Wynn Sells Out Again

by: Jana Avtor

Tue Jul 07, 2009 at 02:41 PM EDT

The Baltimore Sun reports that former Rep. Al Wynn has signed as his first lobbying client a firm whose work in Sudan has been "sharply criticized by human rights advocates." The New York state pension fund has gotten rid of its shares in companies doing business in Sudan and Wynn's new client in particular, with New York State Comptroller Thomas Dinapoli saying "We don't expect our investments to benefit regimes that support genocide and terrorism."

Maryland residents won't soon forget the shoddy representation that Wynn provided in Congress for residents of Prince George's and Montgomery County. After cozying up to key contributors with a sympathetic voting record that often ignored the interests of his constituents, Wynn ended his congressional career by resigning early to cash-in as a lobbyist, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Primary Challenges, Equality Maryland, and Accountability

by: Eric Luedtke

Fri Aug 22, 2008 at 07:09 PM EDT

Equality for all and non-discrimination are basic values of the Democratic Party, period. And while I think we need to exercise a certain amount of practicality in supporting moderates in the more moderate parts of the state, if a Delegate or Senator represents a progressive part of the state, and still votes against basic Democratic values, they should be run out of town on a rail. Which is why I'm glad to see saber rattling from Equality Maryland towards the three delegates from District 40. I'm sorry, but if you come from a District as Democratic as District 40, and this is what you believe:

He [Del. Frank Conaway] explained that he felt homosexuals should be able to "obtain the same rights" as everyone else, but didn't feel the word "marriage" was an appropriate use of terminology.

then you just aren't representing the party well. And you either need to change, or forward your resume to Al Wynn.

MD-04 Special Election Set for June 17

by: Isaac Smith

Thu Apr 17, 2008 at 04:16 PM EDT

PolitickerMD:

Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) will issue a proclamation tomorrow declaring June 17 as the date of the special general election to fill the impending vacant seat in Maryland’s Fourth Congressional District.

“At a time when our families are struggling to deal with a recession and national foreclosure crisis they must have representation in the United States Congress,” O’Malley said at an afternoon press conference.

Donna Edwards (D-Fort Washington) and Peter James (R-Germantown), who prevailed in their party’s primary on Feb. 12 for the District 4 seat, are expected to compete against each other on June 17.

Now if we can just get Al Wynn to foot the bill... 

Wynn Out of Energy & Commerce

by: Isaac Smith

Fri Apr 11, 2008 at 09:59 AM EDT

Maryland Moment:

U.S. Rep. Albert R. Wynn (D-Md.), under pressure from congressional ethics watchdogs after announcing he will resign from Congress in seven weeks to take a job at a lobbying law firm, has stepped down from his congressional committee assignments.

Wynn, an eight-term congressman who was defeated in February in a Democratic primary, said in a statement that he advised House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wednesday that he will leave his position on the House Energy and Commerce committee, as well as his subcommittee chairmanship, to avoid his presence becoming "fodder for partisan debate."  

I wasn't aware that concern about the appearance of corruption, to say nothing of Wynn's shirking of his duty to his constituents by resigning early in the first place, was "partisan," but it's good to see that Wynn has some scruples. Now perhaps we can talk about the cost of the special election to replace him...

Rodricks on Wynn

by: Isaac Smith

Thu Apr 10, 2008 at 01:46 PM EDT

Dan Rodricks makes a snarky, but important, argument:

On behalf of the people of Maryland, I am sending Rep. Albert R. Wynn a bill for $500,000 -- his share of the cost of a special election that must be staged on account of Wynn quitting his congressional seat seven months early to take a fat-juicy job with a Washington lobbyist.

It's a reasonable request.

Wynn is in such a rush to take his new job -- and his next employer is so eager to get him -- that certainly they can split the cost of a special election to fill Wynn's seat. What's half-a-mil to a Washington lobbying firm that counts Bristol-Myers Squibb and Time Warner among its clients?

You can see Rodrick's "invoice" here.

Media distorts Wynn's move

by: lhfang

Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 10:59 PM EDT

Everyone has said it before already here and elsewhere, but I think its worth another repetition: in defeat, Wynn shows his true colors. He never gave a crap about the environment, the Iraqi people, the labor movement, the U.S. taxpayer, the separation between church and state, or the most economically disadvantaged among us...and even the people of his own district. But now that the voters have spoken, he is cashing out as fast as he can.

What is disappointing to me is when the media fails to put this in context for us. For one thing, both CQ and The Sentinel is reporting that Wynn is simply becoming a partner at a "lawfirm" called Dickstein Shapiro.

The trouble all started when Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Dist. 4) announced March 27 that he would step down in June – several months before his term was scheduled to end – to take a position at Dickstein Shapiro, a Washington, D.C. law firm.

Wynn has announced that he is leaving Congress on May 31 to become a partner at the law firm Dickstein Shapiro.

Yes, it is a law firm, and yes, he may technically be reffered to as a "partner." However, Dickstein Shapiro is a law firm that engages in major lobbying. Their clients include big tobacco, nuclear energy (a patron of Wynn the Congressman), and other energy and corporate interests.

Journalists should convey the truth with as much clarity as possible. Without mention of the lobbying world Wynn is abandoning his constituents for, people don't really understand what is really going on.

As a side note, in the CQ article it state Jennings is trying to get the Dem Central Committee to intervene: 

Jennings said in an interview with CQ Politics that he will begin to call party central committee members in Prince George's and Montgomery counties, parts of which make up the 4th District, to lobby them for the nomination. He noted that he would have preferred a primary, which he described as a "democratic process" in which anyone could run simply by paying the $100 filing fee and adhering to the state's constitutional requirements to run for the U.S. House. He acknowledged that Edwards now has the weight of the Democratic political establishment behind her, but said, "I do not think it should be simply given to her...if the primary taught us anything, it was that you should never let your elected officials go unchallenged.

Very sneaky. But give me a break... Jennings was rejected by voters, laughed at at debates, and has no idea about Iraq. 

MD-04: The latest on the special election to replace Al Wynn

by: MurlandGuy

Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 03:33 PM EDT

The Maryland General Assembly approved a proposal to ensure full and continuous representation for Maryland's 4th Congressional District following the announced retirement of Rep. Albert Wynn effective in June. With Gov. Martin O'Malley's support, this measure creates a process to proceed directly to a Special General Election with a party nominating process that will take place in light of the 2008 Primary Election just held on February 12. Nominations for the ballot for the special general election will be made by the party central committees comprising the Congressional District, as well as, any candidates that satisfy other statutory criteria as independent or minor parties.

"The governor had a very difficult decision, weighing the potential costs of two special elections and the rights of the residents of Maryland's 4th District to have representation in Congress," said Donna Edwards. "The Governor and the General Assembly struck the right balance to create a process that will result in a single, fair Special General Election to secure full and continuous representation for the 4th District. I am excited that we now have a roadmap in order to move forward. My priorities now include winning the special general election and continuing to reach out and unite leaders and residents from around the district, to begin work on the issues and challenges we face, and a commitment to providing constituency services that are second-to-none."

Wynn to Leave Office in June

by: Isaac Smith

Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 02:36 PM EDT

This was unexpected (via PolitickerMD):

Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Md.) is expected to announce Thursday afternoon that he will leave the House in June to join a Washington, D.C., law firm, according to Democratic sources.

Wynn was defeated in February in his bid for a ninth term when he lost the Democratic primary to challenger Donna Edwards.

The Marylander's early departure will open a seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which is likely to be filled by Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.).

Wynn is set to join Dickstein Shapiro as a partner, an official at the firm confirmed.

Happy About The Result in CD-4

by: AmusedInMoCo

Wed Feb 13, 2008 at 11:24 AM EST

MD-04: Credit, Blame, and People Smacking Themselves in the Forehead

by: Eric Luedtke

Wed Feb 13, 2008 at 07:37 AM EST

So because I'm sick, and not going in to work today, I guess I get first crack at the day-after-the-victory analysis.

Credit Goes To...

First and foremost, credit needs to go to Donna Edwards, one of the most impressive candidates I've ever seen, a woman of deep personal conviction and courage, who believed that Al Wynn could be beaten when everything else thought Boss Wynn had an absolute lock on his seat.

Donna put together an exceptional team of staff and volunteer who are deeply dedicated to progressive politics. While good campaign staff is largely invisible, leaving the limelight to the candidate, they deserve some generic recognition at least. Adrienne Christian, the campaign manager, ran a spectacular campaign, and in my own Montgomery County Gina Angiola, activist extraordinaire, deserves serious kudos for leading the Edwards insurgency here. And one last plug, for Montgomery field coordinator Jonny Akchin (yes, that's his name), whose canvass and polling place volunteers flipped my own precinct from 59% for Wynn to 3-to-1 for Edwards.

SEIU and UFCW, who were the only unions willing to step outside the lines of the traditional incumbency-biased endorsement process and fight for Donna. SEIU especially poured money, heart, and soul into the campaign. An aside: tt's very sad to me as a unionist that so many unions, including my own, didn't have the courage to fight Wynn when his record was so obviously pro-big business and so utterly unconcerned with working Americans.

The enviros, including the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, and Friends of the Earth Action don't often get recognized as electoral kingmakers, but in this race there was no more gorup of people I know who were more consistently anti-Wynn than environmentalists.  

The bloggers, who I leave for last for no good reason. When I sat down with one of Donna's staffers a couple months ago to talk about Burtonsville, he mentioned his frustration at posting comment after comment on Daily Kos asking for volunteers and receiving so few responses. In defense of bloggers, I want to point squarely at Matt Stoller of Open Left, who was tireless in his advocacy for Donna. There are plenty of other people who both blog and volunteered for Donna in some capacity, but the support, the inspiration, the momentum, and the money donated by readers of Open Left, DailyKos, MyDD, and, yes, Free State, helped Donna to victory. 

Blame Goes to...

Al Wynn himself. I'm sure that in the days that follow, many people, including some of Wynn's surrogates, will try to heap blame for the loss on his campaign staffers. But the margin of the loss for Wynn suggests this: he was so utterly corrupt and so completely out of touch with his district that the best political team in the world couldn't have dragged him out of the mire. No, Wynn's campaign staff should perhaps find some better people to work for in the future, but the blame for this loss rests squarely on the big guy's shoulders. 

People smacking themselves on the forehead...

I mentioned the pro-Wynn unions earlier, but want to single out my own union, because it deserves particular attention. The Maryland State Teachers Association and the NEA are relatively progressive unions, and in the past they have stood up for a great many exceptional candidates. But in this case, they made a wildly bad call. Why? Like many unions, incumbent protection is rated very highly when endorsements are made - and we'll often settle for a candidate who is mediocre on our issues rather than take a chance on a long-shot challenger. That needs to change. We need to do a better job of demanding the best from our elected leaders, and standing firmly in their way when they refuse. 

A lot of elected officials who endorsed Wynn. Decisions about these personal endorsements are often based on a political calculus, but the list of names supporting Wynn makes me sick to my stomach. Our local electeds need to know this: you can't claim to be a progressive and support candidates like Al Wynn. It just doesn't work that way.