Maryland, My Maryland

A Double! First, From Da Caller, Democrats May Have Just Shot Themselves In The Foot — In Must-Win State

Polling for Maryland’s Senate race largely suggests Larry Hogan, the widely-popular former Republican governor, fares better in a general election against the Democrat who voters chose to be their nominee Tuesday.

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks defeated Rep. David Trone by over ten points among a crowded field of Democratic primary hopefuls on Tuesday, after the congressman invested over $61 million of his own money into the race. Some Maryland political operatives who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation argued that Trone’s loss puts Democrats at a financial disadvantage in the Hogan-Alsobrooks matchup in November.

“It poses a challenge for the Democrat Party nationally, because, you know, David Trone being the self-funder — as precarious as it is with West Virginia, you know, poised to flip — they have to hold serve, and, you know, in a state that heretofore was a given,” Paul Ellington, Republican strategist based in Maryland and former state GOP executive director, told the DCNF. “I think the Democrat Party, although they wouldn’t say at the national level, was hoping that the results would have been a little bit different.”

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is hoping to keep its slim majority by defending vulnerable Sens. Jon Tester of Montana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Jacky Rosen of Nevada, as well as open seats in Michigan and Arizona. The seat currently held by Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is almost certain to flip red with Republican Gov. Jim Justice’s Tuesday nomination, as the senator announced his retirement in November 2023.

Len Foxwell, a Democratic strategist based in Maryland, echoed Ellington’s sentiment, and told the DCNF that Trone, the owner of Total Wine, would’ve been able to “bankroll his own general election operation.”  

“While Alsobrooks will obviously have all the money she needs to match Larry Hogan dollar-for-dollar and then some, because control of the U.S. Senate hangs in the balance, [sic] that will come at a cost of money that otherwise could have gone to embattled Democrats in purple or red-leaning states,” Foxwell told the DCNF. “To that extent, it makes the national party’s job a little more difficult.”

As I've noted before, I'll support Hogan, not because he's a perfect Republican, but because he's a Republican who might be able to win in Maryland. 

Hank Berrien at Da Wire, Federal Court Rules Maryland Parents Can’t Opt Kids Out Of Classes With LGBT Content

The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled 2-1 against Maryland parents who sued their local school board for not letting their children in grades K-5 opt out of reading books supporting transgender ideology and gender transitioning.

The Montgomery County Public Schools board denied the parents their request to be notified when the books would be read to their children and the opportunity to opt out.

“The Board is violating the parents’ inalienable and constitutionally protected right to control the religious upbringing of their children, especially on sensitive issues concerning family life and human sexuality,”

. . .
A district court ruled against the parents, prompting them to appeal to the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which denied the parents’ request for a preliminary injunction but allowed the possibility of changing its position once the classes have already been taught, writing:

We take no view on whether the Parents will be able to present evidence sufficient to support any of their various theories once they have the opportunity to develop a record as to the circumstances surrounding the Board’s decision and how the challenged texts are actually being used in schools. At this early stage, however, given the Parents’ broad claims, the very high burden required to obtain a preliminary injunction, and the scant record before us, we are constrained to affirm the district court’s order denying a preliminary injunction.

Judge Marvin Quattlebaum dissented, writing, “I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the parents have not produced enough evidence to establish that their free exercised rights have been burdened. The parents have met their burden. They have produced the books that no one disputes will be used to instruct their K-5 children. They produced declarations explaining in detail why the books conflict with their religious beliefs. They have produced the board’s own internal documents that show how it suggests teachers respond to students and parents who question the contents of the books.”