea Party, and Anonymous have all illuminated this paradigm shift.

My involvement with Demand Progress began on December 20, 2010, when I met the young Internet activist Aaron Swartz for coffee in Washington, D.C.'s Dupont Circle. I had never heard of Aaron or his work -- but over time, I quickly saw that he was trying to trigger many of the same policy changes I sought to advance....

But my first meeting with Aaron wasn't even really about [Internet censorship legislation called] COICA or Demand Progress. Instead, I asked Aaron to describe his broad vision of what he hoped Demand Progress might achieve. Aaron expressed immense frustration with the political process and stated that his dream was to see well-meaning grassroots candidates running for office in every district in the nation. Privately, I thought the idea sounded a bit grandiose (at least in the context of trying to create a short-term strategic plan for an organization), but that was mostly beside the point: it was clear that I shared Aaron's sense of impatience with a broken political system and his desire to go big....

FEBRUARY 2012: A CAMEO BY ANONYMOUS (KIND OF) - By February 2012, Demand Progress was reveling in the glow of the unexpected defeat of the SOPA/PIPA legislation. That month I spoke on a panel at DC Social Media week titled, "Who was Really Behind the Internet Blackout Day? A SOPA & PIPA Case Study." It was a great event and a community celebration for Internet freedom fighters, but after the event I was approached by a gentleman who handed me a business card that had no text on it and simply displayed a bizarre pattern of shapes. When I gave him a puzzled look, he stated, "I'm anonymous. But I may be in touch." I don't know if those were his exact words, but you get the idea. Given recent high-profile news coverage of hacktivism, I assumed my mysterious new acquaintance was affiliated with the Anonymous (eg: the one with a capital "A"). As it would turn out, I never heard from him again, but the run-in would cause some confusion weeks later.

Indeed, soon after speaking at DC Social Media Week, and I can't remember exactly when, I received a USB flash drive in an unmarked manilla envelope in the mail. When I opened the unmarked package and saw the disk drive with no accompanying note, I immediately gulped, as I conjured up all sorts of crazy stories about what was on the drive or what might happen if I inserted it into my computer. By this time, I was already aware of the federal charges facing Aaron, so I thought it best to explore the mystery of the flash drive at a later date. With that decision made, I took the envelope and flash drive and threw them into the trunk of my car -- where they sat for months. Life and work, as is normal, diverted my attention from extracurricular activities such as this new mystery.

JUNE 2012: DARK DAYS FOR AARON SWARTZ - In June 2012, I was invited to speak on a panel at the annual Netroots Nation conference (the topic was SOPA/PIPA organizing again). I remembered that the USB flash drive was still sitting in my car and decided I would bring it to the gathering in Providence, Rhode Island. I was finally ready to explore its contents. 

At this point in time, Demand Progress was still trying to steady its fundraising operations, so I was trying to find other activists to share my hotel room with me. I ended up bunking with Aaron and his girlfriend Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman. Taren and I were both speaking on panels at the conference, and Aaron's attendance was actually a last minute decision. As the story goes, Taren had boarded a train to Providence, and Aaron was feeling down and wanted to be with her. He happened to be near New York Penn Station when talking to her on the phone and realized that the next train to arrive would be the one that Taren was aboard. So Aaron jumped on Taren's train and joined us in Providence.

Admittedly, I found the living arrangements a bit awkward, as I wanted to give Taren and Aaron some personal space. Our first night together was fine, as we were mostly all tired upon arrival, and the next morning Taren and I woke up and departed to our various panels. Aaron, however, stayed behind in the room. When I returned sometime after lunch, he was alone in the room with the shades drawn shut in total darkness. When I asked if he was going to come out with me, he stated that he wasn't yet ready to partake in the conference. I didn't think much of this. 

But I returned yet again in the early evening as the famous Netroots Nation happy hours and parties were about to begin and demanded he come out to socialize with some of our activist friends. Aaron promised he would meet up with me at one of the parties being sponsored by this or that progressive organization, and then he disappeared back into the darkness of the cave he had created for himself. Today I wonder whether this was a sign of the mental toll the federal prosecution was taking on him.

For whatever reason, this situation didn't seem so bizarre to me at the time, as I knew Aaron to be a bit eccentric and often not interested in mindless socializing. In fact, he was staying with me once on my birthday, and during my party he shut himself in my guest room as soon as people started singing to Journey. "What's going on down there?" he asked like a father might. That weekend, he enjoyed himself much more in my company when others were not around. I introduced him to the HBO television show Bored to Death and the rock band The Black Keys, and that seemed more his speed. In any case, with that experience in mind, I decided to give Aaron and Taren some space during the rest of the conference. Rather than continuing to intrude on their time together, I slept on the spare bed in the hotel room of one of my friends and former colleagues (Vermont State Rep. Chris Pearson of the Progressive Party -- a disruptive catalyst for change in his own right).

FLASH DRIVE MYSTERY SOLVED BY SEN. DAVID BRINKLEY - The morning after I was exposed to Aaron's dark day of solitude in our hotel room, I went back to our shared quarters to fetch some things. It was around lunchtime and Aaron was sitting in bed clacking away on his laptop. This time he allowed sunlight to penetrate the room.

I told Aaron that I brought a mysterious disk drive with me to the conference, and I disclosed to him the story about the man with the wordless business card. He immediately jumped out of bed and insisted we go down to the business center to explore the contents of the device. Aaron's face lit up with curiosity, and he was alive like I hadn't seen him during the rest of the conference. This was, in fact, the first time I had succeeded in getting him out of the hotel room.

So Aaron and I marched down to the business center at the conference to borrow one of their desktop computers. After all, I had refused to open the flash drive on my own computer. Hilariously, I had my own laptop in my hand, and the clerk at the business center inquired why we needed to use his computer when we had our own. I hadn't considered that one might wonder about this, and I stammered some garbled words in response. I thought the jig was up. But I quickly recovered and stated something about needing to print documents from their machine, and we proceeded to rent one of their computers.

When I finally loaded the USB drive into the computer, my excitement turned into disappointment. There were exactly two files on the drive, and they were both labeled something like "David Brinkley 911 Call." It turned out that the mysterious package had nothing to do with hacktivsm or Anonymous at all. The real story behind the anonymous mailing was that Maryland Republicans were embroiled in a heated primary race for the 6th Congressional seat held by GOP Rep. Roscoe Bartlett at the time. A State Senator named David Brinkley was challenging Bartlett in the primary, and someone had sent me copies of 911 audio recordings relating to a domestic disturbance at Brinkley's house. Obviously, they were hoping I would post the tapes on my blog Maryland Juice. At the time, I had decided to start writing about and weighing in on the horserace aspects of the GOP primary battle, since the mainstream media was seemingly not doing too much in-depth coverage of the race. 

The primary was held during April 2012, but I was so terrified of the unmarked package that whoever sent it to me probably had no idea I wouldn't even look at the contents until well after the election was over. As a result, the anonymous sender was later forced to post the 911 call tapes on YouTube and send them to me by email. Though the resulting Maryland Juice story caused quite a stir in state politics, I didn't even bother to tell Aaron what was on the flash drive. Instead, when he asked what the files were, I didn't think he'd be interested in the story. So I just told him that the fiiles were related to my blog. But now I wish I told him the full story, as I think he would've been amused. Oh well.

JANUARY 2013: THE DEATHS OF AARON SWARTZ & NORM GLEICHMAN - Around 2:30 am on Saturday, January 12, 2013, I received a Google news alert informing me that my friend and colleague Aaron Swartz had committed suicide just hours earlier. Given our work together on Demand Progress, in pro forma fashion, I had subscribed to news alerts mentioning Aaron. I was out of the house the night of Aaron's death and didn't know that the multiple missed calls were attempts to reach me about the shocking news. But when I got home and realized what was going on, I quickly made a late-night phone call to my tired sounding Demand Progress colleague David Segal. After confirming that the news alert was in fact true, I went to bed stunned and emotionally numb.

After just a few hours of uneasy rest, I bolted awake the next morning and quickly grabbed my smartphone to read any email messages that may have come through while I was sleeping. Though I was seeking more information about Aaron's death, I was instead astonished to read a Facebook message from a friend in Takoma Park informing me that our mutual friend Norm Gleichman died suddenly and unexpectedly while on vacation with his family. I first met Norm, a senior attorney in SEIU's national office, while managing Jamie Raskin's insurgent campaign for State Senate in 2006, and though we both mingled in some overlapping political circles, I actually knew Norm mostly in a non-political context. I had been over to his house a few times to have dinner with his family and also saw him shine as a thespian taking on the lead role in the Greenbelt Arts Center's 2009 production of the play "Amadeus." One of my friends briefly dated Norm's daughter and yet another had been working with Norm in SEIU's legal department for the past couple years. So when my wife Melinda and I moved close to Norm and his wife Marie's house in Takoma Park last year, we were excited to reconnect with them and have them over to our house for dinner. We've finally completed a year of mayhem living in a house undergoing renovations and are ready to entertain, but alas we will now miss the company of Norm, too.

Aaron Swartz and Norm Gleichman died on the same day under wildly divergent circumstances, and attending the two funerals in quick succession left me with a lasting psychic scar. But somehow Aaron's voluntary taking of his own life rattled me more than perhaps I've been able to comprehend. I had only weeks earlier met up with him at the December 2012 RootsCamp organizing conference in Washington, DC. That was the last time I ever saw Aaron in-person, but in our final conversation together, we caught up on our discussion about my potential run for office and Aaron followed-up by connecting me via email to an academic he knew who was working on the issue of mass incarceration in America. We also talked about maybe getting together later that weekend, but again I got too busy to actually meet up with Aaron. That would've been my last opportunity to chat with him about anything.

Aaron did, however, contact me on Twitter ten days before his death with a warning to protect one of my own accounts, which was probably spamming him with nonsense. His final message to me (though helpful at the time) now means something more to me than its ordinary tone would suggest. With all that must have been going on in his head, I can't even believe that he spent a nano-second writing this message to me:

CONCLUSION: Aaron and I never had the opportunity to finish our ongoing conversation, let alone even continue it. And so now I am continuing this dialogue directly with you instead. Maryland Juice is obviously not a mainstream media outlet, nor are we just another news blog or online political column. This operation is yet another experiment in Hacking Politics ... one reader at a time. Much, much more on the next steps soon. In the meantime:

#OccupyLife

MORE DETAILS ON MY BOOK: HACKING POLITICS -  Hacking Politics chronicles the 2012 battle to defeat Internet censorship legislation called SOPA/PIPA. I co-authored the book with former Rhode Island Rep. David Segal, and former George W. Bush webmaster Patrick Ruffini. The strategies and work style reflected in the chapters I wrote are a window into the ethos of Maryland Juice. Though the book widely concerns a policy battle over Internet Freedom, I hope it is a useful case study for thinking about organizing more broadly. Our coalition's efforts culminated in a dramatic Internet-wide blackout of websites including Google, Wikipedia, Craigslist, and Mozilla. Along the way, our ragtag coalition came to include technologists, Tea Partiers, progressives, businesses, civil libertarians, and literally millions of ordinary Internet users around the nation. We went up against a massive coalition of industry interests including giants in the pharmaceutical industry, Hollywood, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- and we prevailed. 

Hacking Politics details how it all went down from the perspective of numerous key participants, and in doing so shines the light on the massive influence of special interests in Congress -- and how to fight back guerilla-style. The book includes colorful stories and insightful commentary from Aaron Swartz, lawmakers including Ron Paul and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, musicians like Erin McKeown and Jonny 5 of the Flobots, as well as advocates from a range of websites including Google, reddit, Megaupload, Cheezburger, Suicide Girls, and more. I hope you might check it out at: http://www.orbooks.com/catalog/hacking-politics-2

You can also watch a crude trailer I previously made for the book below:



NOTE: I am doubtful that simply mentioning my interest in public office in a single article on a blog that predates the creation of my committee requires an authority line, but just in case, this particular article alone may be considered: By Authority: Friends of David Moon. Treasurer: Usman Ahmed.

CD6 WOUNDS: Sen. David Brinkley Hasn't Endorsed Rep. Roscoe Bartlett // Plus, GOP Leaders Prop Up Bartlett Cash

Maryland Juice has two quick updates on 6th Congressional District Republican candidates. First, after the release of State Senator David Brinkley's 911 emergency calls, it appears he holds hard feelings. The Frederick News-Post reports that Mr. Brinkley has not yet endorsed the Republican nominee Rep. Roscoe Bartlett:

FREDERICK NEWS-POST: The primary is over in the 6th Congressional District, but that doesn't mean the fences have been mended.

CD6: Rep. Roscoe Bartlett Denies Involvement in Release of Sen. David Brinkley's 911 Tapes // A VICTIM OF DIRTY TRICKS?

UPDATE #2: Upon further inspection, Maryland Juice notes that the original email we received with the links to David Brinkley's 911 calls included an "unsubscribe" link that leads back to Roscoe Bartlett's campaign website! See the screencap below from Maryland Juice's inbox (click to enlarge):

CD6: Republican Candidates Respond to Release of Sen. David Brinkley's 911 Calls // Robin Ficker & Del. Kathy Afzali Speak Out

UPDATE: Maryland Reporter notes a 3rd GOP candidate response from Brandon Rippeon. He calls both Bartlett and Brinkley "unworthy."

The Republican Primary in Maryland's 6th Congressional District is getting crazy as we get closer to election day. Over the weekend, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett took out a sledgehammer and smacked challenger State Sen David Brinkley in the head. His supporters unearthed audio tapes of 911 calls placed by Brinkley's ex-wife that were made when the Senator was caught in an affair.

Two Republican candidates are now condemning the shenanigans in the CD6 race. Below we print email blast responses from former Delegate Robin Ficker and Delegate Kathy Afzali. Ficker's email message is reportedly going out to 40,000 voters.

From: Robin Ficker
Subject: Sleazy campaigning and shocking 911 calls... Robin Ficker condemns them!

Robin Ficker criticizes 911 smear campaign on Marylandjuice.com http://www.marylandjuice.com/2012/03/cd6-rep-roscoe-bartlett-goes-nuclear-in.html

"Publicizing that 911 call by Brinkley's ex-wife is a new low in negative campaigning," said Robin Ficker, Republican candidate for Maryland's 6th Congressional district.

"I've stayed positive and talked about the issues important to voters. While others attack, I've been busy getting signatures to limit energy taxes. I ran ads, sent emails and called voters, and I testified before the Maryland legislature to prevent a gas tax hike. The Democrats tried to rig this election by radically redistricting us.  Sleaze will only ease the way for the Democrats who tried to disenfranchise us. I, Robin Ficker, will not let sleazy campaigning and shocking 911 calls like those on Marylandjuice.com (http://www.marylandjuice.com/2012/03/cd6-rep-roscoe-bartlett-goes-nuclear-in.html) distract the voters and me."

Robin Ficker

Brinkley 911 tapes of domestic dispute surface

Hello! 

Election day is Tuesday and so much happens in one day in the campaign. Yesterday I received news that MarylandJuice.com was reporting Congressman Bartlett had released an audio tape about fellow competitor David Brinkley. The audio is very disturbing.

I am sorry for his ex-wife that this came out, but this is a liability for Republicans if Brinkley should get the nomination. The audio consists of 911 tapes of his wife and then him calling police for help during a domestic dispute between the two.

I had hesitated to send this to my supporters, but because the election is Tuesday, I felt that this information should be available to voters before making a final decision on this very important race.

I have tried to stay positive during the campaign so I have personally struggled with whether or not to send this.

Both Bartlett and Brinkley need to go. The time for a new, fresh voice is now! I need your vote Tuesday!

Much more on the CD6 race soon!

CD6: Joe Krysztoforski Releases Internal Poll Showing Dead Heat with Rep. Roscoe Bartlett // Sen. Brinkley in Distant Third

UPDATE: The Krysztoforski campaign has released some details on their polling sample, as well as county-level results of their survey. Note: Maryland Juice makes no claims about the data below.

CD6: Joe Krysztoforski Poll Results // Details on Sample and County Tabs

BACKGROUND: This weekend, State Senator David Brinkley released the results of internal polling showing his campaign in a dead heat with incumbent Rep. Roscoe Bartlett. A rival campaign immediately cried foul, alleging that one of its supporters participated in the poll and claimed the caller only asked about Bartlett and Brinkley. They complained that the pollsters completely omitted the other GOP candidates from their questionnaire.

Today Tea Party candidate Joe Krysztoforski has released his own internal poll results, and he claims the he -- not David Brinkley -- is the actual leading challenger to Roscoe Bartlett. In Kryszotorski's poll, he is in a head heat with the incumbent, and State Senator Brinkley is in a distant third. See the press release below.


For Immediate Release

Krysztoforski Leads the Pack
TelePoll Shows Candidate Has Strong Grassroots Support

April 1, 2011 (Frederick, MD) – A poll of registered voters across Maryland’s 6th Congressional district was commissioned by Krysztoforski’s campaign committee. The Poll conducted between March 19th, 2012 and March 30th, 2012 shows Krysztoforski and Bartlett in a statistical dead heat.

The results are consistence with other straw polls;  The Frederick County GOP’s  January poll showing Krysztoforski with 46.2% and Bartlett with 46.7% of the vote, the poll conducted by the Hagerstown Tea Party, following their candidate forum, showing Krysztoforski with 26% and Bartlett with 27% of the vote and the political blog marylandjuice.com’s grassroots intensity poll,  showing Krysztoforski’s grassroots support at 47% and Bartlett’s at 13%. 

CD6 REVENGE: Citing Family Values, Sen. David Brinkley's Ex-Wife Sallie Brinkley Endorses Rep. Roscoe Bartlett for Congress

BACKGROUND: With only two days left until the Tuesday, April 3rd Primary Election, the 6th Congressional District Republican Primary is heating up! Yesterday, incumbent Rep. Roscoe Bartlett and challenger State Senator David Brinkley traded jabs. Bartlett launched a series of attacks on Mr. Brinkley, including a mail piece calling him President Obama's "new best friend" and a radio spot painting his legislative record in a liberal light. But Rep. Bartlett's supporters dropped a nuclear bomb yesterday by releasing 911 emergency call recordings from Sen. David Brinkley' and his ex-wife Sallie. The calls were made in relation to a domestic disturbance at Sen. Brinkley's house, resulting from an affair he was having with an aide. It appears that Sallie Brinkley has not forgotten about this incident, because she is now citing family values and urging voters not to support her ex-husband.

SALLIE BRINKLEY ENDORSES ROSCOE BARTLETT: An anonymous Maryland Juice reader now reports that Sallie Brinkley is urging voters to support Rep. Roscoe Bartlett for re-election. In a message that appeared on Bartlett's Facebook campaign site, Ms. Brinkley wrote:

SALLIE BRINKLEY: If Republican values like family and integrity matter to you as they do to me, you will cast a vote for Roscoe this tuesday.

Much more on the CD6 race soon!

CD6: Rep. Roscoe Bartlett Goes Nuclear // LISTEN: 911 Emergency Calls from Sen. David Brinkley & His Ex-Wife

UPDATE #2: This is just getting bizarre. Maryland Juice just received the following email message from a reader and confirmed that the 911 videos have in fact been re-posted at a new link. Below, we have replaced the YouTube links with functioning copies.

I just went to go watch the videos and it said they were removed by user. So I searched google to see if anyone else had uploaded them and found them re-uploaded with this message attached:

****THIS ACCOUNT WAS HACKED AND WE HAD TO RE-UPLOAD THE VIDEOS! NICE TRY SEN. BRINKLEY! YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED IN PREVENTING PEOPLE FROM SEEING WHO YOU ARE. HACKING OUR ACCOUNT AND SALLIE TAYLOR'S IS JUST SHOWING PEOPLE WHO AND WHAT YOU ARE! ****

UPDATE: The YouTube videos containing the Brinkley 911 calls have been removed! The video links below no longer function. Instead the image below appears:

ROSCOE BARTLETT FANS DROP NUKES ON SEN. BRINKLEY: Maryland Juice just received the following nuclear bombs in the race for the CD6 Republican nomination on April 3rd. Earlier today we reported that challenger State Senator David Brinkley had released internal poll numbers showing him locked in a dead heat with the incumbent Rep. Roscoe Bartlett. Now Bartlett supporters have released three attacks on Sen. Brinkley. The videos come with the following message:

Please Visit: www.bartlettforcongress.org

More about Brinkley here: http://behindthebluewall.blogspot.com/2008/06/md-senator-brinkly-no-arrest-no-charges.html

Remember who Brinkley REALLY is on April 3, 2012!

Vote for Roscoe Bartlett!

The first two clips below are actual 911 audio tapes from calls made by David Brinkley and his former wife. Previous news coverage of the event indicates that a physical altercation occurred and police were called to the scene. The dust-up arose as Sen. Brinkley was caught in an affair with his staffer. The two 911 clips in the pro-Bartlett effort are rounded out with what sounds like a 60-second radio spot attacking Sen. Brinkley's record.


911 Call from Sen. David Brinkley's Ex-Wife

CD6: State Sen. David Brinkley Releases Internal Poll Showing Dead Heat with Rep. Roscoe Bartlett for Republican Primary

UPDATE: At least one rival GOP campaign in CD6 is alleging that Brinkley's poll was a head-to-head poll between Roscoe Bartlett and David Brinkley. They claim that one of their supporters was polled and states that the poll didn't ask voters about the other candidates in the race.

Maryland Juice just received a press release touting internal poll numbers from State Senator David Brinkley's campaign for the 6th Congressional District. Sen. Brinkley is running for the Republican nomination against incumbent Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, and his survey results show him in a dead-heat with only a few days left in the race.

CD6 DIRECT MAIL: Rep. Roscoe Bartlett Calls State Sen. David Brinkley Obama's "New Best Friend" // SIGN OF WEAKNESS?

Maryland Juice just received a copy of a new direct mail piece that Rep. Roscoe Bartlett is sending voters in the 6th Congressional District. The attack ad calls GOP State Senator David Brinkley "Obama's new best friend in Maryland" and claims he is a Republican in name-only. The mail piece also criticizes Senator Brinkley for voting for Democrat Mike Miller as the Maryland Senate President.

A SIGN OF WEAKNESS FROM ROSCOE BARTLETT? - This piece seems very defensive coming out only days before the April 3rd Republican Primary. Thus far, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett did not seem to have a single candidate to take on, rather a gang of GOP challengers has been attacking him throughout the primary. In the closing days of the race, this makes it seem like the Bartlett camp is most concerned about Sen. David Brinkley.

See Roscoe Bartlett's attack ad below, along with a response from the Brinkley campaign:

CD6: Rep. Roscoe Bartlett Sends Direct Mail Attacking State Sen. David Brinkley

Read the following press release response to the attack ad from Sen. David Brinkley's campaign. Brinkley suggests that Roscoe Bartlett might be better off working at Burger King with rival candidate Del. Kathy Afzali.

CD6 JuiceBlender: News Roundup of Democratic & Republican Primary Coverage // Plus, Watch Full Candidate Debate VIDEOS

There is less than one week left in the heated 6th Congressional District Primary Elections, so all the candidates are making their final appeals this week. Below Maryland Juice prints a quick-hit list of the latest news coverage in the CD6 race:

JUICE #1 - ROLL CALL: "Delaney Closes In on Garagiola"

CD6 DIRECT MAIL: Sen. David Brinkley Attacks Rep. Roscoe Bartlett's Age // Plus, Del. Kathy Afzali to Challenge Brinkley?

SEN. DAVID BRINKLEY CALLS OUT REP. ROSCOE BARTLETT'S AGE: Maryland Juice recently stumbled upon two direct mail pieces that GOP State Senator David Brinkley is sending CD6 voters. In one piece, he assaults incumbent Rep. Roscoe Bartlett's voting record as "too liberal" and raises a thinly veiled criticism aimed at highlighting Bartlett's age. The piece notes that the long-serving member of Congress is 85-years-old, but suggests that age is NOT an issue. Cute.

Sen. Brinkley's mail piece also points readers to a website of citations for his attacks (including a mention of the STACHE Act). The caption for his list of links about Rep. Bartlett's voting record states:

IT'S TIME FOR CHANGE...

I am running against Roscoe Bartlett, not because he's 85 years old, but because he votes liberal.

After 20 years in Washington, the liberal seduction of Roscoe Bartlett is complete. His views, his votes and his passions are all liberal. Sadly, there is not much left to differentiate Bartlett from Nancy Pelosi.

WILL DEL. KATHY AFZALI CHALLENGE SEN. DAVID BRINKLEY IN 2014? - See Brinkley's two mail pieces below, followed by a brief video clip of rival candidate Robin Ficker at a CD6 GOP candidates debate from last Sunday. Ficker takes a strong anti-war position against the conflicts with Iran and Afghanistan, but also takes time to throw zingers at Delegate Kathy Afzali and Senator David Brinkley. Ficker points out that both Annapolis lawmakers actually live in Rep. Chris Van Hollen's 8th Congressional District and are carpetbaggers.

THEORY: Ficker also commented that Del. Afzali and Sen. Brinkley sound like they are fighting for the 2014 GOP nomination to the District 4 State Senate seat. At first I thought he was joking, but then I started to realize they have been bitterly attacking each other during the course of this race. I think that seems like a plausible scenario, and I think Del. Kathy Afzali would be a formidable opponent in a Republican Primary against Sen. Brinkley. His now high-profile "issues" with women and his lackluster fundraising will likely dovetail nicely with a poor performance in next week's GOP Primary. I suspect this will broadcast his political vulnerability to potential 2014 challengers, thus proving that there is a downside to running for Congress while serving in Annapolis. Note: many lawmakers see it as a "free shot," since they don't have to resign from their seats in order to run for Congress.

Maryland State Senator David Brinkley's Direct Mail Piece Attacking Rep. Roscoe Bartlett

Maryland State Senator David Brinkley's Direct Mail Piece Highlighting Endorsements

Watch Robin Ficker's comments about Afzali and Brinkley below:

CD6 GOP JUICEBLENDER: Rob Garagiola Push Poll, Sen. David Brinkley Apologizes to Burger King, Negative Robocalls & More!

With the first ballots due to be cast during early voting tomorrow, Maryland Juice is noticing a few things things about the 6th Congressional District Republican Primary:

THE STATUS OF THE CD6 GOP RACE // FOUR QUICK POINTS

1. There is a great deal of dissatisfaction among Republican activists about Rep. Roscoe Bartlett.
2. That dissatisfaction has lead to candidacies from CD6 candidates representing the Liberty, Tea Party, and Norquist wings of the Maryland GOP.
3. But some of the elected challengers (ie; Sen. David Brinkley & Del. Kathy Afzali) are spending more time attacking each other than the incumbent Rep. Bartlett. That may help draw votes to party activists like Joe Krzystoforski and Robin Ficker.
4. As a result, Roscoe Bartlett hasn't had to spend much of his campaign cash, and it seems as if none of the challengers has so far succeeded in turning this into a head-to-head race.

Early voting begins tomorrow, so the candidates are busy throwing punches right now to try and get some traction. See a few examples below:

SEN. DAVID BRINKLEY APOLOGIZES TO BURGER KING: We previously reported that prominent Tea Party blogger Ann Corcoran was pissed off at State Senator David Brinkley for what she believed to be demeaning treatment of Del. Kathy Afzali (the only woman in the CD6 race). Sen. Brinkley suggested that Ms. Afzali would be better off working at Burger King than in the Assembly, due to the whoppers she was telling. Some felt that this sort of treatment would never be used for one of Mr. Brinkley's male competitors:

POTOMAC TEA PARTY REPORT: It is one thing to say she is exaggerating her record in Annapolis and quite another to suggest she should be working at Burger King.  Can you imagine for one minute that Brinkley’s staffer would suggest Roscoe Bartlett, or any of the men in this race should be working at Burger King.  Not a chance!  What?  Are attractive blond women somehow fair game?  This has got to stop!...

Is it any wonder so few women are willing to run for elected office?

Time for an apology Mr. Brinkley!

DAVID BRINKLEY TEMPER FLARE-UP: Rather than apologizing to Del. Afzali for suggesting she should work at Burger King, Sen. David Brinkley apologized to Burger King! Wow. The Frederick News-Posts's Bethany Rodgers reported on the flare-up (see excerpt below):

FREDERICK NEWS-POST: At the core of the exchange was a comment made by Delegate Kathy Afzali during a Monday night Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce forum for hopefuls in the race to represent the 6th Congressional District. A battle of news releases began Tuesday, when Sen. David Brinkley's campaign circulated a statement titled, "Afzali should be working at Burger King...."

Afzali had said that during her time in the Maryland General Assembly, she had been "passing bills that Senator Brinkley tried for 20 years to pass," according to a recording of the forum. The news release pointed out that in fact Afzali, a freshman lawmaker, has never passed a bill through the legislature.

Afzali responded the next day by stating that Brinkley had crossed the line....

"One must wonder if Brinkley would have made such comments toward a male candidate based on his previous, well-documented treatment of women." (Double zing!)

Afzali said she was referring to Brinkley's troubled marriage, which ended in 2010, two years after police went to his home for an argument between the couple....

Brinkley's campaign spokesman, Don Murphy, then sent out another release offering an apology ... to the people of Burger King. Someone who lies on their résumé isn't fit for work in Congress. Or at a fast-food restaurant, Murphy indicated.

TEA PARTY DISCHORD: This once again set off Tea Party blogger Ann Corcoran, who noted the following dissatisfaction about the status quo of the Republican Party:

POTOMAC TEA PARTY REPORT: Last night the Hagerstown Tea Party hosted another candidate forum... There was no particular highlight that stands out from last night.  The lowlight however came in the opening minutes as each candidate was given a couple of minutes to say what they were all about.  That charming (not!) MD Senator David Brinkley took some of his time to lambaste Del. Kathy Afzali for leaving Annapolis before a certain vote yesterday which was a personal assault that moderators had just moments before forbidden.

One of the motivating concerns for Tea Partiers from the outset is that generally we are sick of a certain style of politicking.

Most of us just want to hear the issues discussed, hear the candidates opinions and plans, look at their records, and observe who works hard to meet voters and establish a grassroots campaign.   I think everyone is sick to death of personal attacks and dirty campaigning.

HAGERSTOWN TEA PARTY STRAW POLL: The Potomac Tea Party Report also notes that Republican candidate Joe Krysztoforski (the winner of Maryland Juice's GOP grassroots straw poll) nearly tied Rep. Roscoe Bartlett in a recent Hagerstown Tea Party straw poll. Ms. Corcoran comments:

If the Krysztoforski vote surprises you, it doesn’t surprise me.   He has worked very hard over a couple of years to build a grassroots network throughout the district.

1. Roscoe Bartlett 27%
2. Joseph Krysztoforski 26%
3. Brandon Rippeon 12%
4. Robert Coblentz 8%
5. Robin Ficker 8%
6. Kathy Afzali 7%
7. David Brinkley 5%
8. Peter James 4%
9. Ron Little 1%
10. John Delaney 1% (Did not attend)

DAVID BRINKLEY ROBOCALL: Meanwhile, a Twitter user reports on a robocall she received from State Senator David Brinkley's campaign. It came by way of a taped message from Gaithersburg Councilmember Henry Marraffa boasting that Mr. Brinkley "beat the Garagiola gas tax." (Personally, I think David Brinkley's campaign is hopeless at this point).

GARAGIOLA PUSH-POLL? - Last bit of campaign gossip out there comes (again) from Potomac Tea Party Report writer Ann Corcoran. She has a quick description of an alleged "push poll" from State Senator Rob Garagiola's campaign:

...just as I was getting ready to leave for the event last evening, I got a “push-poll” phone call clearly from Garagiola’s gang.  I had to laugh as I listened to the questions because they were so unbelievably slanted that I joked on several occasions with the caller about the bias.  (I think he thought it was funny too).   Garagiola must be loaded with money for calls like the one I received and all the pieces of mail we receive from him almost daily it seems.

ROBIN FICKER ON THE PROSPECT OF WAR WITH IRAN: Meanwhile, Robin Ficker and a few of the CD6 Republican candidates appear (in some respects) to have a stronger anti-war positions than some Democrats. What's up with that?




MUCH MORE ON THE CD6 BATTLE SOON!