election

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Barack Obama has endorsed Ben Jealous for governor of Maryland.

The former president announced the endorsement on Monday.

Jealous, who served as president of the NAACP, was one of 260 Democratic candidates for governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House and state legislature endorsed by Obama in his second round of endorsements for the midterm elections.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland's House speaker says he plans to make campaign and other public appearances soon after recovering from an unscheduled bypass surgery.

Speaker Michael Busch told The Capital of Annapolis Friday that he has been undergoing physical therapy at a Baltimore hospital to rebuild his strength since the procedure earlier this month. He says he expects to return home Monday.

The 71-year-old was at the University of Maryland Medical Center Sept. 19 for a routine test. Busch says he was short of breath and experiencing chest pains.

(AP) Virginia's U.S. Senate candidates continued to trade insults in a chippy second debate.

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican challenger Corey Stewart faced off Wednesday in northern Virginia in a debate that was broadcast on TV stations statewide.

They picked up where they left off in their first debate in July.

BALTIMORE (AP) - The National Rifle Association has downgraded Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan's ranking and is refusing to endorse him.

The move comes after the Republican governor signed several pieces of gun control legislation.

The Baltimore Sun reports that NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said Saturday that the organization now rates Hogan a "C" on protecting the rights of gun owners.

Four years ago, the NRA rated Hogan as an "A-." Baker said the NRA will not endorse Hogan this election as it did during his successful 2014 run for governor.

The Democratic Party has identified the congressional seat of Maryland Republican Andy Harris and a potential target that could be flipped this election cycle.

Ben Ray Lujan, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, noted that candidate Jesse Colvin has put together a strong campaign operation.

He added makes it a race to watch.

Colvin raised nearly $700-thousand in total contributions as of the end of June.

Over the same period Harris took in just over $753-thousand.

The Republican nominee for Delaware’s lone House seat Scott Walker has accused the state’s Democratic congressional delegation and its governor of being racist.

The Wilmington News Journal reports that he took aim at Delaware’s first African American congressional member Lisa Blunt-Rochester calling her an “Aunt Tom”.

During a long rant he called the state’s senior Senator Tom Carper who is running for reelection a “redneck” and described former Vice President Joe Biden as a “racist loser.”

DOVER, Del. (AP) - The Republican Party chairman in Delaware's most populous county has resigned his post, saying he cannot support the party's U.S. Senate candidate.

Peter Kopf, chairman of the New Castle County Republican Committee, submitted his resignation letter last Thursday, saying he is troubled both by Rob Arlett's candidacy and the current leadership of the state Republican Party.

Arlett, a county councilman who served as Donald Trump's state campaign chair in 2016, defeated former PayPal executive Gene Truono in the GOP Senate primary earlier this month.

Independent candidate for Wicomico County Executive Jack Heath has endorsed Republican Governor Larry Hogan in his re-election bid this year.

In addition, Heath gave his blessing to Comptroller Peter Franchot a Democrat who is running for re-election.

He said the two have given a voice in Annapolis to the concerns of the Eastern Shore.

Heath is challenging Republican incumbent Bob Culver.

Heath is currently the president of the Salisbury City Council and has been endorsed by the local Democratic Club.

BALTIMORE (AP) - Democrat Ben Jealous is supporting proposals aimed at making prescription drugs more affordable in Maryland.

Jealous, who is running for governor, announced his support for the measures Monday at a news conference.

He is backing legislation to create a state board to focus on ensuring transparency and accountability in prescription drug pricing. He says companies would be required to provide advance notice before increasing prices and explain why.

DOVER, Del. (AP) - State lawmakers have signed off on a comprehensive, $13 million upgrade of Delaware's voting system, including all new machines, an electronic poll book to speed up voter check-in, and a new election management system.

The co-chairs of the legislature's capital budget committee on Monday endorsed the unanimous recommendation of a bipartisan task force to enter into a contract with Election Systems & Software LLC.

NEW CASTLE, Del. (AP) - Delaware is moving closer to adopting new electronic voting machines that incorporate a paper trail, ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

The Delaware State News reports the task force charged with approving a contract to replace the current machine unanimously approved the new ExpressVote XL machines Tuesday. The Joint Committee on Capital Improvement will meet Monday to review and vote on selecting Election Systems & Software as the vendor.

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) - Liberty University and Hampton University will each host a U.S. Senate Town Hall featuring Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican challenger Corey Stewart.

The first Town Hall will be held at Liberty's Center for Music and the Worship Arts on Sept. 20. The second event will be held at Hampton's Convocation Center on Oct. 3. Each event will be produced for television and broadcast live through a partnership with the Virginia Association of Broadcasters.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A Virginia legislative watchdog agency says the state's elections systems have a number of problems, including an unreliable IT system and a leadership structure susceptible to undue political influence.

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission issued a report Monday saying it found no large scale voter fraud in Virginia, but several areas of possible improvement.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - Longtime U.S Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware has easily fended off a challenge from a political newcomer who was part of an antiestablishment wave that hoped to move the Democratic Party farther to the left.

The 71-year--old Carper, who has a reputation as a centrist on Capitol Hill, defeated 38-year-old Kerri Evelyn Harris in Thursday's Democratic primary.

A candidate for Delaware state representative has been arrested for breaking into the home of his child’s mother on Labor Day.

The Wilmington News Journal reports that U’Gundi Jacobs who is challenging state Representative Stephanie Bolden in the Democratic primary has pleaded not guilty.

In addition he is out on $1-thousand bond.

The paper reports that on his Facebook page Jacobs calls the arrest a “smear campaign”.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Democrats are headed to court to try to convince a judge to remove an independent candidate from the ballot in a tight congressional race in Virginia.

A hearing is scheduled Wednesday in a lawsuit that accuses members of Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Taylor's campaign staff of forging signatures to help independent candidate Shaun Brown get on the Nov. 6 ballot in the 2nd Congressional District race.

Democrats claim Taylor's campaign wanted Brown on the ballot to bolster his re-election by weakening support for his Democratic opponent.

TOWSON, Md. (AP) - A Maryland coalition of education advocates is urging voters to approve a ballot question requiring the state's portion of casino revenues be used to increase public school funding.

Supporters say $500 million annually will be added to public education once phased in, if voters approve in November. A news conference on the issue will be held Thursday in Towson.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - U.S. Sen. Tom Carper is defending his voting record during three terms in the Senate against challenger Kerri Lynn Harris, a political newcomer and progressive community activist waging a grassroots campaign to try to unseat him.

DOVER, Del. (AP) - Bernard Pepukayi, a lawyer with long ties to the Delaware Democratic Party, has switched his party affiliation and is running as a Republican for attorney general.

Pepukayi, a 45-year-old Middletown resident, filed his change of registration and candidacy papers Monday. Peggy Marshall Thomas, a Republican and former Sussex County prosecutor, quit the race last week.

(AP) The son of a powerful Republican congressman has lambasted his father on Twitter for "ruining" the career of a recently fired FBI agent.

Bobby Goodlatte targeted his father, Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte, on Twitter after Monday's news that the FBI fired Peter Strzok. The agent had sent anti-Trump text messages during the Russia investigation.

Richard Byrne and Patricia Coluzzi have won two seats on the Rehoboth Beach commission.

Byrne received 660 votes while Colluzi picked up 583.

Gary Glass came in third with 515.

WBOC reports that there were a total of just over a thousand votes cast on Saturday – including absentee ballots.

The two will be sworn in on September 21st at a regular commission begin.

And they will serve three year terms.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Ben Jealous, who is running for governor of Maryland, has apologized for using an expletive when responding to a reporter's question.

Jealous used the word Wednesday after he was asked whether he identified with the word "socialist." His opponent, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, has used the word "socialist" to describe Jealous.

When asked at a news conference whether he identified with the word, the Democrat asked, "Are you (expletive) kidding me?"

The exchange was recorded on camera.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Jerome Segal, who lost his Maryland U.S. Senate primary bid, has filed signatures with the state elections board to form a new political party.

Segal announced he submitted 19,500 signatures this week to establish a new Bread and Roses party, which he describes as a new socialist party.

The elections board has 20 days to verify the signatures. Segal would need to have 10,000 verified signatures to form the new party.

Segal would not be able to run in this year's U.S. Senate race as a new party nominee, because he ran in the Democratic primary.

It may be only 2018 but presidential politics are in the area.  

Maryland’s Republican governor Larry Hogan made a visit to Montgomery County where he kept open possibilities for himself as a candidate.

The Washington Post reports he said, “You never say never,” noting that he is one of the most popular governors in the nation.

His approval rating in the polls hovers around 70 percent despite being governor in an overwhelmingly Blue state.

He adds that he has not given a presidential bid much thought focusing more on issues that face the state.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A campaign consultant helping a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Virginia has attacked the NAACP and cities with large African-American populations.

News outlets report that Rick Shaftan, who is working for Corey Stewart's Senate campaign, has posted disparaging comments about African Americans on social media in past years. He also said that the NAACP is "more violent" than the KKK.

Shaftan used an expletive in January when discussing Baltimore replacing a confederate statue. He was also critical of New Orleans and Ferguson, Missouri.

The FBI says that Maryland elections officials should be concerned about a company called Bytegrid LLC.

The company manages part of the state’s voting system.

WBOC reports that federal officials say a Russian investor with ties to Moscow is a part owner of the company.

Governor Larry Hogan has asked Homeland Security for help in looking into the system’s security to make sure election returns and voter information have not been compromised.

A statement from the company said that their investors play no role in its operations.

BALTIMORE (AP) - Former Vice President Joe Biden urged Maryland Democrats to unite and end intra-party fighting ahead of this year's general elections.

The Baltimore Sun reports that Biden spoke to at a Camden Yards fundraiser Saturday evening.

The event raised money for Ben Jealous, who won the Maryland Democratic nomination for governor on Tuesday. The former NAACP president beat Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker in a crowded primary.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland's Ben Jealous says he's ready to climb what some describe as the state's political Mount Everest: Defeating Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.

It just might be that tall a task, even for a Democrat in a blue state where Republicans are outnumbered 2-1. That's because Democrats throughout the state like Hogan.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland voters are choosing candidates Tuesday for all 188 state legislative seats, governor and members of Congress.

The Democratic primary for governor is one of the major races. Polls show Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker and former NAACP President Ben Jealous in a tight race in a crowded primary. Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is unchallenged for his party's nomination.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland officials say a computer error involving voter registration may affect as many as 80,000 voters - about four times as many as officials first estimated over the weekend.

The Motor Vehicle Administration made the announcement on the eve of Tuesday's primary. Affected voters will need to use provisional ballots as a result.

MVA Administrator Christine Nizer says that in the urgency to inform the public due to the imminent primary, the numbers initially reported "did not accurately reflect the total scope of the people impacted."