Maryland: Maryland House Of Delegates

Citizen journalist Frank Winstead, a resident of Ward 3 in the District of Columbia, was none too pleased at the Honda Element with Maryland House of Delegates plates parked illegally in his neighborhood on Saturday. He snapped some photographs, and...

When Del. Saqib Ali (D-Gaithersburg) ran for a position in the state General Assembly in 2006 he faced challenges that most politicians do not face.

"Some people said to me ‘you have a funny name' and ‘you are a Muslim,'" Ali told PolitickerMD.com.  "They said just go home. Don't run."

Ali, who is of Pakistani and Indian descent, even had to deal with a protester who sat outside his home one-day in the summer of 2006 carrying a sign and shouting derogatory comments about Ali's religion.

[img_assist|nid=2425|title=Del. D. Page Elmore raised money for 2010 today|desc=|link=none|url=undefined|align=right|width=200|height=133]Del. D. Page Elmore (R-Salisbury) gathered a large group of supporters to celebrate his 69th birthday and do a little fundraising at the Somers Cove Marina in Crisfield, today. It was the delegate's fourth annual crab and pork feast.

"It gives me the opportunity to see a lot of my constituents," Elmore told PolitickerMD.com prior to the event.

In 1999, the Maryland General Assembly voted to ban lobbyists from buying meals for individual lawmakers. Designed to curb the appearance of impropriety, the legislation, House Bill (HB) 1, passed with overwhelming support.

The law, however, did not disallow lobbyists from buying meals for lawmakers in a committee or county delegation setting, a fact that has some advocacy groups calling for a total repeal on lobbyist gifts, while others say the current law prevents small lobbying firms and grassroots organizations from competing with big budget firms, and needs to be changed.