Baltimore County Del. Jon Cardin (D-District 11), the current front-runner for the Democratic nomination for attorney general, fired back Wednesday after a report said he missed nearly 75 percent of his committee’s votes during the 2014 General Assembly.
The news will likely impact the Attorney General race, in which Bethesda-based state Sen. Brian Frosh (D-District 16) and Prince George’s County Del. Aisha Braveboy have been trailing Cardin with the June 24 primary looming.
The Baltimore Sun broke the story Tuesday night about Cardin’s voting record in the Ways and Means Committee, which handles most of the details of the committee’s legislation that will go to the House floor. The report was followed up by a Sun editorial that strongly criticized Cardin for not responding to the reporter who wrote the article.
On Wednesday, Cardin spoke with Bethesda Beat about the report that he missed 121 out of 164 committee votes.
“I mean, look, it’s political theater from an opponent who led the Sun to it because he’s down in the polls,” Cardin said. “It’s politics as usual. I would expect nothing less from someone trying to make a name for himself.”
Frosh said he didn’t direct the Sun to the votes. “Look, his record is troubling to me," Frosh said, "it’s obviously troubling to the Baltimore Sun and it’s troubling to the voters. When you get elected to a job, you should do the job. He’s just trying to divert attention from his terrible record.”
Cardin, 44, said he has had a 90 percent-plus attendance record in his 12 years of public service. When asked why he missed the committee votes, Cardin said, “Balancing being a public servant, running for attorney general and being a parent of a 2-year-old with another on the way is a challenge I believe I’ve taken on with a tremendous amount of vigor.
“There was not a single instance where I missed a vote that would have affected the outcome of a bill,” Cardin added. He said he would often leave committee meetings during the later parts of the evening and would discuss leaving with the committee chair, Sheila Hixson.
Hixson told the Sun she didn’t think any bills were harmed by his absence.
But Frosh, 67, was critical of Cardin’s voting record.
“If you’re not in committee, if you’re not voting, you’re not doing the job you were elected to do,” Frosh said. “It’s very, very unusual an amendment gets added to a bill once it reaches the floor, that’s what committees are for. … The job you’re elected to do is to represent your constituents, and the way you represent your constituents is by voting.”
Frosh, who serves as chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, didn’t miss any of his committee’s 244 votes, according to the Sun report. Frosh said the meetings were important to him because it’s where he has the most influence.
“You can’t phone it in in the General Assembly, you got to show up,” Frosh said.
Frosh trailed Cardin and a third candidate, Prince George’s County Del. Aisha Braveboy (D-District 25), in polls released in February by The Washington Post and the Sun. Both polls found a large number of undecided voters.
Since those polls, Frosh, who was first elected to the state legislature in 1987, has racked up endorsements from senate colleagues, police and fire unions, the Maryland State Education Association and environmental groups.
“I’m going around the state, I’m working every organization that’s interested in the office of attorney general, and so far it has been very successful,” Frosh said.
As legislative achievements, Frosh pointed to his recent record of fighting for the controversial Firearm Safety Act of 2013, now a law which bans certain types of assault weapons, and his sponsorship of a domestic violence bill that was put into law that makes it easier for victims to obtain protective orders
Cardin said his sponsorship of the “Good Samaritan” bill, now a law, which prevents people from being charged with possession of drugs if police are called to aid an overdose victim, and another bill which criminalizes “revenge porn” were among his recent achievements.
