Democrat Rich Corkran said the key to ending the “culture of confrontation” in the General Assembly is to elect him and a Democratic governor.
“I really believe 100 percent that the major problem is the Republican governor and that a lot of the confrontation will go away when he is defeated this November,” said the teacher at Hammond High School in Columbia.
Corkran filed his candidacy with the state May 11 to run against Republican state Sen. Allan Kittleman for the District 9 seat, which straddles Howard and Carroll counties. Kittleman has held this political position since 2004.
“Kittleman follows the governor?s lead so he too is part of the problem,” Corkran said.
If Gov. Robert Ehrlich is re-elected, Corkran said he would as state senator still try to work with him.
“Occasionally, he comes up with good ideas, but he does not know how to follow through with them,” he said. “Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has found a way to work with Democratic legislature in California.”
However, Kittleman said more Republicans are needed to shoulder through issues.
“We had 40 years of Democratic control in Maryland,” he said. “We should elect more Republicans to have more parity, so the Democratic leadership is forced to address our issues.”
Kittleman said during this year?s session, he co-sponsored an election reform bill with Democratic Sen. Roy Dyson of southern Maryland.
Even so, the sour tone in Annapolis is mostly the cause of Democrats, he said.
“I don?t think the Republicans in the state legislature are causing the confrontation when the majority runs roughshod over us,” he said.
For Matthew Crenson, professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, both parties share the blame for the partisan politics.
“The governor has done things to stick his finger in the eye of Democratic legislators,” he said.
Examples include Ehrlich signing bills on stem cell research and air pollution but not inviting any of the Democratic sponsors of the bills to attend the signing ceremonies.
