Ehrlich Rewards “Hatchet Man Hogan” with High-Dollar Fundraiser

Annapolis, MD – At a high dollar fundraiser tomorrow, former one-term Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich will reward Larry Hogan—his partisan political protégé and former hatchet man—for Hogan’s decision to dedicate the Intercounty Connect to him last September. The political favor comes days after a Goucher poll found that Hogan suffers from the same political headwinds that plagued Ehrlich’s failed bid for reelection in 2006.

Hogan and Ehrlich remain close friends and political allies.  Last month, Ehrlich was at the State House to watch Hogan’s final State of the State address, during which Hogan tried to rewrite history and praised bipartisanship in an election year stunt.  Following the address, Ehrlich referred to Democratic legislators as his and Hogan’s“enemies.”

“After Governor Hogan passed up dozens of prominent Marylanders who deserved to be honored, he named the ICC after his old boss, and now Ehrlich is now returning the favor with a high-dollar fundraiser,” said Maryland Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Matthews.“Hogan will soon repeat history as a one-term Governor because no amount of money can fool voters who know that their governor failed to stand with them against an unpopular president.”

Hogan’s reputation as a “hatchet man” derives from his tenure as Ehrlich’s appointments secretary, when Hogan’s first task was to send letters to thirty high-level state appointed officials, notifying them that they would be replaced.

Following complaints from state employees, in February 2005, lawmakers began investigating if Hogan’s mass terminations 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 formed to investigate the Ehrlich administration firings found that Hogan’s previous statements were in conflict with employment records data. ₂

A 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.”