Maryland Too

It appears that a number of prominent Democrats in the state house lost primaries to socialists last week:

Thomas V. Mike Miller has been president of the Maryland Senate since 1987. Come January, he'll have to rebuild his leadership team essentially from scratch.

Three of Miller's top lieutenants went down in Democratic primaries on Tuesday. Thanks to other losses and retirements, most committees will have new chairs next year. Among those ousted were Nathaniel McFadden, the Senate president pro tem; Joan Carter Conway, who chairs the Education, Health and Environmental Committee; and Judiciary Committee Chair Joseph Vallario.

"Mike Miller's going to go to Annapolis in January faced with a decimated leadership team and a far more progressive Senate than he's faced before," says Todd Eberly, a political scientist at St. Mary's College of Maryland. "It may be a Senate that isn't comfortable with him as a leader."

Voters in Maryland were willing ousted veteran members they considered an impediment to progressive issues like criminal justice reform and a $15 minimum wage.

"The folks who are energized, the folks who are engaged, these are folks for whom progressive legislation is very important," says Christopher Honey, communications director for SEIU Local 500, a labor union that targeted Miller and his allies. "It's no surprise that this happened in a blue state like Maryland."

I was too busy following the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — Joe Crowley race, and I missed that there was kind of a (VERY WELL DESERVED) blood bath in the Maryland state Senate among Mike Miller's cronies.

I think that state Senate president Mike Miller, and state House speaker Michael Busch are, and will continue to be, a part of the problem in Maryland politics, but, for this session at least, their positions are secure, though less secure than they were a few months ago.

Maybe next session.