Governor Larry Hogan’s new administration appeals to diverse groups
Marylanders representing every demographic gathered in the Baltimore Convention Center’s main ballroom on Wednesday evening to attend Gov. Larry Hogan Jr. and Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford’s Inauguration bash.
Among those in the crowd included many African-Americans-several of whom are members of the city council-who were understandably excited to meet the state’s third black Lieutenant Governor.
Asian-Americans also attended in large numbers, due in part to the presence and support of Hogan’s wife-Yumi-who is a Korean-American. Many pundits have suggested that the former may have helped the governor carry Howard County and other traditionally Democratic areas of the state where Asian-Americans are heavily concentrated.
The considerable presence of these two groups-coupled with hundreds of other Democrats in attendance-represent a broad bi-partisan coalition-that arguably made the difference for Hogan and enabled him to become only the second Republican to win the Governor’s Mansion since Spiro Agnew in 1966.
“I would not be here without the help of all of the people in this room-the 130,000 members of Change Maryland. I’m so proud of the fact that people all across our state from one end of the state to the other-put aside partisanship and party politics-and they came together to put Maryland on a new path- and to change Maryland for the better,” Hogan told the audience.
That assertion confirms Gov. Hogan recognizes the importance of considering diverse viewpoints and making some concessions to an overwhelmingly Democratic General Assembly-which will likely try to obstruct his main initiatives-as they did to his former boss-Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.
Behavior among the legislature’s entrenched Democrats-who enjoy near supermajority status-borders on hypocrisy at times- their refusal to endorse Ehrlich’s proposal for slot machines while adopting a similar initiative emanating from O’Malley-not only confirms this premise-but reaffirms the notion that Hogan will have to build lasting relationships with more open-minded Democrats who are willing to put Maryland’s interests ahead of their own.
Gov. Hogan’s FY 2016 budget-released Thursday-provides an excellent opportunity for Democratic lawmakers to give a little –and get most of what they want-in exchange for modest cuts aimed at producing a balanced budget.
Their acquiescence would also go a long way towards helping the state recover from the fiscal mess left over from the previous administration and its knee-jerk reaction to tax and spend.
Bryan is an award-winning political journalist who has extensive experience covering Congress and Maryland state government.
His work includes coverage of the election of Donald Trump, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions-as well as that of the Maryland General Assembly, Gov. Larry Hogan, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan has broken stories involving athletic and sexual assault scandals with the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
His original UMBC investigation gained international attention, was featured in People Magazine and he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” and local radio stations. Bryan broke subsequent stories documenting UMBC’s omission of a sexual assault on their daily crime log and a federal investigation related to the university’s handling of an alleged sexual assault.