RUMOR: A Doug Gansler Ticket w/ Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton or Del. Mary Washington? // PLUS: Cummings Picks Brown

PLUS: THE 2014 RETURN OF LT. GOVERNOR MICHAEL STEELE? 

UPDATE: A Maryland Juice reader points out on Facebook that Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton was at one of the Brown-Ulman campaign events today. We heard this might be happening, so it raises the question whether the possible LG picks listed below are a wish-list or a vetting list??


Maryland Juice sources recently began buzzing about possible 2014 running mates for Attorney General Doug Gansler's gubernatorial campaign. A few names were being mentioned around the political watercooler including Delegates Jolene Ivey, Kieffer Mitchell, & Joseline Pena-Melnyk, along with Wes Moore of Baltimore. But while Maryland politicos started tuning into Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown's selection of HoCo Exec Ken Ulman, I began hearing more murmurs about Gansler's 2014 selection process. Details on that and much more below!

JUICE #1: RUMORS SUGGEST DOUG GANSLER LOOKING AT SALISBURY MAYOR JIM IRETON & DEL. MARY WASHINGTON FOR LG - Recent rumors suggest that Attorney General Doug Gansler may be looking for a running mate from the LGBT community. As soon as I posted a JuiceBlender speculating on possible Lt. Governor picks for Doug Gansler's campaign, I received some interesting anonymous commentary in Maryland Juice's anonymous drop box:

ANONYMOUS READER: I am an anonymous source who has a position on the Gansler campaign. He is definitely running for governor, so any speculation otherwise is false. He is starting to consider running mates and one of the ones he talks about most is Salisbury mayor Jim Ireton. I can confirm that Ireton is a top contender. Ireton, the Eastern Shores first openly LGBT mayor was recently reelected with almost 70% of the vote....

At first I parked this information to one side of my brain, as I had no way of verifying whether this anonymous comment actually came from a true Gansler source (note: my anonymous drop box does not require sources to leave contact details).  But a couple days after this message was left, a knowledgeable source told Maryland Juice that she thought it seemed like Doug Gansler was looking at Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton, and she also added Delegate Mary Washington's name to the mix.  Notably, both Ireton and Washington are openly gay/lesbian elected Democrats. Here is a little bit of information on the two officials:

JIM IRETON: Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton's website bio is pretty sparse but provides the following information:

Jim Ireton has been Salisbury’s mayor since 2009. A native of Salisbury, he’s been a teacher in Wicomico County for nearly two decades. He’s served as a City Council member and on various volunteer and non-profit boards and committees. Under his leadership, Salisbury has not raised its property taxes, lowered its capacity fees and lowered its violent crime rate.

WAMU reported on Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton's April re-election victory over a rightwing blogger (excerpt below):

WAMU: Voters in Salisbury have re-elected the city's first openly gay mayor to another term by a convincing 2 to 1 margin. The results of yesterday's election may spark other major changes in the Eastern Shore's largest city....

Ireton was jubilant in victory but seemed focused on the future in his speech to hundreds of supporters. "Salisbury spoke loud and clear today that they want progress over pontification and backbone over blogging," Ireton says....  Ireton's opponent, conservative blogger Joe Albero, was humble in defeat, and says he is considering shutting down his blog and moving his family to the Carolinas.

MARY WASHINGTON: Delegate Mary Washington represents Baltimore's House District 43. Her website bio states:

Mary Washington resides in the Ednor Gardens-Lakeside neighborhood of Baltimore City. Mary first fell in love with Baltimore when she moved here in 1989 as a graduate student in sociology at The Johns Hopkins University, where she earned her Ph.D. in 1997. A native of Philadelphia and a graduate of the Philadelphia High School for Girls (Girls’ High), Mary is the eldest of six children and the daughter of two health care professionals.

Mary took her 25 years of public service to the Maryland House of Delegates, and uses her skills in linking communities to resources, her deep commitments to the health, education, and economic welfare of our city residents, and her highly informed approach to community organizing and progressive politics to make the 43rd District and Baltimore City a healthier, stronger, and more vibrant home for us all.

Currently, Mary is on the Board of Directors of The Parks & People Foundation, where she has been involved since 2008. She is also a member of the Baltimore Green Jobs Coalition (2008-Present), Commissioner of the Baltimore Sustainability Commission (2008-Present), and Chair of the Baltimore Sustainability Commission’s Water Working Group (2008-Present). Mary is also a member of the Ednor Gardens-Lakeside Community Association, the Greater Baltimore Black Chamber of Commerce, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)-Baltimore City.

One thought on Maryland Juice's mind is whether Attorney General Doug Gansler may be trying to defuse the historical elements of both the Anthony Brown & Heather Mizeur campaigns through his LG pick. Hmm.

JUICE #2: CONGRESSMAN ELIJAH CUMMINGS ENDORSES BROWN-ULMAN TICKET - Maryland Juice recently reported on rumors that Baltimore-area Congressman Elijah Cummings would likely be endorsing Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown. It turns out our sources were correct! This morning Rep. Cummings blessed the newly minted 2014 team of Anthony Brown & Ken Ulman, and The Baltimore Sun published commentary from Cummings late last night (excerpt below):

BALTIMORE SUN: The veteran Baltimore congressman, who also represents parts of Baltimore and Howard counties, is widely regarded as the most influential African-American office holder in Maryland. His endorsement continues the momentum Brown has built up since he became the first Democratic contender to announce his candidacy on May 10....

Cummings was the co-chairman of the 2008 Maryland campaign for Barack Obama along with Brown's chief rival for the 2014 nomination, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler.... In a statement released to The Sun, Cummings said Brown will be an "exceptional governor" and Ulman will be an "incredibly strong partner."

"Anthony Brown and Ken Ulman offer Maryland the competent and caring leadership team that we need to build upon the successes of the last 6 years. I am deeply gratified that Anthony and Ken have agreed to join forces, and I offer my strongest support and endorsement to this exceptional team," Cummings said....

Patch.com's Bryan Sears posted Tweeted following photo from this morning's rally with Brown, Ulman & Cummings:

JUICE #3: FORMER LT. GOV. MICHAEL STEELE SAYS HE MAY RUN FOR GOVERNOR, ON SAME DAY HARFORD EXEC DAVID CRAIG ANNOUNCES FOR GOP NOMINATION - The Washington Post today published word from former RNC Chair and Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele indicating he might seek the GOP nomination for Governor in 2014. But Steele made the announcement on the same day that Harford County  Executive David Craig scheduled his own campaign kickoff - ouch! (excerpt below):

WASHINGTON POST: Michael Steele, a former Republican National Committee chairman and former lieutenant governor of Maryland, is weighing a 2014 gubernatorial bid, he said Monday.

“We’re looking at it,” Steele, who is now an MSNBC contributor, told host Chuck Todd on his program “The Daily Rundown” on the network. Steele said he doesn’t feel that he needs to make a decision until the end of the year.... His comments came on the same day that Harford County Executive David R. Craig (R) became the first major Republican candidate to announce his bid to succeed Gov. Martin O’Malley (D)....

MORE ON MARYLAND'S GUBERNATORIAL BATTLES SOON!

UPDATE: Sam Arora Clarifies Explanation of Marriage Equality Flip-Flop // BTW: Arora Has Less Than $3,000 Cash on Hand

BACKGROUND: Maryland Juice recently published televised comments from Democratic lawmaker Sam Arora where he attempted to explain why he betrayed a promise to support marriage equality legislation. His convoluted response implied that I personally had some sort of political agenda in asking about his flip-flop. Moreover, Arora strangely claimed that he was in fact a supporter of equal rights. This last claim baffled many marriage equality advocates and led an anonymous source to weigh in with harsh comments (excerpt below):

ANONYMOUS SOURCE #1: As far as I can tell, there is nothing in the formal legislative record of him ever exercising his tiny little brain to actually draft an amendment and submit it for his colleagues consideration.  Once again -- he is trying to rewrite history -- and avoid the legitimate scrutiny that his lies deserve....

ARORA CLARIFIES HIS FLIP-FLOP (KIND OF) - Today The Washington Blade followed up with additional coverage of Sam Arora's explanation of his marriage equality flip-flop. Sam responded to a media call from The Blade by revealing evidence of the amendment he was talking about. It turns out that Arora joined Delegates Tiffany Alston and Geraldine Valentino-Smith in trying to turn the marriage equality bill into a civil unions bill. But Arora declined to mention that Alston ultimately voted for the marriage equality bill, while he voted against it. Check out a quick excerpt from The Blade's coverage:

WASHINGTON BLADE:  Maryland Del. Sam Arora (D-Montgomery County) - who campaigned on a pledge to support a marriage equality bill then voted against it -  has offered his first public explanation for the vote.

"A lot of us wanted the goal of full legal equality for all couples," Arora said during a Jan. 8 segment of NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt in response to a question from David Moon of Maryland Juice, a website that covers state politics....

Arora also referenced an amendment that he, Del. Geraldine Valentino-Smith (D-Prince George’s County) and former Del. Tiffany Alston introduced that would have replaced marriage with civil unions in the bill - he directed the Washington Blade to it in response to a request for comment on Moon’s question....

The Blade also published comments from Del. Mary Washington highlighting that civil unions were not a serious alternative to the marriage equality legislation being debated at the time:

DEL. MARY WASHINGTON: "We were pushing for full marriage equality and that civil unions has been found to be inadequate," she said. "In fact states that have civil unions are actually now looking to full marriage equality...."