Larry Hogan became the 62nd governor of Maryland in January 2015. His first year in office has been quite a doozy:
Hogan shaved his head, chilled with his pal Chris Christie, and got blessed by the Pope. He also managed to get quite a bit of work done even during his treatments, including closing the scandal-plagued men’s jail in Baltimore.
The decision that got the most press, however, was Hogan’s announcement that he would pull funds from the Red Line, a long-anticipated east-west commuter rail project, and instead fund suburban D.C.’s Purple Line. The decision was criticized by many in Baltimore. “His unilateral actions (held as a closely-guarded secret until Thursday’s announcement) do not represent the behavior of a ‘partner’ or a ‘friend’ but of a politician beholden to rural and politically conservative suburban constituencies that care not a fig for Baltimore,” the Sun opined. Hogan’s decision has since been challenged in court by the ACLU, NAACP and other civil rights groups.
Some went as far as wondering whether Hogan was declaring a War on Baltimore — but if so, it’s a war with unusual weapons, like free books for little kids and new tech-savvy high schools.
In November, Hogan announced that he was officially cancer free. Later that month, after the terrorist attacks in Paris, Hogan said that he didn’t want Syrian refugees in Maryland–which proved to be another opportunity for Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to oppose the governor. In all, it’s been quite a busy year for our new governor.
