Gov. Larry Hogan (R) continued on Friday to put his stamp on Maryland government, sending the Senate 331 nominations for seats on state and local board and commissions.
The new Republican governor forwarded his picks for close to 90 panels, with jurisdictions including economic development, elections, the university system, health care, utilities and transportation. Hogan’s nominees are all subject to Senate confirmation.
The large batch of nominees was submitted as part of a long-standing tradition in Maryland under which a senior aide to the governor delivers the names to the Senate in a green bag. This year, James Fielder, Hogan’s appointments secretary arrived with both the green bag and a box of chocolates for Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert).
[READ: The full list of appointees]
In a statement, Hogan said his “green bag” nominees reflected “our administration’s commitment to the people of Maryland to provide the responsive, competent, and well-qualified state government they deserve and expect.”
While senators were only beginning to peruse the list, they said none of the nominees immediately jumped out as particularly controversial.
In his statement, Hogan highlighted choices for panels that focus on economic development, including Anirban Basu, an economist who advised Hogan during his transition to power; Aristides Melissaratos, secretary of business and economic development under former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R); and Harford County Executive Barry Glassman (R), a former state senator.
Hogan’s choices for the University of Maryland Board of Regents included some familiar names, such as James T. Brady, who oversaw Hogan’s transition process; and Robert R. Neall, a former state senator from Anne Arundel County who helped craft Hogan’s first budget proposal.
Other notable picks include former Del. Kevin Kelly (D-Allegany), for the Parole Commission; and lawyer Kathleen A. Evans, the wife of longtime Annapolis lobbyist Gerard Evans, for the State Workers Compensation Commission.