Maryland gubernatorial nominee Ben Jealous needs all the help he can get to unseat incumbent Gov. Larry Hogan (R), but he’s facing resistance from some fellow Democrats uneasy with his left-wing platform.
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett is declining to endorse Jealous for now because of concerns that Jealous’s positions on taxes, school funding and Amazon.com’s second headquarters would penalize Leggett’s constituents in the state’s most populous jurisdiction.
Long-serving Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert), an influential moderate, offered only tepid backing for Jealous while praising Hogan for “governing from the middle.”
Other top Maryland Democrats, while voicing strong support for Jealous, disagree with him on issues such as his support for state-based, single-payer health care. They include U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and House Speaker Michael E. Busch (Anne Arundel), all of whom say they favor the goal of universal health care but question whether Maryland can afford it.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Robert McCartney over at the Washington Post