Gansler Campaign Back On

The Anne Arundel County Circuit Court has thrown out a challenge to Doug Gansler's eligibility to run for Attorney General, the WaPo reports. It turns out that membership in the state bar was the main hurdle to pass, as Bruce Godfrey, Stephanie Dray, and others have speculated. The judge in the case also took into consideration Gansler's record of community service in Maryland.

This decision, incidentally, might explain why the Maryland Court of Appeals took Tom Perez off the ballot for the Democratic primary, since Perez has only been a member of the state bar since 2001, and the state constitution requires the AG to have "practiced law" for 10 years. I say "might explain," because the Court of Appeals, inexplicably, has yet to issue an opinion on that case. I suppose bar membership is as good a standard as any, though it's unfortunate that Perez, whom I supported in the primary, was unable to run because of it.

As for Gansler's opponent, Scott Rolle, whose campaign manager represented the bartender (!) who brought the suit -- well, this was probably the one chance he had of actually winning. Remember, this is a man who ran to Roscoe Bartlett's right in the 2004 congressional primary. Not the sort of person, I think, a majority of Marylanders would support.

Tags: maryland politics md-ag doug gansler scott rolle