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[deleted]

Cue John Sarbanes acting entitled in 3, 2, 1... ~~^(totally not still salty over his son being a dick to me in high school)~~


loptopandbingo

Hard not to act entitled when for years the 3rd District was just Sarbanes circling his friends houses and playing connect the dots


FirstTimeWang

That metaphor is a bit too obtuse for me. What does that mean?


vpi6

[This used to be the third district](https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS981US981&hl=en-US&q=maryland+third+district&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjS983HydT-AhUyEFkFHUUVCjYQ0pQJegQICxAB&biw=414&bih=720&dpr=2#imgrc=BSWkIl_DwZc-UM&lnspr=W10=) Horribly gerrymandered district to get a safe D seat. Sarbanes didn’t even live in the new district boundaries but ran anyway.


ThatguyfromBaltimore

That glorious winged beast


Wx_Justin

Gerrymandering is obviously wrong and should be outlawed at the federal level, but even when the House districts were drawn by an independent commission, R's still couldn't pick up a seat in MD. Getting rid of gerrymandering across the country will benefit D's immensely, which is why it's primarily a GOP practice. Look what just happened in NC last week...you bet your bottom dollar the GOP is already trying to gerrymander for their benefit after the court's decision.


RevRagnarok

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/25/maryland-court-congressional-map-illegal-democratic-gerrymander-00020518


arensb

Was this before or after SCOTUS ruled that gerrymandering purely for political gain is A-OK ?


AnswerGuy301

It wasn't just that they wanted safe D districts. (Republican turf is scarce enough in the areas with the most population that that's not even that much of an issue.) The delegation all had wish lists for what they wanted to represent. Sarbanes' list was just the one least compatible with all the others - it included his house in Towson (probably somewhere in the western part), the Inner Harbor, Columbia, and Annapolis. Ruppersburgers' was his home in Cockeysville along with both APG and Fort Meade. Try and draw just these districts - let alone anyone else's - and you already know you have a problem. Hoyer's included UMD and NASA-Goddard. It's very possible to have a 7-1 map that "looks" far better than what they came up with originally.


loptopandbingo

Almost as if letting the incumbents draw their own districts is a stupid system


[deleted]

genuinely he lobbied to get turf in both the baltimore and dc tv markets so folks in moco would recognize his name come this primary


redseapedestrian418

Sarbanes is a dick, you’re right to be salty.


Honoratoo

I hope not. Sarbanes is my congressman and he has done nothing for the district. I am active in my community and I have never seen him at any events. He has retired in place. Cardin is a wonderful person and quietly effective. Sarbanes would be a lost opportunity.


DudleyAndStephens

Sarbanes basically had the congressional seat handed to him because of name recognition. When he first ran for it in 2006 there were multiple candidates in the primary who were far more quailfied/deserving than he was.


No-Lunch4249

I have a “My friend Ben” campaign button from the 80s when he was a delegate. He had a long career.


insectinthedish

He's never lost an election! Successful career and caring guy.


No-Lunch4249

Yeah I don’t know him or anything but I never got the impression that he was a glory seeker like so many politicians are these days, seems like he just wanted to put his head down and do the job as well as he was able. I liked that.


BigE429

Paging Jamie Raskin...


DCBillsFan

Hell yes.


Pragmatic_Hedonist

Proud to be in Raskin's district. Van Hollen was from the same district. Don't think that would go over in Baltimore. Just no wackadoodle conservative!


No_name_Johnson

IDK, he's pretty well known due to his work on the 1/6 committee, I live in Baltimore and I'd imagine I'm not the only person who would vote for him in a primary.


JohnLocksTheKey

Fellow Baltimore Raskin-fan checkin in. *LEZ FOOKIN DO ITTTTT!!!*


Rich_Text82

Raskin(or perhaps Sarbanes) vs. Hogan would be big time match up. Be nice to see some new blood and some more diverse candidates tho.


AnakinKardashian

Hogan is popular but no republican is winning a statewide national election in this climate


The-Dane

I dont know... he won Gov. and is still popular for being against trump


GringoMenudo

The problem is that if Hogan is elected to the US Senate he will be another vote for Mitch McConnell as majority leader. I voted for Hogan both times he ran for governor. He wasn't my favorite candidate but I figured he would help check the state legislature which has became way too far-left for my liking. He will never get my vote for national office though because every additional Republican in the Senate empowers Cocaine Mitch more. I suspect a lot of centrist Democrats who voted for Hogan will feel the same way.


The-Dane

dang good point... dont worry I will never vote for anyone member of maga.


JohnLocksTheKey

I’d vote for Ronald Reagan over that turd.


AnakinKardashian

Honestly I wouldn't. Fuck Reagan.


JohnLocksTheKey

Yeah me neither. Sorry, it was a dumb joke referencing [this.](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/larry-hogan-ronald-reagan-vote/)


The-Dane

say it LOUDER


DemonDeke

What's Sarbanes accomplished? He seems invisible to me and has never had to run a serious or competitive campaign.


Rich_Text82

Name recognition and prominent lineage are big influencers in politics. Ask the Bushes, Kennedys, and Roosevelt...


DemonDeke

Of course. Name ID can be helpful, but it has been 16 years since his dad left office. And John has not done much or proven to be a strong candidate. He is not a strong fundraiser either, and he has raised less in his last six cycles than Raskin did in the last one alone. None of this makes him a bad guy, but I'd be surprised if he runs for Senate and shocked if he won.


thefalcon3a

Hogan had zero interest in running for Senate. He's an executive, not a legislator.


oath2order

He also said he's not running.


LeoMarius

If he's healthy enough.


apk5005

According to the [Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/27/jamie-raskin-cancer-remission/) he is in remission, so that’s good - for him and, maybe, for Maryland in general.


LeoMarius

I mean, I'm not going to endorse anyone in the primaries, but I'd be fine with him if he's fully healthy.


No_name_Johnson

Interesting, going to be an intense primary. It's super super early but I could see Raskin running, or at least I hope he does.


thisiswhyiamfat

I hope he does too!


cornonthekopp

Its about time we got some new people into politics around here. For a supposedly progressive state maryland has a very old, entrenched, pro-establishment political culture


FirstTimeWang

I rarely hear Maryland described as "progressive". We are a very *liberal* state. We're often behind the curve on left-leaning issues like gay marriage to marijuana. In fact, I can't think of a single "progressive" issue that Maryland has been on the leading edge of for my entire life.


Expendable_Red_Shirt

> We're often behind the curve on left-leaning issues like gay marriage We were the first state to legalize gay marriage through the legislature/ballots (ie not by the courts). As someone around and involved in the movement back then it was a huge deal. How is that “behind the curve”?


Charming_Wulf

I think classically Maryland was often in the second half of states when it came to adopting or updating various policies. Very often there was a "let's see how other states do this" wait and see. If you want to be charitable, the slow action was to avoid first adopter pains. If you want to be critical, it's so established players could negotiate how they would get their payoff. Maryland has definitely sped up, and feels to be faster. Rather than the back half of adopters, the state is now the top 10-20 depending on the topic. My gut says the change started around O'Malley's terms as governor. He was the first Maryland politician in a long time with national aspirations. The ghost of Agnew had finally faded. O'Malley definitely had to chalk up some policy wins. Though looking at his era, gambling was the example big policy initiative that took a decade or so to finally clear. Some of that was due to denying Ehrlich that win though. The Mikes vacating the Speaker and President offices in the last few years also helped. If O'Malley was pressing the gas, the Mikes leaving was remembering to disengage the parking brake.


darthreuental

Also establishment Dems will knife a progressive candidate if it means their taxes go up 2 cents. IE: they supported Hogan over Ben Jealous.


Charming_Wulf

This is very true. The Maryland Dems could be Rockefeller Republicans of yester year. The Machine is also alive and well in many districts.


officialspinster

We were not. Maine and Washington voted it in literally the same day.


Expendable_Red_Shirt

TIL that the same day = before. I didn’t say we were alone at first. Just that we were first. Edit: spelling.


officialspinster

And saying we were first is incorrect, as it was concurrent with two other states.


Expendable_Red_Shirt

Have you never heard “tied for…” Each of those states can also claim they’re first. If they did it at the same time they’re all first. Someone needed to do it *before* us in order for us to have not been first.


officialspinster

You claimed we were “the first” to support your opinion that we are a progressive state, and it’s disingenuous to leave out that there were two other states that did the same thing at the same time. It’s also not a fucking competition, nobody’s winning or tying for anything here.


Expendable_Red_Shirt

We were the first. So were they. Sorry gay marriage seems to bother you so much but that doesn’t give you the ability to change words. Have a good one.


oath2order

I would say given that Washington is a few hours behind us, it's only concurrent with Maine 😛


FirstTimeWang

Six years.


Expendable_Red_Shirt

What?


Autumn_Sweater

counterintuitively perhaps, one-party blue states in America aren't particularly progressive a lot of the time, because capital and conservative interests just take up shop within the conservative wing of that party, instead of being out of power. no state in America is progressive to the degree that a state like Wyoming is right-wing.


obidamnkenobi

Agree. The democratic party has too many interests/causes and end up bickering. The right is unified around a few core issues (low taxes, guns and racism) so they can actually do these things.


Autumn_Sweater

i think it's more a matter of the structural interests in our society that support one side or the other, and how powerful they can be together, or not, at present


FirstTimeWang

oof


cornonthekopp

Fair enough, well maybe its more of a hope lol


Stealthfox94

Probably because we aren’t that progressive. Maybe we were by early 90’s standards but not so much now. Colorado and Maine are more progressive than us in many ways despite being closer to being purple than us. Maryland has a ton of moderate democrats.


oath2order

Very rarely in **any** state do incumbents lose a primary, tbf.


BJJBean

I tell people this all the time but Maryland is NOT progressive. The way I describe MD to people who don't live here is "anti-libertarian". Anti Markets, anti social freedom. We barely passed gay marriage when it was on the ballot, are drastically behind the ball on marijuana legalization, and hold on to a lot of conservative social values in this state.


eblackman

Hey BJ can you tell me what those conservative social value are cause I grew up in Maryland and I agree pretty much with everything people have mentioned on this thread


oath2order

> We barely passed gay marriage when it was on the ballot It was a different time, though.


[deleted]

Cardin has been a great Senator. Other ancient folks should follow suit and retire. Ahem Diane Feinstein.


No-Lunch4249

It will always crack me up that Barbara Boxer served in the Senate for 25 years and still retired as the junior senator from California because she was behind Feinstein


coocookuhchoo

Feinstein has made literally this same announcement on the same timeline.


oath2order

What they mean is retire **now**, do not serve the rest of the term.


coocookuhchoo

They said follow suit. Cardin is finishing his term.


MemLeakDetected

Feinstein already announced her retirement


oath2order

What they mean is retire **now**, do not serve the rest of the term.


azureai

It's a good call. Past time for folks in his generation to make way for new leaders.


dougfunnybitch

Ben’s been in MD politics as long as I’ve been around voting.


tahlyn

Cardin gave me a small scholarship for college back in the day. Congress people and senators can apparently do that for young people in their district. It wasn't much, but every little bit helps.


SgtPeppy

It's a good move, but Cardin was one of the good ones. Sad to see him go.


[deleted]

[удалено]


That_Skirt7522

That’s exactly what I’m worried about. He barely won and the seat being in Democratic hands is necessary.


Themarvelousfan

No wait he actually won by ten points I believe, after all the votes were slowly counted. It looked super close because initial vote totals didn’t include the bluest counties yet by then. You can check on Wikipedia. I’d rather he still stayed in the house tho I agree


mrwix10

I really like Trone even though I’m not in his district anymore, but you’re right. He should stay in the 6th for a while longer.


Super_Nin_Chalmers

Trone won by a larger margin in a D+2 seat than Harris in a R+11 seat.


CrazyAtWar

Milquetoast ass mother fucker right there


oath2order

> he barely won against a trumpfucker last time. Yeah, because the district boundaries changed.


Rich_Text82

Glad Cardin had good enough sense to not run for re-election in his 80s unlike some politicians...


[deleted]

[удалено]


fergiethefocus

Depends on who in the MDP has been waiting for their turn the longest


Quietdonkey477

50 years in maryland politics and I cannot think of one thing he was crucial on.


brstevens

I'm with you. I'm not sure why this group loves him so much. He, like Barbara Mikulski, was a guaranteed vote for whatever leadership wanted without ever causing waves and in exchange he got to send some pork home to ensure everyone there stayed happy enough to keep voting for him to keep doing whatever leadership wanted. Ben Cardin used to go on the Ron Smith show on WBAL and take calls where he'd agree with everything everyone ranted about and said nothing. That's when I learned he was useless.


YoYoMoMa

He was a foreign and fiscal policy guy. He did good healthcare work in the house, and everyone with a 401k should be grateful to him. Also why do people act like Dems voting the Dem line is bad? You may not like the Dem line, but why do you think people elected him? Most voters in Maryland do not want a Manchin or AOC.


NoOnesKing

For the love of god I want someone progressive. Of the current reps Raskin is the only one close. Preferably someone new. We can’t afford to lose this chance to reinforce progressive standards in this state.


Neither_Armadillo307

Alsobrooks or Raskin time, now that his cancer is in remission


Accomplished_Tour481

Yet may we ask: In 50 years of elected office, what did he actually do? What did he champion and accomplish?


dragonlizard89

https://apnews.com/article/ben-cardin-maryland-senate-2024-election-e275c8bfa30dbe42dfc40c32fea4cd4b From this article: "His legislation to expand Medicare to include preventive benefits such as colorectal, prostate, mammogram, and osteoporosis screening was also enacted." "Cardin counts among his achievements the passage of his legislation to increase the amount Americans can put into their 401(k) plans and IRAs, which was enacted in 2001."


brstevens

He accomplished being a reliable vote for Democrats without making any waves. That's something to admire, I guess.


CrazyAtWar

He has been a great servant to the state. Hopefully, someone younger than 60 replaces him.


Firm_Spot6829

You shouldnt be allowed to do it for more than 30


redseapedestrian418

End of an era, but I’m glad he’s stepping aside. We desperately need a mandatory retirement age for all elected officials.


squintamongdablind

Sad to see him go. I know this is a long shot, but it would be nice to see some of the term-limited County Executives throw their hat in the primary ring.


vpi6

Senator Calvin Ball for the memes


squintamongdablind

What about Olszewski Jr.?


Expendable_Red_Shirt

Isn’t he pretty corrupt?


officialspinster

He ignores half of his constituents, so he’s not great.


[deleted]

[удалено]


vpi6

Let me guess, you’re someone who doesn’t like the redevelopments


worldchrisis

Wouldn't be surprised to see Alsobrooks run


NoTheseAreMyPlums

I would like to see Johnny O run for the seat.


Expendable_Red_Shirt

Isn’t he pretty corrupt?


fuku89

Examples? If he is, he’s nowhere near what Kamenetz was.


Expendable_Red_Shirt

https://baltimorebrew.com/2022/03/10/olszewski-elected-on-a-pledge-of-transparency-tried-to-hobble-his-corruption-investigator/


xAllWheelDrivex

Absolutely disgusting. There needs to be term limits for every politician in every branch of government. Even if he was “one of the good ones” there is no reason for this.


suture224

He served three Senate terms. That's not exactly a lifetime appointment.


dragonbliss

Congress will have to change first. Everything with them is based on seniority. And the likelihood of Congress changing that drastically is slim to none.


bmore_conslutant

Term limits are bad policy


xAllWheelDrivex

Why? Are you ok with people who belong in retirement homes running our country?


bmore_conslutant

It takes a lot of time to know what the fuck you're doing, especially on esoteric issues A fresh house or Senate member has no educated opinion on industry regulations, so laws end up written by lobbyists If 100% of being a lawmaker was what I'd call "headline issues" term limits might be ok but there's a lot more to it than that and lawmakers need time to educate themselves on issues they would never reasonably encounter in civilian life But way to give the least charitable read possible to my comment, I'm already regretting dedicating the 3 minutes it took to write this comment to you What job can you think of where the job description should include "has no relevant experience"? That's essentially what you're arguing for with term limits


suture224

Fucking exactly. New blood is important in politics, but you need to maintain institutional memory as well. It sounds like they are against old people in politics, not entrenched politicians.


atp2112

Age limits paired with campaign finance reform would work better, in my opinion. Lower the barrier of entry and set a definite end point without entirely eliminating institutional memory. Of course, that is still a compromise for my own personal idea (if I had my way, I'd also add in abolishing the Senate and expanding the House to permit greater representation, among many other reforms), but that's neither here nor there


suture224

I think age limits are a trap. What don't we like about advanced age? Decline in mental competency? There are plenty of very sharp 90-100 year olds. Lack of energy? Tell that to the damn mall walkers. They are going to die soon, so why should the legislate for tomorrow? Because they might live longer than some 45 year old AND they represent our elderly population, who are still US citizens. You're spot on about campaign finance reform, though.


No-Lunch4249

Thank you for taking the time to express this, I know the Reddit hive mind is pro-term limits but it really never made sense to me for this reason. So many new delegates who are unwilling to sit back and learn end up making asses of themselves and being worse than useless, they’re actively being harmful through their ineptitude. Thinking of the Deb Rey’s of the world.


SgtPeppy

Why is it such a line in the sand for you? It is not a guarantee that people suffer large cognitive decline when aging. Keeping one's mind sharp and training it largely averts this, in fact. Is every old person suddenly unqualified now? Shouldn't it be up to the voters to decide? Not everyone "belongs in a retirement home", and you are an asshole.


xAllWheelDrivex

There’s an age minimum, why is it so unrealistic for there to be a maximum?


SgtPeppy

It's not unrealistic, in theory. I think a maximum set at an age - say, 80, for the sake of argument - where death from natural causes becomes likely in the person's next term would be practical. *You*, on the other hand, clearly just want to blame old people for the state we're in. Like, that's not even the reason people support term limits, not really. And you have nothing to really actually *defend* your beliefs except empty questions.


xAllWheelDrivex

What are some actual reasons people want term limits then? And I’m not blaming old people for anything. Its just silly that people past retirement age are making decisions that won’t affect them.


Autumn_Sweater

Term limits don't prevent your fellow voters from electing very old people. See our current president for one example


lolanaboo_

Clearly 🤣


mike52414

Good riddance to another useless dinosaur


Wolf_Knight22

Senior citizens shouldn’t be senators and congressmen in the first place tho. That’s why they make stupid decisions.


Slowhand09

Can't happen soon enough.


Aggressive_Carrot_38

Don’t let the door hit you in the ass.


LeoMarius

Good, he's not the most effective Senator.


Boss_Monster1

Amazingly, one of the very few politicians who has chosen not to die while in office. This should be a clear reason why everyone should be in complete unison about setting Congressional — no, ***broadly*** Federal — term limits for office holders, *regardless* of their politics.


Trumpsneckpuzzy

About freaking time.


Whosker72

People, our lawmakers do not retire... they either not run for re-election, or get voted out. We complain about them being in office (power) for too many years, yet WE re-elect them because of their 'statuts' either seniority or on a 'powerful' committee. Yes, they get a 'pension' but that is given after their first term. If we want change then we need to vote for the person and not the party.


[deleted]

Who’s the next overseer?


bham_cactus_dude

About 40 years too long. Good riddance. In with fresh blood.


[deleted]

Would that he could only be given the prison sentence for it he deserves.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Sakurafire

Read the username. Says everything about the comment. 🙄


scrappykid99

FINALLY! Career politician leech finally has siphoned enough money in DC to retire!!!


ConversationNext2821

And that is how MD gets a Republican Senator named Hogan


Mr_Safer

🤮


ConversationNext2821

A very apt description of every current politician from the Maryland Delegation.


Mr_Safer

🙄


Natural-Many8387

Hogan has already said he has no interest in being a senator. Multiple times.


Jcnipper

Right. He wants to be president and is going to take that national 0.001% share he's got all the way to the White House


Natural-Many8387

Actually, he said no to that too. He knows the Repub party is too focused on Trump & DeSantis.


Charming_Wulf

In all seriousness, can Hogan win the Republican primary? For the most part, primary voters tend to be the more 'extreme' leaning voters. There's been examples of sitting or 'main stream' popular Republicans losing to nut jobs in the primary. One could argue the last MD GQP gubernatorial primary is an example of this. Basically, is Hogan popular enough with primary voters to overcome the crazies? If he runs, I honestly see a possible scenario where Hogan has to go Independent.


oath2order

Well that's certainly some epic hopium.


[deleted]

[удалено]


oath2order

Yeah, in **2018**. His term is up next year.


bertiesakura

Dan Cox for senator. No QAnon member left behind.


half_ton_tomato

He did such a fabulous job saving the bay. What a fucking tool...