Del. Luiz Simmons to Run for Sen. Jennie Forehand's Seat // PLUS: Delaney Endorses Simmons & Cheryl Kagan Weighs Run

Maryland Juice received a  press release this morning (see below) indicating that Delegate Luiz Simmons will be vacating his District 17 Seat to run for the State Senate seat currently held by Jennie Forehand. Notably, Forehand announced last month that she was still deciding whether to run for re-election or retire, but it appears that Simmons is plowing forward anyway. Simmons today also announced the endorsement of Congressman John Delaney in his bid for Forehand's Senate seat.  Former Delegate Cheryl Kagan is also known to be weighing a State Senate bid in D17, and we note that she posted the following message to her website today:

CHERYL KAGAN - Dear Friends: Thanks for visiting my website! I have received many calls over the last several weeks, urging me to run for the District 17 Senate seat in next year's election. I am humbled that so many of you have thought of me.

Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Montgomery County face real challenges. We need an effective leader in the State Senate who will get things done and stand up for the values and interests of our communities.

I am looking at the race and will be announcing my plans shortly.

Stay tuned!

Cheryl

The departure of Luiz Simmons from the House of Delegates will trigger a race for his open-seat, and already a small number of challengers have been laying the groundwork to run for the D17 vacancy, including former Rockville Mayor Susan Hoffmann, former DNC and congressional aide Andrew Platt, and MoCo Young Dems Vice President Laurie-Anne Sayles. In any case, you can see the press release from Simmons below:

PRESS RELEASE

Del. Luiz Simmons To Run For State Senate, Receives Rep. Delaney’s Support

Rockville, MD  – Today, 3-term State Delegate Luiz Simmons announced that he will run for State Senate in District 17, which includes the cities of Rockville and Gaithersburg.

Since 2002, Delegate Simmons has been a strong voice for residents of Rockville and Gaithersburg. In the State Senate Simmons will continue to put his community first over status-quo politics, and ask the tough questions to find answers to the issues facing District 17 and all of Maryland.

“It has been a true honor and privilege to serve my community as a State Delegate.  We have accomplished a lot, but there is more to be done – more to do on education, more to do on domestic violence, more to do on our economy -- and I plan on getting right to work in the State Senate,” said Del. Luiz Simmons.  “I will always see to the needs of my community first. I hope to be a voice of reason and a voice for solutions.”

Del. Luiz Simmons launches his campaign for State Senate with the support of Congressman John Delaney (D-Maryland).

"For over forty years, Luiz Simmons has been dedicated to helping the residents of Rockville and Gaithersburg. His work as a local attorney and his tenure as Delegate show that Luiz is a committed public servant. I am proud to call Lou a friend and to support his candidacy for the State Senate. I am confident that he will place the needs of his constituents over politics, and continue to make Maryland a place we are all proud to call home,” said Congressman John Delaney (D-Maryland).

Simmons thanked Delaney for his support saying, “I am tremendously grateful for Congressman Delaney's support and his confidence in me. Congressman Delaney has been a true leader both in business and now in the House of Representatives.  Whether it is in the halls of Congress, fighting to fix our failing infrastructure, or standing up for our state's working families by leading the charge to increase Maryland's minimum wage, he is someone who we can count on."

To learn more about Del. Luiz Simmons and his campaign visit www.LuizSimmons.com.

###

JUICE: Poll Shows Brown Lead for Governor & Cardin for AG, Gilchrest for Mizeur, Anti-Tax Gansler, Sen. Forehand Retiring?

Below Maryland Juice highlights several tidbits of news that may be of interest to Free State politicos:

JUICE #1: NEW POLL SHOWS LARGE ANTHONY BROWN LEAD FOR GOVERNOR, SMALLER LEAD FOR CARDIN IN ATTORNEY GENERAL RACE - This morning Maryland Reporter highlighted the results of a fascinating new Gonzalez poll surveying voters on their views of the 2014 Governor and Attorney General contests, as well as issues ranging from death penalty repeal, gun control, the gas tax, and more (excerpt below):

MARYLAND REPORTER: Among Democratic voters, O’Malley’s political partner, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown has a wide lead in the race to succeed O’Malley as governor over Attorney General Doug Gansler and Del. Heather Mizeur, but a third of Democrats are still undecided. The results were 41% for Brown, 21% for Gansler and 5% for Mizeur. This is similar to the results of an internal Brown poll released earlier this month.

In the Democratic race for attorney general, Del. Jon Cardin had a clear lead with 25% support, versus 13% for Sen. Brian Frosh, 8% for Del. Aisha Braveboy, and 5% for Del. Bill Frick, but almost half are undecided....

You can read the full results of the Gonzalez poll below, and note that in deep Blue Maryland, Democratic voters overwhelmingly support death penalty repeal, gun control, and more, while most of the opposition to these measures came from Republican voters:

Gonzalez October 2013 Maryland Poll

JUICE #2: FORMER GOP CONGRESSMAN WAYNE GILCHREST & EASTERN SHORE OFFICIALS ENDORSE HEATHER MIZEUR FOR GOVERNOR - Yesterday, The Baltimore Sun reported that Delegate Heather Mizeur won the endorsement of former GOP Rep. Wayne Gilchrest and a few Eastern Shore officials for Governor (excerpt below):

BALTIMORE SUN:  Democrat Heather R. Mizeur picked off the endorsement of a maverick former Republican congressman to go with the support of five other Eastern Shore leaders as she continued to show her appeal outside her home county of Montgomery....

Also endorsing Mizeur were Chestertown Mayor Margo Bailey, Salisbury City Councilwoman Laura Mitchell, Chesapeake City Councilman Harry Sampson, Easton Town Councilwoman Megan Cook, and former Queen Anne’s County Commissioner Carol Fordonski....

JUICE #3: ATTORNEY GENERAL DOUG GANSLER CRITICIZES TAX INCREASES IN FUNDRAISING LETTER - Maryland Juice received a copy of the following fundraising solicitation that Attorney General Doug Gansler is mailing to raise money for his gubernatorial campaign. The letter below highlights the alleged flight of businesses and revenue from Maryland, and makes an anti-tax argument:

DOUG GANSLER: Maryland has seen annual billion dollar deficits, a departure of businesses and wealth to neighboring states, 40 consecutive tax increases, and the worst traffic congestion in the nation. Economic opportunity and growth and shared progress are becoming things of the past. Hardworking people feel nickeled and dimed, and entrepreneurs are not building here in Maryland. We need to win back jobs and businesses, and we need to do it by growing our tax base, not our taxes

Doug Gansler's October 2013 Fundraising Message for Maryland Governor

JUICE #4: MYSTERY POLL FOR DISTRICT 17 STATE SENATE // SEN. JENNIE FOREHAND UNDECIDED ON RE-ELECTION AS CANDIDATES PREPARE FOR BATTLE - District 17 (a Democratic stronghold in Montgomery County) is getting hot, with a round of political activity emerging in recent weeks. Below we provide information on a poll that an unknown group is conducting in the D17 State Senate race, along with a news report from Bethesda Magazine's Lou Peck indicating that D17 Senator Jennie Forehand is undecided on whether to run for re-election.

A Maryland Juice reader forwarded us a screencap of the following report on a D17 Senate poll from Gaithersburg City Councilmember Cathy Drzyzgula:

This poll could be prompted by news that incumbent D17 Senator Jennie Forehand may not seek re-election next year (excerpt below):

BETHESDA MAGAZINE: District 17 Sen. Jennie Forehand, who has served in the state General Assembly for more than one-third of a century, is uncertain about whether she will seek another term.... If she does run, there is a widespread expectation among party activists that Forehand will face a primary challenge next June from veteran Delegate Luiz Simmons. Simmons Tuesday said only that he is “inching toward a decision” about a Senate bid, and will decide by the end of October....

The prospect that Simmons will vacate his delegate seat already has attracted three candidates to the latter contest. Former congressional aide Andrew Platt and Laurie-Anne Sayles, vice president of the Montgomery County Young Democrats, have announced for delegate, and former Rockville Mayor Susan Hoffmann expects to do so this month. 

For what it's worth, Delegate Luiz Simmons seems pretty serious about running for the D17 Senate seat. Last month a Maryland Juice source forwarded us a rough transcript of robocall that they received from Delegate Simmons' wife (excerpt below):

CLAIRE SIMMONS: Hi this is Claire Simmons and I'm calling you on behalf of my husband Delegate Lou Simmons and Lou's campaign to close Maryland's gun control loophole. Maryland's gun control loophole is a disaster waiting to occur....  If a gun owner commits a violent crimes like domestic violence, the law requires the gun owner to surrender the gun, but the law can't be enforced because we have computers in Maryland that won't communicate with each other. It's incredible but true. Lou is proposing legislation to close the gun control loophole and he really needs your help....

HMM: Saqib Ali Running for Something & Sen. Forehand Seeks Re-Election // PLUS: Young Dems, MCDCC & Labor Talk It Out

ALSO: Del. Heather Mizeur weighs in on recent Supreme Court Voting Rights Act ruling

Below Maryland Juice provides a few tidbits of news that may be of interest to those tracking 2014 campaign developments:

JUICE #1: FORMER DELEGATE SAQIB ALI SEEKS RETURN TO ANNAPOLIS - Numerous politicos forwarded us news that former District 39 Delegate Saqib Ali is planning a campaign for the General Assembly in 2014. Ali posted the news to Twitter yesterday, including a link to a new campaign website:

Interestingly, Saqib Ali's website does not mention what district he is running in or even whether he is running for House or Senate. It should be noted that though Ali previously served in District 39 before running for State Senate against Nancy King. But he has now been redistricted into District 15, where there is currently a Senate vacancy (and potentially a future House vacancy). Based on the welcome text on Ali's new campaign site, we have some hints as to how he is beginning to frame his candidacy:

SAQIB ALI: I'm Saqib Ali and I'm running for the Maryland State Legislature from Upper Montgomery County in the Democratic Primary Elections in June 2014.

I served for four years (2006-2010) as a State Delegate representing Montgomery County. During that time, I was an outspoken supporter for civil rights, government transparency and consumer protections. I believe that government should improve public health, safety, education etc -- while at the same time respecting our privacy and civil liberties. I'm looking forward to returning to Annapolis to continue persuing such reforms.

Since leaving the legislature, I have remained active in local politics and have become deeply engaged in advocating for civil rights and human rights in America and around the world. My writings have appeared in the Baltimore Sun, the Washington Post and multiple other places.

JUICE #2: DISTRICT 17 STATE SENATOR JENNIE FOREHAND TO SEEK RE-ELECTION IN 2014 - The 2014 race for State Senate in District 17 has been percolating for a few months now, as we recently witnessed some early moves for the seat by Delegate Luiz Simmons and former Delegate Cheryl Kagan. But a big question-mark has been whether the incumbent Senator Jennie Forehand would be retiring or running for re-election. The Washington Post's John Wagner recently reported that Forehand has settled on the latter (excerpt below):

WASHINGTON POST: Maryland Sen. Jennie M. Forehand (D-Montgomery), one of the General Assembly’s longest-serving members, survived a tough primary challenge in her last election. She could be in for another one next year. Forehand, 77, said in an interview this week that she is planning to run again and attributed recent speculation about her possible retirement to “people who want my seat.”

At least two other Democrats are considering the District 17 race: Del. Luiz R.S. Simmons (D-Mongtomery) and former delegate Cheryl Kagan, who narrowly lost to Forehand in 2010. Forehand said Simmons has been “going absolutely apoplectic about wanting to be in the Senate”....

FOREHAND'S IMPACT ON THE 2014 FIELD: If Forehand does indeed seek re-election, it is unclear what impact this will have on the number of contenders in the race, or the number of open D17 House seats in 2014. Indeed, in the last week, insiders have been buzzing that at least three serious candidates would be looking at the race. We mentioned Kagan and Simmons above, but Delegate Jim Gilchrist has been rumored to be considering a 2014 Senate run, too. All three potential Senate candidates will now need to start thinking through the math of what a race with Forehand in it looks like. How this battle shapes up will also dictate what happens in the D17 House race, because if Simmons and/or Gilchrist seek a promotion, there will be one or two vacancies in the House of Delegates. Maryland Juice is already aware of a small number of potential D17 candidates for Delegate in 2014, but that's a story for another day.

In any case, based on her Facebook page, it is probably fair to say Cheryl Kagan is looking at the Senate race:

JUICE #3: LIFE AFTER THE LABOR PICKET OF MOCO DEMOCRATS? // MOCO YOUNG DEMS, MCDCC & LABOR ACTIVISTS TO MEET NEXT WEEK - Maryland Juice was very intrigued to see an event invitation from the Montgomery County Young Democrats (MCYD). At a meeting next Tuesday, the Young Democrats will be hosting a conversation on labor and the economy, and I suspect that the event is a direct outcome of the group's recent picketing of the Montgomery County Democratic Party's spring fundraising ball.

BURYING THE HATCHET? - The Young Dems have invited Montgomery County Democratic Party Chair Gabe Albornoz to participate in a conversation with Delegate Bonnie Cullison and Democratic activist Cory McCray. Notably, Cullison previously led the MoCo teachers union, and McCray works with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).  If that's not enough to pique your interest, the moderator of the event is Maricé Morales -- an aide to Senator Roger Manno who also happens to be trying to replace Delegate Sam Arora in the State House. The panel discussion will take place Tuesday, July 23rd from 7-8:30 pm at the Silver Spring Civic Center (One Veterans Plaza). Check out the MoCo Young Democrats event invitation below or online at Facebook.

Dear Juice,

Please join MCYD for the 2nd installment of our Better American Dream series focused on Labor and the Economy.The discussion will be moderated by MCYD member Maricé Morales, and feature State Delegate Bonnie Cullison, MCDCC Chair Gabe Albornoz, and BEST Democratic Club founder Cory McCray. 

Attend MCYD's Labor & the Economy Panel Discussion
Bonnie Cullison State Delegate	Gabe Albornoz  MCDCC Chair	Cory McCray BEST Democratic Club Founder	Maricé Morales Panel Moderator & MCYD Member

We will be discussing private and public sector labor unions, and their role in our county's economy and our party. We will also discuss current proposals, local economic justice issues, and what Young Democrats can do to fight for income equality and greater opportunity.

See you there on Tuesday, July 23rd at 7:00pm in the Silver Spring Civic Center. Click here to RSVP!

Sincerely, 
Dave Kunes, President
Montgomery County Young Democrats

JUICE #4: HEATHER MIZEUR WEIGHS IN ON SUPREME COURT VOTING RIGHTS ACT RULING - Maryland Juice recently caught a Baltimore Sun oped from Delegate Heather Mizeur, a likely candidate for Governor in 2014. In the piece below, Mizeur calls on those who fought for marriage equality and DOMA to direct their efforts to counter the recent Supreme Court gutting of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Much as we saw with Mizeur's Trayvon Martin commentary, I expect we will be seeing more issue-based messaging from her campaign. My hunch is that it seems likely she will be aggressively campaigning for votes from the Democratic activist base ahead of next year's primary. Getting out front on issues is one way to do that at this stage in the race. Here's a clip from her Baltimore Sun piece (excerpt below):

HEATHER MIZEUR: There was much to celebrate when the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) last month....

While we celebrate, we must not forget that just one day earlier the court also struck a major blow to equality, tearing down key parts of the Voting Rights Act, which ensures that minority communities have a voice in America's legislative bodies.

The Voting Rights Act prohibits state and local governments from enacting voting restrictions or procedures that discriminate based on race. To enforce these protections, the act requires jurisdictions with a history of race-based voting discrimination to clear any changes in voting laws with the Department of Justice. But the Supreme Court struck down the formula that determines who needs clearance, meaning these jurisdictions are free to enact discriminatory laws. Any federal oversight will come after the fact when the damage has already been done. Since the ruling, seven states have announced plans to enact stricter voting rules....

All of us who celebrated this great victory on DOMA must now join together to work and to organize until all forms of injustice are eradicated from our society.

MORE ON THE NUMEROUS 2014 BATTLES SOON!

JUICE: Jay Hutchins Not Running Against Sam Arora, Kagan Attacks Del. Simmons, Councilmembers Leventhal & Rice Spar

Below Maryland Juice highlights a few notable items from the last week, including some interesting points of conflict between politicos.

JUICE #1: 2010 RUNNER-UP JAY HUTCHINS DECIDES AGAINST REMATCH WITH SAM ARORA - The candidate thought for months to be most likely to challenge freshman Del. Sam Arora has now announced he will not seek office in 2014. Indeed, many had presumed that Jay Hutchins (the runner-up to Arora in the 2010 Democratic Primary) would take another shot at a now mortally wounded Delegate Arora. After all, progressive advocates and LGBT activists have promised to back a candidate to replace Arora after the Democrat broke a promise to support marriage equality. But a few days ago, Hutchins posted a message on his Facebook page announcing his decision not to seek office in 2014:

JAY HUTCHINS: Friends, After serious consideration, I have made the decision not to run for elected office in this upcoming election cycle. I will continue to be an active voice in the district, county and state. I cannot express deeply enough my gratitude for your ongoing support. Jay

Hutchins' departure from the District 19 race in 2014 creates a wide opening for another ambitious progressive candidate to challenge Sam Arora. Maryland Juice is aware of a few candidates who have been mulling over the race for the past few months, but it remains to be seen who among them will emerge as the strongest contender. More soon on the new crop of District 19 challengers!


JUICE #2: D17 RIVALRY IN 2014? // FORMER DELEGATE CHERYL KAGAN JABS AT DEL. LUIZ SIMMONS - Maryland Juice recently highlighted comments from former Delegate Cheryl Kagan questioning Del. Luiz Simmons' commitment to passing new gun regulations in Maryland. The controversy emerged after The Washington Post published an editorial suggesting Simmons was open to exempting AR-15 rifles from the state's new assault weapons ban. Kagan blasted Simmons on Facebook, prompting the District 17 lawmaker to host a town hall meeting reaffirming his support for new gun regulations. Maryland Juice previously speculated that we could be witnessing a preview of the 2014 Democratic Primary for State Senate in District 17. Kagan notably lost the 2010 race for State Senate by only a few hundred votes and Simmons is now rumored to be eyeing the same office.

Cheryl Kagan further commented on the matter through a pair of Facebook messages last week, and her additional musings included new jabs at Delegate Luiz Simmons:

CHERYL KAGAN: Following the blog posts and flurry of emails and messages yesterday, several questions occur to me this morning:

1) Why can't a former elected official (me) express opinions about pending legislation without folks jumping to conclusions about intent?

2) Why would a current legislator (Del Luiz Simmons) have surrogates contact me... but not reach out to a constituent directly?

3) How is it that any significant representative could have absolutely no presence on any social media as another method of communicating his/her views?

4) Will Del Simmons ever decide to comply with campaign finance and ethics laws and actually use authority lines in his robo-calls (he again failed to do it in yesterday's call) and taxpayer-paid mailers???

I'd love hear some answers to these questions, but I need to go to work now!

The message above was followed soon after by a comment from Kagan about Delegate Luiz Simmons' telephone town hall on gun control:

CHERYL KAGAN: Ah, the power of Facebook! For 10+ years, Del Luiz Simmons has delivered robo-calls and taxpayer-funded mailings with no required authority line ("Paid for by..."). After posting about that issue issue here, he actually added one to his phone call tonight! Now, let's see if he'll finally do right on the issues of gun control, domestic violence, and other pending legislation!

Maryland Juice concedes Cheryl Kagan's point that she ought to be able to express thoughts about legislation without folks jumping to conclusions. But even still, a hunch is a hunch, and my gut tells me I'm right to think we haven't seen the last of Kagan on the campaign trail. We may know soon enough!


JUICE #3: MOCO COUNCILMEMBERS GEORGE LEVENTHAL & CRAIG RICE TRADE SHOTS OVER WALMART LOBBYING - Maryland Juice sources recently flagged a testy exchange between Montgomery County Councilmembers George Leventhal and Craig Rice over a proposed new Walmart in Aspen Hill, Maryland. Below we provide a bit of background about the controversy, along with video footage of the amusingly feisty debate.

Here's some brief background on the issue: Walmart is trying to open a store in Aspen Hill, Maryland, but the county isn't scheduled to revise zoning in that neighborhood for a few more years. Walmart is therefore pushing aggressively to expedite the rezoning discussion, and Leventhal highlighted the activities of Walmart's lobbyists on Twitter last week:

But when Leventhal arrived at a County Council hearing about expediting rezoning for Walmart's Aspen Hill location, he was upset to see audience members holding pre-printed signs supporting the plan. Check out the following report on the incident from The Sentinel (excerpt below):

SENTINEL: Even debating whether or not to build a Wal-Mart in Aspen Hill brought about one of the most heated arguments in recent memory to the County Council this week.... More than 30 members of the Aspen Hill and Leisure World communities were in attendance and they came with signs printed with the phrase: “What’s the wait? Give Aspen Hill a chance!...”

The development group, led by President Bruce Lee, owns several other properties in Aspen Hill and has looked to revitalize the area. Unable to find takers for a lease, Lee said he wants  the property rezoned for retail....

Councilmember George Leventhal (at-large) said his concern with the mini master plan is there is an existing agreement between Lee’s group and Wal-Mart to have Wal-Mart become the tenant for the property and build a store there. Leventhal said he is worried about the county council becoming susceptible to manipulation and lobbying by developers and corporations....

Leventhal said the audience members holding signs were holding signs printed by consultants hired by the Lee Development Group and Wal-Mart. In fact, Lee said his group provided transportation to the county council meeting and the signs which were created by a consultant....

Leventhal's comments about the attendees holding pro-Walmart signs triggered an angry rebuke from Councilmember Craig Rice (a supporter of the Walmart plan).  

Below you can see video footage of the heated exchange: