Political notes: House of Delegates awards 3, state Dems get new leaders, powerful ex-senator dies

People like you better when they know you are leaving.

That is how U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-2nd) tells the story.

“Since I’ve retired, I’ve been getting more accolades. You’re all elected officials, it’s not bad. Everybody loves you now because they know” you’re retiring, Ruppersberger said in jest from the rostrum of the House of Delegates on Wednesday.

Ruppersberger was in Annapolis to pick up another accolade along with a current and former member of the House of Delegates. The awards coincide with the annual Speaker’s Society reception in Annapolis Wednesday night.

House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) presented Rupperberger with the Speaker’s Medallion. The medallion is given to Maryland residents for outstanding contributions to the state.

Ruppersberger is capping nearly 40 years of public service as a member of the Baltimore County Council, county executive, and more than two decades in Congress.

“I always wanted to be a state senator,” Ruppersberger told the House, adding: “This is a big deal for me here today to be honored by you.”

Ruppersberger also praised Jones — whom he repeatedly referred to as “AJ” — for being a trailblazer as the first woman and person of color elected to lead the Maryland House.

Jones was a longtime employee of Baltimore County government and referred to Ruppersberger as her former boss. But in the House on Wednesday, she was in charge.

Ruppersberger, who is known for being extremely social, started to press the flesh and chat with delegates on the floor as Jones was trying to continue the proceedings.

“Uh, Dutch,” she called from the rostrum. “Sit, sit down please.”

One former and one current member of the House were also honored Wednesday.

Rushern Baker, a former delegate, and later Prince George’s County Executive, received the Thomas Kennedy Award. The award is given to a former member of the House for personal courage and dedication to liberty and freedom.

Jones praised Baker for his “distinguished public career” while “continuing his fearless fight for awareness and cutting-edge research on Alzheimer’s Disease and for more support services for families and caregivers.”

Baker served eight years in the House and was later county executive from 2010-2018. His wife Christa Beverly Baker died in 2021 after a decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s. Baker ran for governor in 2018, attempting to balance his political career while caring for his wife. He tried again in 2022.

“I read this book ‘Black Boy’ by Richard Wright, and it changed my life,” Baker told the House. “It took a 17-year-old with no direction who had been kicked out of many schools and it made me feel guilty. And sometimes guilt is not a bad thing. It made me feel guilty because I had been born to parents who were always there to undergird me. And when I realized others didn’t have that, I wanted to change something. I wanted to be a part of it. That book led me down that road.”

Finally, Jones presented House Judiciary Committee Chair Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore City) with the Casper R. Taylor Jr. Founder’s Award. The award, named for one of Jones’ predecessors, is given to a current House member for steadfast public service and integrity.

“This delegate has been a courageous and big-hearted champion of the law, justice and equality for each and every Marylander,” Jones said.

Clippinger, standing on the rostrum, became emotional as he accepted the award and thanked his husband Patrick, whom he called “the love of my life and he makes it possible for me to be here and torment all of you.”

Md. Dems under new management

Four months after taking over as chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, Ken Ulman announced Wednesday his picks to be executive director and deputy executive director of the state party.

Taking over as executive director will be Karen Darks, whose ties to Ulman date back to 2013, when she was a fundraiser for the 2014 Democratic gubernatorial ticket headed by Anthony Brown (Ulman was the nominee for lieutenant governor).

Darks currently serves as director for major gifts at Emerge America, the organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for political office. She has also worked for a national Democratic fundraising firm.

“We have an extraordinarily consequential election this November and Karen is the right person at the right time to help lead us to victory,“ Ulman said in a statement.

Ulman has also tapped Joe Francaviglia to be deputy executive director of the Maryland Democratic Party.

Francaviglia is a seasoned Maryland political operative who is currently the director of government affairs for state Comptroller Brooke Lierman (D) after serving as her campaign manager during the 2022 election cycle. Francaviglia previously served as executive director of Strong Schools Maryland, the advocacy group that formed to push for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan.

“It’s an incredible day for Maryland Democrats — Karen Darks and Joe Francaviglia are inspired choices to lead our Party,” Gov. Wes Moore (D), who handpicked Ulman to be state party chair, said in a statement. “Both have deep Maryland experience with a consistent north star to their work — electing Democrats who translate the needs of Marylanders into real policy with tangible results at the local, state, and federal level.”

Darks and Francaviglia will get to work in April.

Larry Levitan dies

Laurence Levitan, a former Democratic state senator from Montgomery County who chaired the Budget and Taxation Committee for 16 years and then became a State House lobbyist, died early Wednesday in Bethesda after a brief illness. He was 90 years old.

Leviton’s passing was announced on the Senate floor Wednesday by Sen. Brian J. Feldman (D-Montgomery), who occupies the District 15 seat that Levitan once held.

Levitan, an attorney, was elected to the House of Delegates in 1970 and won a Senate seat four years later. He took over as chair of the powerful budget panel in 1979, which made him a major player both in Annapolis and especially in Montgomery County, at a time when political leaders in the suburban jurisdiction were not especially adept at showing any political muscle in the State House.

Levitan wound up being the longest serving Budget and Taxation chair in Senate history, and was a critical supporter in the push to build a new stadium for the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. He also created the check-off that enabled Maryland taxpayers to voluntarily support the Chesapeake Bay Trust on their state tax forms.

“He loved politics,” the Levitan family said in a formal obituary released Wednesday. “He loved helping people. Larry always worked well with everyone. He was a politician’s politician. It did not matter what your party affiliation might be, he was willing to listen to and work with all sides. He called everyone his friend and meant it.”

Over time Levitan helped Montgomery County win education, transportation and environmental funding from the state, including enhancements for the Strathmore Hall cultural complex and a helipad at Suburban Hospital. A portion of River Road in Potomac is named for him. Feldman said he drives past that section of the road daily, enabling him to reflect on his predecessor’s contributions.

“When I first ran for office, the very first Feldman sign that went up in Montgomery County was on the Levitan property,” Feldman told his colleagues Wednesday.

In early 1994, Levitan publicly mused about challenging then-Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D) for the chamber’s top job after that year’s election. But he wound up being upset in November by Jean Roesser, a Republican delegate in his district.

Levitan’s reelection that year was marred in part by the political dynamic — it was a good Republican year across the country, and Montgomery County still had GOP pockets of strength back then — but also because critics roasted him for representing legal clients before state agencies he had funding power over, even though the practice was permitted at the time.

“Here’s Larry Levitan the senator, and here’s Larry Levitan the lobbyist,” the narrator in a Roesser TV ad said that fall. Levitan attempted to defend the practice, telling The Washington Post, “I don’t threaten anybody. I don’t say, ‘I’m going to cut your budget.'”

After losing to Roesser by 10 points, Levitan moved easily into the high-paying world of lobbying, eventually becoming a founding partner with the powerful firm then known as Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan and Silver (now known as Rifkin Weiner Livingston LLP).

“As profoundly saddened as we are our hearts are lifted by the good memories of our dear friend,” Alan M. Rifkin, managing partner of Rifkin Weiner Livingston LLC, said in a statement provided to Maryland Matters.

After his political career, Levitan remained active civically, spending 10 years as chair of the state’s Judicial Compensation Commission. He also served as a member of the Morgan State University Board of Regents and on the Strathmore Hall for the Arts Board of Directors.

Levitan is survived by his wife of 66 years, Barbara Levitan — who he met on a blind date — three daughters, four grandchildren, a step-granddaughter, and three great grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held on Friday at 1 p.m. at the Garden of Remembrance Chapel, 14321 Comus Rd. in Clarksburg, with burial to follow. Shiva will be held on Sunday evening at Maplewood Park Place, 9707 Old Georgetown Rd. in Bethesda.

This story has been updated to correct that the checkoff Sen. Larry Levitan arranged on Maryland tax forms went to the Chesapeake Bay Trust.

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