For Barve’s political career, DUI incident remains a small issue if any

State Del. Kumar Barve (D-Gaithersburg), who serves as the House Majority Leader, accepted a plea deal after failing a sobriety test in November 2007. Barves’ punishment landed him a year of unsupervised probation and a $1,000 fine with $800 suspended as it was a first-time offense.

His political opponents have remained widely unresponsive to the issue, despite Barve’s highly powerful position in the general assembly.

“In my opinion, this should not be a matter of politics,” said Del. Anthony J. O’Donnell (R-Calvert County), who serves as Minority Leader in the House. “He took responsibility, he did the right thing, case closed.”

O’Donnell did note that he considered Barve a close friend.

Del. D. Page Elmore (R-Salisbury), who serves on the Ways and Means Committee with Barve said, “He received the type of punishment that is normal for a fist time offender.” Elmore went on, “And that’s how it should be.”

When asked how he thought the incident would affect Barve’s political career, Elmore told PolitickerMD.com that it’s “up to the citizens of his district to determine the effect it will have on his political career.”

Even the Chair of the Maryland Republican Party, James Pelura had little to say about the incident.

“Actually, this incident is funny in light of his stance on drunk drivers,” he wrote in an email to PolitickerMD.com. “In 2003 he championed ‘John's Law,’ a stricter drunk-driving law that prohibits a person from driving within 12 hours after being arrested for alcohol or drug-related offenses.”

Barve has served as the House of Delegates Majority Leader since 2003.