Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett rolled the dice on his political future last week, when he announced his change of heart on bringing slots to Maryland.
When Leggett revealed Thursday he would “reluctantly” support a November ballot vote to allow slot machines, he dropped 15 years of opposition to state-run gambling.
Leggett says he reversed himself because he feared, without slots, the state would make deep cuts that would hurt Maryland’s poorest residents. He says it would have been far easier to continue opposing slots, given the anti-gambling leanings of his overwhelmingly progressive constituency.
Del. Luiz Simmons disagrees, saying the day after Leggett’s announcement that “there is a huge vacuum of political courage in Montgomery County right now.”
Leggett maintains backing slots was bold, telling WAMU 88.5 FM radio host Kojo Nmandi on Friday his reversal “is not the most appropriate thing to do politically.”
Some say it depends what kind of politics you’re talking about: Montgomery residents may largely oppose slots, but in his reversal, Leggett aligns himself with Gov. Martin O’Malley and the other Annapolis power brokers who are behind the November vote.
Ronald Walters, a University of Maryland professor and political expert, told The Examiner, “For Ike Leggett, this is [an] Annapolis play.”
“This is something the governor wants,” Walters said. “[Leggett] is a good enough politician to check and see if it hurts him in Montgomery County, he has concluded it won’t.”
Simmons agreed it is unlikely that Leggett’s about-face will affect him politically, since any potential negative effects from bringing slot machines to Maryland won’t be seen for years.
“Who’ll remember then?” Simmons said. “I feel like the little boy in the parable who wants to point his fingers at the county executive and say the county executive is not wearing any clothes.”
Most slots opponents shy away from harshly attacking Leggett’s slots switcheroo. Anti-slots Montgomery Councilman Marc Elrich shrugged off the reversal, saying “sometimes friends disagree.”
Even analysts are holding their fire: Walters called The Examiner back to temper his remarks after speaking with Leggett.
“He’s being very courageous, I think, to stand up on this,” Walters said. “Given the fact that most people [in Montgomery County] are opposed to this, and the cuts the county could face because of state budget problems, he’s up against a rock and a hard place.”
