News Clips

Hogan No Stranger to Firing People for Political Reasons

Mar 13, 2017

Annapolis, Md. – Governor Larry Hogan’s sudden and arbitrary termination of Maryland’s veteran crab manager, Brenda Davis, follows a pattern of politically motivated terminations going back to his days as appointments secretary for the Ehrlich administration.

“Governor Larry Hogan is no stranger to firing people for political reasons, he was at the center of controversy when the Republican Ehrlich administration seemingly terminated state workers because of their political affiliation,” said Maryland Democratic Party spokesperson Bryan Lesswing. “Maryland deserves a leader who listens to all views, not a typical politician like Governor Larry Hogan who scapegoats and puts his own party over good policy.”

When Hogan first came on board the Ehrlich administration in 2003, his first task as appointments secretary was to send letters to thirty high-level state appointed officials, notifying them that they would be replaced. ₁

The situation escalated by 2005, as lawmakers claimed that appointments made by the Ehrlich administration were solely based on political affiliation.

According to state worker testimonies, “… the Ehrlich administration systematically got rid of state employees believed to be politically or personally disloyal to the governor.”

The Baltimore Sun noted that Hogan oversaw, approved and publicly defended all of these firings and hirings.

By late 2005, a special probe that had been formed to investigate the Ehrlich administration firings found that Hogan’s previous statements were in conflict with employment records data. ₂

committee report later concluded that political motivations were largely behind state employee terminations:

“… the committee found that separations and terminations of at-will employees under the current Administration occurred that were arbitrary or inconsistent with improving government or, in other cases, illegal because the separations were based on political considerations in violation of employees First Amendment constitutional rights and State law.”

₁ “Governor-elect fires 30 top officials.” Associated Press, 1/14/03

₂“Firings surge in Ehrlich’s First Year, Data Show.” Matthew Mosk, Washington Post, 11/23/05