Dawn of a Democratic Day

O'Malley and Majority of Lawmakers Share a Party, but Rifts Could Resurface

Gov.-elect Martin O'Malley, who will be sworn in next week, talks to reporters after the Democratic Party Legislative Luncheon in Annapolis. (Photos By Ricky Carioti -- The Washington Post)

Maryland's experiment with divided government will come to an abrupt end in the week ahead as the predominantly Democratic General Assembly convenes today and the state's first Republican governor in a generation departs next Wednesday.

The arrival of Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) is all but certain to diminish the partisan rancor that filled the four-year term of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), as lawmakers pursue a progressive agenda that includes pent-up initiatives to expand access to health care, clean up the environment and make higher education more affordable.

But as the partisanship subsides, many longtime Annapolis observers expect the old rifts of one-party rule to again come to the fore: squabbles based on regional, philosophical and personality differences and natural tension between the executive and legislative branches of government.

The conflicts could be exacerbated by projections of budget shortfalls for years to come, making it more difficult to get things done than party labels alone might suggest.

"I think it's going to be contentious, just like when we had divided government," said Barbara A. Hoffman, a former Democratic state senator who is an Annapolis lobbyist. "Just because the governor is a Democrat, the legislature is not going to roll over and do what he wants."

"That's how it was with Parris Glendening. That's how it was with William Donald Schaefer. That's how it was with Harry Hughes," Hoffman said, ticking off Maryland's past three Democratic governors.

Ehrlich, a former congressman from Baltimore County, was elected governor in 2002, becoming Maryland's first Republican chief executive since Spiro T. Agnew's departure in 1969. Ehrlich succeeded Glendening, who earned a reputation for using the powers of his office to get what he wanted from lawmakers but was hardly a popular figure at the end of his eight-year tenure. Ehrlich remained more popular across the state but had far less success with the legislature.

O'Malley, who will be sworn in a week after the General Assembly's arrival, will be likely to experience the same kind of honeymoon often afforded new governors, lawmakers say.

But he will be a newcomer in a State House where two strong-willed Democrats preside over the Senate and House of Delegates and do not see eye to eye on a variety of matters, most notably the legalization of slot machine gambling, a divisive issue that dominated Ehrlich's tenure and could be back on the agenda.

The General Assembly's Republicans, emboldened and remarkably unified under the GOP governor, also face fissures in their caucus. Already, members have waged leadership battles in both chambers over how best to remain relevant: by cooperating with Democrats or drawing sharp contrasts with an eye toward the 2010 elections.

Some GOP lawmakers pointed to issues, such as combating gang violence and clamping down on sex offenders, on which they hope to work with O'Malley and the Democrats. But the party will also have another task, said incoming Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley (Frederick).

"The environment certainly isn't of our choosing, but you play the cards you're dealt," Brinkley said. "Our mission is to hold the ruling party's feet to the fire."