Should Md. re-elect Gov. Not-so-bad?
hen I ask my friends whom they plan to vote for in the 2018 Maryland gubernatorial election, some of them seem resigned to support Gov. Larry Hogan because he has exceeded their low expectations. I take that to mean that he a good family man and he
outrageous or inflammatory. He treats others in a socially appropriate way and with respect. Nor has he pushed our state to the brink of bankruptcy, like Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas.
On the other hand, Mr. Hogan’s positions on the substantive issues are lackluster. Our governor vetoed mandatory sick leave for Marylanders and fought with the legislature and Baltimore City over funding for public schools. It’s evident he’s weak on the environment; he killed regulations that would have curbed emissions from Maryland’s remaining coal-fired power plants — suspiciously within days of taking office. The governor has exhibited no creativity whatsoever in curbing or controlling health care costs.
He’s also taken actions that have had especially harmful effects on Baltimore City. Hogan’s decision to kill the proposed Red Line for the metropolitan transit system cost the city thousands of jobs, and his preference for school vouchers — a very regressive concept that has been discredited by educators far and wide — threatens to further thwart our much-needed advancement in public education. Even though The Sun credits the governor with spending, on average, 31 percent of available capital dollars for education over his first term and assenting to the “lockbox” of casino revenue for education, we have to ask if Mr. Hogan would have done these things if he hadn’t been under duress.
WOverall, Mr. Hogan’s leadership is uninspiring, akin to the record of a college senior who squeaks by with a 2.0 average, not that of a Rhodes scholar. All of which brings me to the central question: What do Marylanders want and expect from their governor for the next four years? While some routinely say “it could be worse,” by the same token, we could and should expect much better.