Richard J. Douglas, a Republican lawyer who resides in College Park, is weighing a 2014 bid for attorney general of Maryland — an office that the state GOP left uncontested the last time it was on the ballot.
“I’m not dissuaded by the odds,” Douglas, 57, said in an interview Tuesday. “It’s an important post, and I think both parties should be heard.”
Four Democrats have already announced plans to run next year in deep-blue Maryland: Sen. Brian E. Frosh (Montgomery) and Dels. Aisha N. Braveboy (Prince George’s), Jon S. Cardin (Baltimore County) and C. William Frick (Montgomery).
As of yet, no Republicans have stepped forward to try to succeed Douglas F. Gansler (D), who ran unopposed for re-election in 2010 and is now seeking the Democratic nomination for governor.
Last year, Douglas finished second in the Republican U.S. Senate primary to Dan Bongino, who went on to lose in the general election to Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.).
Douglas has been back in the news lately as the result of a piece he wrote for National Review Online, in which he examines the “debacle” of the Affordable Care Rollout in Maryland.
Douglas’s piece pins blame not only on Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D), who is overseeing health care reform in the state, but also on Gansler, who has sought in his campaign to highlight Brown’s role.
Douglas, in Iraq veteran, has a solo law practice focused in Montgomery and Prince counties.
He has also worked in the Justice Department and as a committee staff member in the U.S. Senate.