2008 presidential election

MITCHELLVILLE--U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Mechanicsville) told PolitickerMD.com Friday that he "absolutely" expects Democrats will unite behind the presidential candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

"The primary, to some degree, appeared to be tougher than it was," Hoyer said of the contest between Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).

He explained that African-Americans are the "most loyal" Democratic voting bloc, and referred to women as the "largest" base for the Democrats "in terms of votes."

Hoyer said he was confident that white-collar workers, women, and seniors who supported Clinton would quickly see the "stark differences" between Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), and boldly predicted that "95 percent" of Clinton's supporters will back Obama.

Mary BoergersSays Clinton’s Name Must Be Put In Nomination At Convention

Former house delegate and state Sen. Mary Boergers (D), a pledged delegate to Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), told PolitickerMD.com today that she has not committed to voting for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in the November election, saying she first wants to see what "action's (Obama) takes to unify the party."

Boergers, who represented the people of Montgomery County in the House of Delegates from 1982 to 1990 and in the Senate from 1991 to 1994, also said she would vote for Clinton at the Democratic National Convention in August.

"I'm a pledged Hillary delegate," Boergers said. "That's what I was elected to do."

When Del. Saqib Ali (D-Gaithersburg) ran for a position in the state General Assembly in 2006 he faced challenges that most politicians do not face.

"Some people said to me ‘you have a funny name' and ‘you are a Muslim,'" Ali told PolitickerMD.com.  "They said just go home. Don't run."

Ali, who is of Pakistani and Indian descent, even had to deal with a protester who sat outside his home one-day in the summer of 2006 carrying a sign and shouting derogatory comments about Ali's religion.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Mechanicsville) issued a statement today expressing support for Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) presidential candidacy, but stopped short of a formal endorsement.

"Over the last 18 months, Senator Barack Obama has energized and excited millions of voters who believe that our great nation must move in a new direction," Hoyer said in a statement to PolitickerMD.com. "He is the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee, and I look forward to supporting his candidacy."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Mechanicsville) endorsed Barack Obama for president today.

Hoyer joins a chorus of Maryland superdelegates who have endorsed Obama since he secured the Democratic nomination Tuesday night.

Sen. Ben Cardin, Reps. John Sarbanes and Chris Van Hollen, state Del. Heather Mizeur, and Democratic National Committee member Bel Leong-Hong have also declared their support for Obama.

Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Towson)ANNAPOLIS-- Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Towson) told PolitickerMD.com today that "it's possible" he could endorse a presidential candidate by Wednesday, one-day after the final nominating contests in South Dakota and Montana.

Appearing at the District 30 Democratic Club Cookout and Fundraiser in Annapolis, Sarbanes would not say which candidate he would endorse. The representative from Maryland's 3rd Congressional District has long pledged to remain uncommitted until the process is finalized on Tuesday.

"I'm certainly not going to make a decision before Tuesday," Sarbanes said. "We're coming to the end of the process and I'll think you'll see a fair amount of closure taking hold."

For the first time in its history, the Maryland Libertarian Party will run a full slate of congressional candidates this fall. Gary Hoover was nominated in the 6th District last night to fill out the ticket.

"We're happy to have him," Maryland Libertarian Party Chairman Bob Johnston told PolitickerMD.com about Hoover. "He is really blunt and to the point."

On his campaign website, http://www.hoover4congress08.com/, Hoover describes how he was a Democrat for 32 years but left the party because "Democrats no longer hold the same values that I do." He had similar statements about the Republican Party.

Among the issues that he considers important, Hoover described the need to lower the deficit, reform Social Security and Medicare, and explained his desire to see the war in Iraq end.

As a member of the Democratic National Committee, Westminster Councilman Gregory Pecoraro is a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention in August. He is one of the state's nine uncommitted superdelegates, which means he's been busy fielding phone calls and meeting with the candidates and their surrogates.

Despite all the pressure to support either Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) or Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Pecoraro told PolitickerMD.com that he is taking the process in a "day by day" manner.

"There's not a lot of more information to gather," Pecoraro said, predicting, "You are seeing superdelegates starting to move to make decisions, and I think you will see more of that."

Maryland Republican Party 2008 Spring ConventionANNAPOLIS-- The Maryland Republican Party finalized their delegation to the Republican National Convention during the party's spring convention at the DoubleTree Hotel in Annapolis, today.

A total of ten at-large and ten alternate delegates were selected by the Republican State Central Committee.

Those elected were largely representative of the so-called "unity team" that a group of state Republican leaders and activists who supported various presidential candidates early in the primary process formed as a suggested fusion slate. The effort was lead by Chris Cavey, the first vice chairman of the state party.

Of those ten at-large members suggested by the unity team to represent the state, eight were selected by the state central committee; Senate Minority Leader David Brinkley and Howard County Central Committee Chairwoman Joan Becker were not elected.

In the aftermath of Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) convincing victory over Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) in the North Carolina primary and narrow defeat in Indiana, Maryland Democratic Party Chairman Michael Cryor told PolitickerMD.com that the Democratic contest is "for all intensive purposes, over."

"It makes it a lot easier for the American people to appreciate the inevitability of where this contest is headed," Cryor, an Obama superdelegate, said of the results.

With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Obama secured 56.2 percent of the vote in North Carolina, compared to 41.5 for Clinton. He won 890,723 popular votes; Clinton garnered 657,997.