Douglas Considering Bid For Maryland Attorney General

In an opinion-editorial article published in National Review, December 2, Richard Douglas, Maryland lawyer, businessman and Iraq veteran, said squabbling elected officials in Annapolis – led by Attorney General Doug Gansler and Lt. Governor Anthony Brown -- are motivated by personal ambition and politics rather than duty when it comes to implementing the Affordable Care Act in Maryland.

“To the detriment of shell-shocked Maryland consumers, Gansler and Brown have chosen to battle each other instead of confronting the challenges of the health care law’s implementation,” said Douglas.  “Governor O’Malley, for his part, belatedly and quietly acknowledged responsibility for low Maryland enrollment numbers while Marylanders celebrated Thanksgiving.     With our citizens’ health care options in a state of flux, Maryland desperately needs leaders who take their current duties seriously instead of preparing for the next campaign.”

In the National Review article, Douglas notes that Maryland enrollment rates under the Affordable Care Act badly trail other states with Democratic governors including California, Connecticut, Kentucky and Washington.   A unit within the Office of Attorney of General’s Consumer Protection Division takes credit for assisting patients with health care insurance problems and the transition to the ACA but provides no coherent explanation of actual accomplishments.

"Whether one supports the President's signature legislation or opposes it, Mr. Gansler had a duty to warn Maryland consumers about what to expect with this law,” said Douglas.   “But the Attorney General, Governor O'Malley, and Lieutenant Governor Brown have all let Maryland down."

In 2012, Douglas carried 11 of Maryland's 24 jurisdictions in the Maryland Republican primary for the U.S. Senate in his first bid for elected office.  He has been an active member of the Maryland bar in good standing since 1991, primarily in Montgomery and Prince George's counties.  He has notable pro bono legal experience and has been a volunteer lay chaplain for Spanish-speaking persons at the District of Columbia Jail.   Douglas speaks Spanish fluently and has lived in Mexico. A Navy veteran, he served in Iraq in 2006 and in the submarine force in the 1970s.

Douglas is evaluating a 2014 run for Attorney General.   In 2010, the GOP did not field a candidate for the office.