The next Speaker should be one of substance, not style

The history of the speakership in Maryland dates back to February of 1777, following the state’s 1776 Constitutional Convention, where Maryland’s first Speaker of the House was selected from the county he founded, Montgomery County. Delegate Thomas Wooton, who a year prior to being selected by his colleagues as the state’s first Speaker, introduced legislation that broke Frederick County into three counties, Frederick, Washington and Montgomery – which was the first counties in the nation to be established by elected representatives.

Since its inception, Maryland has had a total of 106 gentlemen to have served as Speaker of the MD House of Delegates. Over the past 242 years, we’ve witnessed several different term limits on the number of years one could serve as Speaker, from one year to two years to now indefinitely; as well as a long list of farmers, former military and businessmen selected to serve in this role. But what we have yet to see happen to-date is the election of an African American or a female to this powerful position – which is guaranteed to happen this year with the election of three highly qualified candidates vying for the seat.

The selection between Prince George’s County Delegate Dereck Davis, Baltimore City Delegate Maggie McIntosh and Baltimore County Delegate Adrienne Jones will certainly tear apart the fabric of the democratic establishment, as each have long histories of distinguished service to their party, and have developed lasting relationships with the other members that serve in this distinguished body. But there can only be one winner, and the other 138 members of the House (excluding these three who will certainly vote for themselves) should carefully weigh the future of this state, and its politics, before casting their vote next month.

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