GOTCHA POLITICS: Sen. Jamie Raskin Allegedly Played Chess During Gun Hearing // Sen. Nancy Jacobs Defends Potty Breaks

Gun control opponents are gleefully circulating a photo of State Senator Jamie Raskin allegedly playing chess during a multi-hour hearing on Maryland gun control efforts. This is a bit of a hatchet job, considering that other members of the committee below left the chamber for hours at a time. By many accounts, Raskin was one of the more engaged Senators during the nine hours of testimony by gun control opponents:

SEN. NANCY JACOBS DEFENDS BATHROOM BREAKS DURING GUN CONTROL HEARING - Interestingly, Republican Senator Nancy Jacobs proved to be good-natured about Raskin's gotcha moment and commented on Facebook: "I did not see him 'playing chess" on his laptop during the hearing. I sit directly across the room from Sen Raskin and I thought he was paying attention throughout most of the hearing...." Additionally, Jacobs also defended bathroom breaks and snack-time for State Senators who had to endure the hours of testimony. See the Facebook screencaps below:

BACK TO REALITY: Getting back to reality here, let's remember that there were literally hundreds of people providing repetitive testimony opposing gun control. In fact, it was by design that opponents sought to flood the hearings with voices from their side. Check out a photo of the line to testify:

Marylanders line-up to testify on gun control legislation (Source: Maryland Shooters)

GUN CONTROL OPPONENTS ARE VOCAL BUT IN THE MINORITY - Before gun advocates get too excited, they need to put their strong turnout in Annapolis in context. Though the constituency of gun control opponents is quite vocal, the political reality facing the NRA is that Maryland voters are largely pro-gun control (save for Republicans). This fact was confirmed by a recent poll from Gonzales research (see below) showing every demographic group except Republicans supporting an assault weapons ban. Indeed, a majority of Democrats, Independents, Men and Women all support a prohibition on assault weapon sales in Maryland. Accordingly, an overwhelming 88% of Maryland voters support background checks at gun shows:

ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN & GUN SHOW BACKGROUND CHECKS

More on the Maryland gun control debate soon!

GOP State Senator Nancy Jacobs to Challenge Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger // MD Democrats Provide Background

Yesterday numerous media outlets confirmed that Maryland State Senator Nancy Jacobs was challenging Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger in the 2nd Congressional District. Cheryl Mattix at Elkton, MD's Cecil Whig wrote:

State Sen. Nancy Jacobs, R-34 Cecil/Harford, on Thursday announced her candidacy for the 2nd District seat in Congress currently held by incumbent C.A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger, a Democrat and Baltimore County resident....

Over the past few months, Jacobs said she has been meeting with citizens and business owners across the district where she says the feedback has been "overwhelmingly positive."

"I'm convinced that voters are ready for a change," she said.

The Maryland Democrats responded with the following emailed press release:

HARD RIGHT JACOBS SEEKS TO BRING 

OUT OF TOUCH OBSTRUCTION TO WASHINGTON

Congressional Juice // Updates on Challengers to Sen. Ben Cardin & Congressmen Ruppersberger and Bartlett (and more)

At the start of the year, a few news outlets have produced roundups of Maryland political candidate news (see ie: Germantown Patch, Maryland Reporter, etc). After all, we are in the midst of Congressional filing deadlines, and soon fundraising reports will be trickling in. The Gazette's Sarah Breitenbach today flagged pending Congressional campaign announcements from a few candidates:

As the Jan. 11 deadline to file for 2012 congressional races approaches, several state lawmakers plan to use this week to let constituents know whether they will run for federal office.

Sens. C. Anthony Muse, David R. Brinkley and Nancy Jacobs have scheduled announcement events....

Maryland Juice sources have been trickling information about some of these races. First, we're hearing that State Senator Anthony Muse's campaign kickoff for his Democratic Primary challenge to U.S. Senator Ben Cardin may be attended by some interesting past and present elected officials. We'll hopefully report back with juice after this Thursday's event.

CD5: MD GOP House Minority Leader Tony O'Donnell Challenges Rep. Steny Hoyer // MD Legislators Weigh In (anonymously)

Numerous news outlets are reporting that Maryland's House GOP Leader Anthony "Tony" O'Donnell is challenging Rep. Steny Hoyer for Congress in the newly redrawn 5th Congressional District. This race would pit Maryland's Statehouse Republican Leader against Congress' Democratic House Minority Whip. Del. O'Donnell kicked off his campaign with a video announcement:




The Washington Post reported on this CD5 development:

Maryland House Minority Leader Anthony J. O’Donnell (R-Calvert) plans to launch an uphill bid Wednesday for the 5th Congressional District in which he will argue that long-time incumbent Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) is part of what’s wrong with Washington....

O’Donnell, who is kicking off his campaign with the release of a video, argued that the environment has become better-suited to change and that he starts off better-known than recent Hoyer opponents. O’Donnell promised “a spirited, spirited campaign.”

In a preview of what’s to come, O’Donnell said Hoyer’s voting record is “nearly identical” to that of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), but added: “Maryland’s 5th Congressional District is on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, not the western shore of the San Francisco Bay.”

Maryland Juice, in turn, would like to remind Mr. O'Donnell that CD5 is not Tea Party territory and it is nothing like Sarah Palin's Alaska. In fact, the WaPo article continued:

The new 5th remains comfortably Democratic. Roughly 65 percent voted for President Obama in 2008 and 63 percent for O’Malley last year.

Anonymous Sources Weigh In: I asked a few Democratic legislators to tell Maryland Juice readers what they know about Mr. O'Donnell. Here's what they had to say (note: we'll post new responses as we receive them):

CD4: Howard Dean Endorses Rep. Donna Edwards // CD2: Pundits Rate Sen. Nancy Jacobs v. Dutch Ruppersberger

The Huffington Post reports that former Vermont Governor and 2004 Presidential candidate Howard Dean has endorsed Rep. Donna Edwards for re-election to Maryland's 4th Congressional District:

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) and Democracy for America, a progressive PAC, have endorsed Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Donna Edwards (D-Md.) in their 2012 reelection races.

In an email to DFA members Dean states, "Few Democrats in the House of Representatives have fought harder than Donna and Raul to stop Paul Ryan's plan to end Medicare. They stood strong to defeat attempts to cut Social Security. And they have never backed down in the fight to restore the American Dream for everyone. But now their districts have been redrawn to make them significantly harder for a progressive Democrat to win."

Meanwhile over in the 2nd Congressional District, an anonymous reader has forwarded a Cecil Times analysis of GOP Sen. Nancy Jacobs' chances against Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger. In a guest appearance on WBAL last Monday, Maryland Juice stated he thought it was a longshot. Here's another take:

CD2: MD Sen. Nancy Jacobs Plots Bid Against Rep. Ruppersberger // CD4: Rep. Donna Edwards Kicks-Off Re-Election, Earns Sierra Club & PCCC Backing

The Cecil Whig news site is announcing that Maryland State Senator Nancy Jacobs has formed an exploratory committee in a potential bid against Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger in CD2: "Jacobs made the announcement at a fundraiser breakfast for 1st Congressional District Rep. Andy Harris." Observers previously noted this possibility, but this is a sure sign of things moving forward. Indeed, with an April Congressional primary next year, things are beginning to get heated in Maryland politics!

Meanwhile, in the 4th Congressional District, Rep. Donna Edwards this weekend officially kicked off her re-election campaign at a holiday event. The Washington Informer reports:

CORRECTION: Sen. Nancy Jacobs Weighing Challenge to Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger

Earlier today, Maryland Juice incorrectly attributed GOP Sen. Nancy Jacobs' departure from the Senate Minority Leader spot as evidence of a potential carpetbagger bid against Rep. Roscoe Bartlett. Maryland Reporter pointed out the error (hat tip) -- Sen. Jacobs is in reality weighing a challenge to CD2 Democratic incumbent Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, not Rep. Bartlett.

Apologies for dragging Ms. Jacobs into Bartlett's new nightmare! That bumps GOP Sen. Chris Shank into the sole category of "elected guy who is thinking out loud about running against Rep. Bartlett" ... so far!

CD6 Candidates Float Trial Balloons: Doug Duncan, Mark Shriver, Chris Shank, A Tea Party Activist & More!

UPDATE:  OOPS! Maryland Juice completely misread Maryland Reporter's follow-up to our article below. They correctly noted that Sen. Nancy Jacobs is running against Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger in CD2, not against Bartlett in CD6. In the excitement of the morning roundup, I incorrectly dragged her into Rep. Bartlett's nightmare. Also, Steve Silverman says he is definitely not running for CD6 -- especially as he has just been re-drawn into CD3.

Earlier, another reader noted that, "Doug Duncan attended the Montgomery County Chapter of the Maryland Municipal League meeting with the Montgomery County Council last night, and he stayed the whole time of a very long meeting." Interesting. More on a possible Duncan candidacy soon.

Lastly, Maryland Reporter also noted that Sen. Brinkley lives in CD8 and therefore may not go through with a challenge to Rep. Bartlett. Be that as it may, its not stopping some politicians from starting rumors. But let me clarify the post below -- these are potential candidates who are being discussed in MD politico circles right now. I expect many will not ultimately run, but I do believe that it is not unlikely that we will get at least one non-CD6 candidate in the race (note: you don't really have to live in the District before you run for Congress). I also believe there is a 0% chance that Rep. Bartlett gets an easy GOP Primary Election.

Yesterday, Maryland Juice began crafting a list of candidates for Maryland's new 6th Congressional District. We mentioned a few obvious names like Sen. Rob Garagiola and GOP Chair Alex Mooney, but within hours former Montgomery Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg surprised observers with an announced CD6 bid. Now, the floodgates are open and numerous politicos are floating trial balloons.

Former County Executive Doug Duncan's name is now being whispered by insiders, along with former Delegate Mark Shriver. On the GOP side, things are about to get crazy, as it looks like multiple officials are "supporting" Bartlett while weighing whether to try and take him down. We summarize the chaos below and end with a simple list of the potential candidates.