Sophia Naughton
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Trump-endorsed Maryland State Representative Daniel L. Cox filed for Gov. Larry Hogan’s impeachment on Feb. 10. His accusations included “malfeasance in office…theft of the people’s liberty and property…and abuse of power under pretenses,” among others, as stated in Cox’s House Simple Resolution One.
“I don’t think Hogan will get impeached based on Dan Cox’s opinion,” said Carley Cassinelli, a junior law and American civilization major at Towson University. “For impeachment, there needs to be an agreement between both houses, and I doubt that will be achieved by the time of governor re-elections.”
Maryland’s primary election is on June 28. Former secretary of the Maryland Department of Commerce, Kelly Schulz, and Cox are seeking the nomination to be the Republican candidate in the November general election for Maryland governor.
A poll reported on Maryland Matters was conducted by Public Policy Polling in January and commissioned by the Democratic Governors Association, surveying 565 Republican voters in Maryland. When first asking their preferred candidate, 20 percent chose Cox, and 12 percent chose Schulz. Sixty-nine percent of respondents were undecided.
The second time the participants were asked, they were informed of the endorsements behind Cox and Schulz. The results showed that 52 percent support Cox, and 18 percent support Schulz. The group of undecided results declined from 69 percent to 18 percent.
According to The Baltimore Sun, Donald Trump endorsed Cox and simultaneously criticized Hogan in a statement released by Trump’s Save America PAC in November. Hogan endorsed Schulz and Trump stated that he “hand-picked” Schulz.
“Cox most likely filed for impeachment because he knew it would cause discussion amongst officials and perhaps promote his cause,” said Cassinelli.
“Delegate Cox is well aware of the fact that Hogan will not be impeached,” said Dr. John Bullock, a Towson University political lecturer and Baltimore City Councilman. “He is a fairly popular Republican governor in a majority Democratic state. This is completely related to him running for office and bringing attention to his campaign. It also appears to be geared toward reaching the hard-right/more conservative party members who see the incumbent [Hogan] as too moderate.”
Hogan announced on Feb. 8 that he would not be running for Senate, but this is unrelated to the impeachment as it happened two days before Cox’s efforts to impeach the governor. In an interview with CNN, Hogan stated that he wants to “focus on finishing the job strong” as governor of Maryland and does not see himself working in the U.S. Senate.
“I think Cox has been putting in meaningless efforts that have not and will not garner support from his colleagues and the public,” said Dr. Jeong Joo Ahn, an assistant political science professor at Towson University. “At the state level, he may want to get himself noticed as a candidate for governor. And at the national level, he may not like that Hogan, who is anti-Trump, may run the presidential election in 2024.”
According to The Washington Post, Hogan responded to the impeachment by describing Cox as a “QAnon conspiracy theorist who says crazy things every day.”
“Of course, name-calling is not the greatest route to go on when trying to defend yourself, but Hogan knows what he is doing and has demonstrated that throughout the pandemic,” said Cassinelli.
Maryland Matters reported on Feb. 14 that progressive organization leaders argued that Cox’s actions during the Jan. 6 storm on The Capitol might make him ineligible to run for office. On Jan. 6, he bussed Trump supporters to the rally but said he did not participate in the violence.
The State Board of Elections is yet to respond to these organizations.
1 Comment
dan cox. what a phony. im glad he lost. goodbye dan cocks, how’s it feel to be powerless you racist sexist climate denier!!!!!