Connections may benefit Maryland

Annapolis (Map, News) - With Maryland roots beneath two of Tuesday night’s biggest expected winners on the national scene — Rep. Nancy Pelosi, poised to be speaker of the House, and Rep. Steny Hoyer, who could become majority leader — some predict those connections will pay off big for the state.

“Without question, Marylanders stand to see their interests protected,” said Rep. Albert Wynn, a Prince George’s Democrat. He said that his state delegation colleagues were already “well-positioned on all of the committees,” to bring about change on issues such as immigration and energy.

Certainly, Maryland lawmakers can expect some advantage with the expected advent of Hoyer and Pelosi, a California congresswoman and Baltimore native whose father was mayor of the city, said Johns Hopkins University professor Matthew Crenson.

Hoyer is expected to face a challenge for the majority leader position, but Pelosi is seen as easily taking over as speaker following a wave of Democratic wins this week across the nation.

“They’ll have somebody they can talk to at the top of the hierarchy,” Crenson said, but just how much leverage that will win for Maryland lawmakers remains to be seen.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, Democrat of Baltimore, said Hoyer and Pelosi share his concerns specifically about wages and education. “Having a large population in my district who are earning the minimum wage, it hasn’t been raised in 10 years,” he said. “I think that’s very significant.”

Not everyone from Maryland comes into the next legislative session boasting a personal relationship with Pelosi. Lisa Wright, a spokeswoman for Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R, said he’ll rely on his working connections with the rest of the delegation once his party is in the minority. Besides, she suggested, echoing Crenson’s caution, Maryland ties could only mean so much.

“Maryland is a small state in the universe of the House of Representatives, with eight members compared to 53 for California,” she said. Hoyer’s role in the leadership, even when Democrats were in the minority, has “always benefited Maryland, and will continue to.”

But Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat of Montgomery, foresees broader possibilities with the upcoming changes in power.

“The majority party controls the agenda in Congress and decides what pieces of legislation will be brought up, debated and voted on,” he said. “Controlling the agenda is key.”

kcullinan@baltimoreexaminer.com