Montgomery County has been a key source of Democratic victory margins in statewide races for decades, but virtually none of its residents held the offices they were key to electing.
But today Montgomery is coming into its own as its State?s Attorney Doug Gansler is sworn in as the attorney general, the first from the state?s largest jurisdiction.
The event will begin around noon in the state Senate chamber; defeated Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich will conduct the swearing in, a duty the state constitution prescribes.
Gansler said speakers at the event include former U.S. Sen. Joseph Tydings, an early supporter of Gansler?s attorney general campaign; former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who was once Gansler?s boss as a federal prosecutor; former Maryland Court of Appeals John McAuliffe, for whom Gansler has clerked; and outgoing Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr.
The Senate chamber also will be the setting for the swearing in of Gov.-elect Martin O?Malley, who grew upin Rockville before moving to Baltimore and becoming mayor.
Montgomery County Delegate Peter Franchot will be sworn in as comptroller Jan. 22 in the House of Delegates chamber, only the second county resident in Maryland history to hold down the job as chief tax collector and watcher of the purse.
The first Montgomerian elected comptroller was E. Brooke Lee in 1918 ? the first county resident elected to a statewide office, if the U.S. Senate isn?t counted.
Brooke Lee was the father of Blair Lee III, the lieutenant governor and acting governor under Gov. Marvin Mandel.
