Lisa Gladden

House and Senate Republicans are opposing November's constitutional amendment that would authorize early voting in Maryland, claiming it's ripe for fraud, an unfunded mandate and unnecessary since the state already has an absentee ballot program.

But House and Senate Democrats are calling the argument ridiculous.

Senate Majority Whip Lisa Gladden (D-Baltimore) told PolitickerMD.com Thursday that she "suspected" Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller (D-Chesapeake Beach) "would seek re-election for quite a while"

"I think it was a long time coming," Gladden said of Miller's Wednesday announcement that he would run in 2010.

Senate Majority Whip Lisa Gladden (D-Baltimore) said Sen. Ulysses Currie (D-District Heights) exercised "an incredible amount of bad judgment" for allegedly failing to report to the State Ethics Commission that he had done consulting work for the Lanham-based company Shoppers Food and Pharmacy.

"The problem is--where there's smoke there's probably fire," Gladden told PolitickerMD.com Thursday.

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 forbid lobbyists from buying meals for lawmakers in a committee or county delegation setting, which 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.

"The average Joe who wants to talk to a (General Assembly) member over a meal can't do so," Senate Majority Whip Lisa Gladden (D-Baltimore) said during an interview with PolitickerMD.com. "You have only the big wigs who can afford it."

Weighs In On GOP RaceCummings & Obama

Rep. Elijah Cummings rallied local faith-based leaders in support of the presidential candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois during a press conference in Baltimore on Monday.

“This is a very significant moment in our time,” Cummings, who has represented Maryland’s 7th congressional district since 1995, said. “I have known Sen. Obama for many years… he has the vision to lead.”

The congressman also told the largely African-American crowd that he was not supporting the Senator from Illinois simply because of his race.

“I do not approach this lightly,” Cummings said. “This is not about a black man running for president -- it is about the right man running for president.”

"I do not approach this lightly," Cummings said. "This is not about a black man running for president-it is about the right man running for president."