Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Who Really Opposes Slots? (Updated)

Marylanders United to Stop Slots recently released a list of 102 state leaders serving on its steering committee. Of the 15 State Senators and 52 Delegates who voted against last year’s slots referendum, only 12 have signed on for the anti-slots campaign.

The elected leaders on the steering committee are:

Congressman Wayne Gilchrest (R MD-1)

Comptroller Peter Franchot
Senator C. Anthony Muse (D-26, Prince George’s)
Senator Paul Pinsky (D-22, Prince George’s)
Delegate Curt Anderson (D-43, Baltimore City)
Delegate Joanne Benson (D-24, Prince George’s)
Delegate Elizabeth Bobo (D-12B, Howard)
Delegate Aisha Braveboy (D-25, Prince George’s)
Delegate Bill Bronrott (D-16, Montgomery)
Delegate Jill Carter (D-41, Baltimore City)
Delegate Marvin Holmes (D-23B, Prince George’s)
Delegate James Hubbard (D-23A, Prince George’s)
Delegate Tom Hucker (D-20, Montgomery)
Delegate Jolene Ivey (D-47, Prince George’s)
Delegate Gerron Levi (D-23A, Prince George’s)
Delegate Anthony McConkey (R-33A, Anne Arundel)
Delegate Karen Montgomery (D-14, Montgomery)
Delegate Victor Ramirez (D-47, Prince George’s)
Delegate Luiz Simmons (D-17, Montgomery)
Delegate Herman Taylor (D-14, Montgomery)
Delegate Michael Vaughn (D-24, Prince George’s)

G. James Benoit, Anne Arundel County Council Member
Will Campos, Prince George’s County Council Member
Joshua Cohen, Anne Arundel County Council Member
Nancy Howard, Ocean City Councilwoman
Glenn Ivey, State’s Attorney, Prince George’s County
George Leventhal, Montgomery County Council Member
Eric Olson, Prince George’s County Council Member
Ryan Spiegel, Gaithersburg City Councilmember
Bruce Williams, Takoma Park Mayor

Of the above state legislators, Delegates Bronrott, Hubbard, Hucker, Ivey, Ramirez and Vaughn voted in favor of the referendum and Delegate Montgomery was excused from the vote. That means that only 12 of 67 legislators who voted against the referendum, or 18% of the no-votes, have joined the anti-slots coalition.

Also notable is the fact that 13 of the 30 elected steering committee members are from Prince George’s County. Montgomery County, which is often described as a stronghold of slots opposition, only has nine members (counting the Comptroller). Absent from the list are all of the state’s County Executives.

The following state legislators voted against the slots referendum but have not joined the anti-slots campaign:

Senator David Brinkley (R-4, Frederick/Carroll)
Senator George Della (D-46, Baltimore City)
Senator Brian Frosh (D-16, Montgomery)
Senator Barry Glassman (R-35, Harford – a delegate at the time of the vote)
Senator Janet Greenip (R-33, Anne Arundel)
Senator Larry Haines (R-5, Baltimore County/Carroll)
Senator Andrew Harris (R-Baltimore County/Harford)
Senator Nancy Jacobs (R-34, Cecil/Harford)
Senator Allan Kittleman (R-9, Carroll/Howard)
Senator Alex Mooney (R-3, Frederick/Washington)
Senator E.J. Pipkin (R-36, Eastern Shore)
Senator Jamie Raskin (D-20, Montgomery)
Senator Bryan Simonaire (R-31, Anne Arundel)
Senator J. Lowell Stoltzfus (R-38, Eastern Shore)

Delegate Saqib Ali (D-39, Montgomery)
Delegate Susan Aumann (R-42, Baltimore County)
Delegate Charles Barkley (D-39, Montgomery)
Delegate Joseph Bartlett (R-4A, Frederick)
Delegate Gail Bates (R-9A, Howard)
Delegate Wendell Beitzel (R-1A, Garrett/Allegany)
Delegate Joseph Boteler III (R-8, Baltimore County)
Delegate Emmett Burns Jr. (D-10, Baltimore County)
Delegate Rudolph Cane (D-37A, Eastern Shore)
Delegate Robert Costa (R-33B, Anne Arundel)
Delegate Don Dwyer (R-31, Anne Arundel)
Delegate Adelaide Eckardt (R-37B, Eastern Shore)
Delegate Donald Elliott (R-4B, Carroll/Frederick)
Delegate William Frank (R-42, Baltimore County)
Delegate Ron George (R-30, Anne Arundel)
Delegate Jeannie Haddaway (R-37B, Eastern Shore)
Delegate J.B. Jennings (R-7, Baltimore/Harford)
Delegate Kevin Kelly (D-1B, Allegany)
Delegate Nicholas Kipke (R-31, Anne Arundel)
Delegate Ben Kramer (D-19, Montgomery)
Delegate Susan Krebs (R-9B, Carroll)
Delegate James Mathias Jr. (D-38B, Eastern Shore)
Delegate Susan McComas (R-35B, Harford)
Delegate Patrick McDonough (R-7, Baltimore/Harford)
Delegate Robert McKee (R-2A, Washington, since resigned)
Delegate Warren Miller (R-9A, Howard)
Delegate Heather Mizeur (D-20, Montgomery)
Delegate Peter Murphy (D-28, Charles)
Delegate LeRoy Myers Jr. (R-1C, Allegany/Washington)
Delegate Anthony O’Donnell (R-29C, Calvert/St. Mary’s)
Delegate Joseline Pena-Melnyk (D-21, Anne Arundel/Prince George’s)
Delegate Steve Schuh (R-31, Anne Arundel)
Delegate Christopher Shank (R-2B, Washington)
Delegate Tanya Thornton Shewell (R-5A, Carroll)
Delegate Michael Smigiel Sr. (R-36, Eastern Shore)
Delegate Richard Sossi (R-36, Eastern Shore)
Delegate Donna Stifler (R-35A, Harford)
Delegate Nancy Stocksdale (R-5A, Carroll)
Delegate Jeff Waldstreicher (D-18, Montgomery)
Delegate Mary Roe Walkup (R-36, Eastern Shore)
Delegate John Wood (D-29A, Charles/St. Mary’s)

Update:
In an interview on a Cumberland radio station, the Governor renewed his push for slots. According to the Sun:

Gov. Martin O'Malley said today that if a referendum on slot machine gambling fails in November, "it'll be back to the drawing board with a lot of unpopular choices, and I don't think any of us wants to go there."

No comments: