Montgomery County?s clout as Maryland?s largest jurisdiction for more than a decade ? an estimated 927,000 last year ? will this January be reflected for the first time in the leaders that control much of state government long dominated by politicians from Baltimore.
Comptroller-elect Peter Franchot and Attorney General-elect Doug Gansler both live in Montgomery, a strong source of their political support. On the Board of Public Works, which approves billions of dollars in state contracts each year, Franchot will be joined by Treasurer Nancy Kopp, a former Montgomery delegate who is expected to be re-elected to the watchdog post by the state Legislature next year.
The governor is the third member of the board. Governor-elect Martin O?Malley is the third mayor of Baltimore to be chief executive in the last 50 years, but he grew up in Rockville, a point he often made in campaigning in the Washington suburbs.
Baltimore, which 50 years ago had 900,000 residents, about half the state populace, has been slowly losing people and political power for years. The balance between Montgomery and the city had been a source of tension in Annapolis, but some leaders see that being reduced as Montgomery becomes more urban and ethnically diverse.
“I don?t sense [that tension] anymore,” said House Majority Leader Kumar Barve of Gaithersburg. He remembered a conversationsome years ago when a Baltimore resident accused Montgomery County politicians of hating the city. “We don?t hate Baltimore,” Barve said he told him.
Funding formulas for education and transportation frequently favored Baltimore, with the state?s largest concentration of poor people, to the detriment of much wealthier Montgomery.
House Speaker Michael Busch, an Annapolis resident, said he thought the partisanship of the Ehrlich administration helped Democratic lawmakers from Baltimore and the Washington suburbs realize they had more in common.
Geographically, “it?s a pretty well-distributed leadership” in the legislature and executive branch, Busch said, adding he expected few changes in leadership posts.
Lt. Gov.-elect Anthony Brown is from Prince George?s County, and committee chairs and vice chairs include legislators from Baltimore, Prince George?s and Montgomery counties and the Eastern Shore. The Senate leadership, which is also expected to remain the intact, also reflects a geographic balance.
