Bob Ehrlich | |
|---|---|
 Ehrlich in 2024 | |
| 60thGovernor of Maryland | |
| In office January 15, 2003 – January 17, 2007 | |
| Lieutenant | Michael Steele |
| Preceded by | Parris Glendening |
| Succeeded by | Martin O'Malley |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMaryland's2nd district | |
| In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Helen Bentley |
| Succeeded by | Dutch Ruppersberger |
| Member of theMaryland House of Delegates from the10th district | |
| In office January 14, 1987 – January 11, 1995 Serving with Wade Kach,Ellen Sauerbrey | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Chamberlain |
| Succeeded by | Emmett C. Burns Jr. Shirley Nathan-Pulliam Joan Neverdon Parker |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert Leroy Ehrlich Jr. (1957-11-25)November 25, 1957 (age 67) Arbutus, Maryland, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Princeton University (BA) Wake Forest University (JD) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Campaign website (archived) |
Robert Leroy Ehrlich Jr. (born November 25, 1957)[1] is an American lawyer and politician who served as the60th governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007. ARepublican, Ehrlich represented Maryland's10th legislative district in theHouse of Delegates from 1987 to 1995 and Maryland's2nd Congressional district in theU.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003.[2]
Ehrlich was the first Republican to serve as governor of Maryland sinceSpiro Agnew left office in 1969. He served one term before being defeated in his2006 re-election bid by DemocratMartin O'Malley. In2010, Ehrlich sought an unsuccessful rematch against O'Malley. Ehrlich then announced, via his website, that he would "return to private life." In October 2011, he was named chair ofMitt Romney's Maryland campaign for the2012 Republican nomination for President.
OfGerman descent,[3] Ehrlich was born in the Southwest Baltimore suburb ofArbutus, Maryland, the son of Nancy (Bottorf), a legal secretary, and Robert Leroy Ehrlich, a commission car salesman.[4][5] After attendingGilman School, he studied atPrinceton University, where he attended on a partial scholarship and was captain of the football team and a member of theCap and Gown Club. Ehrlich graduated from Princeton with an A.B. in politics in 1979 after completing a 140-page long senior thesis titled "Alexander Solzenitsyn: The Man and His Politics."[6] He continued on to law school, graduating fromWake Forest University School of Law in 1982.
After law school, Ehrlich worked for Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver, a Baltimore law firm, and became active in politics. In November 1986, Ehrlich won a seat in theMaryland House of Delegates, representing parts ofBaltimore County from 1987 to 1995.[7][8]
He marriedKendel Sibiski in 1993. They have two sons, Drew Robert Ehrlich and Joshua Taylor Ehrlich.[9][10]
As of 2013, he was a frequent guest on theSports Junkies.[11]
In 1993,2nd district RepresentativeHelen Delich Bentley announced she would be vacating her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Ehrlich announced his candidacy for the open seat and won the election in November 1994. During his term, he introduced legislation aimed at helpingdisabled people maintain employment and supported harshergun violence penalties.
While in Congress, Ehrlich served on the U.S. HouseEnergy and Commerce Committee. He was also a member of the subcommittees on health, telecommunications and the Internet, and environment and hazardous materials; the Congressional Biotechnology Caucus, where he served as co-chairman;[12] and theCongressional Steel Caucus. In 1999, He voted to remove presidentBill Clinton from office duringClinton's impeachment trial.[13]
Ehrlich won all his elections in Congress by margins of at least 25%. He announced he would be forgoing reelection in 2002 to run for governor. He was succeeded byDutch Ruppersberger, aDemocrat.
In 2002, Democratic GovernorParris Glendening's second term was ending. While Glendening had been reelected by a substantial margin in 1998, the final years of his term were plagued by a personal marital crisis, and a large statebudget deficit. The rural areas of Maryland – largely Republican – had long criticized Glendening for what they perceived as zealous environmental regulations; in addition, they believed that he did not give sufficient attention to their needs for infrastructure improvements (bridges, highways, etc.).
On March 15, 2002, Ehrlich announced his candidacy for the governorship. He attacked Glendening's record, tying his Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov.Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, to him. Ehrlich promised, if elected, to increase school funding, balance the budget, and protect theChesapeake Bay. His running mate wasMichael Steele, an African-American and the chair of theMaryland Republican Party.
During the election, Townsend was criticized for her choice of running mate; she picked retiredAdmiralCharles R. Larson, a novice politician who had switched parties only a few weeks before. The Townsend campaign was also hurt by the unpopularity of Glendening, who had implemented aredistricting proposal that was overturned by Maryland's highest court. Townsend's popularity continued to fall when it was reported that much of her campaign money was given by out-of-state donors; Ehrlich remained on the attack while the lieutenant governor's poll numbers declined.
ThoughMaryland traditionally votes Democratic and had not elected a Republican governor in almost 40 years, Ehrlich won the race (52% of the vote to Townsend's 48%). He was the sixth Republican governor in state history and the first sinceSpiro Agnew left office to take theVice Presidency in 1969.
Ehrlich said "fiscal responsibility, education, health, and the environment, public safety, and commerce" were the "Five Pillars" of his administration. He opposed sales andincome tax increases and supported legalization ofslot machines to raise revenue.
Under Ehrlich's tenure, Maryland stayed 0.5% or more below the national unemployment average. The unemployment rate dropped significantly from 4.5% in 2003 to 3.9% in 2006, with an increase of 98,000 private sector jobs, aided by its proximity to the strong labor market associated with the national capital.[14]
Ehrlich established a Department of Disabilities within his cabinet for people with disabilities – the first such cabinet-level agency in the nation.[15][16]
In 2004, Ehrlich signed the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Act:[17] it funds upgrades of water treatment plants to reduce pollution discharge by a surcharge on business and residential water and septic bills. The resulting reduction in pollution into the bay was expected to meet approximately one-third of Maryland's obligations under the 2000Chesapeake Bay Agreement. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation described the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Act as the most significant piece of legislation for the Bay in a generation.[18]
Ehrlich opposed PresidentGeorge W. Bush's 2006 approval for aUnited Arab Emirates firm to take control of six U.S. port operations, including those at thePort of Baltimore.[19] (SeeDubai Ports World controversy).
In 2006, Ehrlich signed a law banning police traffic ticket quotas.[20]
In January 2006, Ehrlich vetoed the "Fair Share Health Care Bill," also known as theWalmart Bill,[21][22] which required businesses with more than 10,000 employees in the state (three of the four companies being Walmart,Northrop Grumman, andGiant) to either spend eight percent of payroll on employee health care, or pay that amount to a state health program for the uninsured.[21][22] The bill was commonly nicknamed after Walmart because it was the only company in Maryland of that size that did not already spend the requisite eight percent. Ehrlich, after consulting with counsel regarding the legal validity of the bill, vetoed the proposed legislation as it would run afoul of federal law. Despite this, and over the pleas of state representatives whose constituents benefited from Walmart's employment and feared a diminished presence in the state, the Democratic legislators of the Maryland Legislature passed the bill over Ehrlich's veto, in part leading to cancellation of the building of a Walmart distribution center in one of Maryland's poorest counties.
Critics of the international discount chain claimed that Wal-Mart's low wages force employees and their dependents to rely on state healthcare assistance. (SeeWal-Mart Employee and Labor Relations). The bill's supporters claimed that the veto showed Ehrlich, whose official biography describes him as "unapologetically pro-business," had sided with "big corporate interests rather than Maryland's working families."[21] For his part, Ehrlich called the bill the "first step toward government-run health care" by "anti-jobs lawmakers." He claimed that it would hurt low and middle-income consumers and was unfair to Wal-Mart and other businesses.[23] On July 7, 2006, the Maryland law was overturned in federal court by U.S. District Judge Frederick Motz, who ruled that the law violated theEmployee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974,[24] while also noting that it would "hurt Wal-Mart by imposing the administrative burden of tracking benefits in Maryland differently than in other states."[25][26]
Governor Ehrlich opted to seek a second term and did not face opposition in the Republican primary. On November 7, 2006, Ehrlich was defeated for re-election in the2006 gubernatorial election by Baltimore MayorMartin O'Malley, who won 53% to Ehrlich's 46%.[27] Ehrlich's term as governor expired at noon on January 17, 2007.[28]
A month after he left public office, Ehrlich and several aides from his administration opened a Baltimore-area office of North Carolina law firmWomble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice. His wife Kendel took a consulting job as a director of the BankAnnapolis.[29]
In March 2007, Ehrlich endorsed former New York MayorRudy Giuliani for the US presidency. He was the Chairman of Giuliani's Mid-Atlantic Campaign Committee.[30]
Ehrlich and his wife hosted their own radio show onWBAL-AM Radio every Saturday from 2007 to 2010.[31][32] Governor Ehrlich has guest lectured at Towson University in ProfessorRichard Vatz's political persuasion class twice a year since 1993.[33][34]
On March 30, Ehrlich announced that he would challenge incumbent Governor Martin O'Malley.[35][36]
In June 2010, Ehrlich was endorsed by Terrapin basketball standout andMemphis Grizzlies NBA draft pickGreivis Vásquez.[37] On June 30, 2010, Ehrlich announced that his running mate would beMary Kane, who had served under Governor Ehrlich as secretary of state, August 2, 2005, to January 17, 2007, and also as deputy secretary of state and chief legal counsel, March 2003 to August 2, 2005.[38] He easily won the Republican primary.
His former lieutenant governor, then Chairman of the Republican National CommitteeMichael Steele, traveled to Maryland on his "Fire Pelosi" bus tour to endorse Ehrlich. Former Massachusetts GovernorMitt Romney also appeared at a fundraiser to endorse Ehrlich.[39] Former New York City MayorRudy Giuliani campaigned in Maryland with Ehrlich, calling him "one of the best governors of all-time."[40]
In the general election, Ehrlich lost again to O'Malley 56% to 42%.
In December 2011, Ehrlich's 2010 campaign manager, Paul E. Schurick, was convicted of four counts of fraud and conspiracy concerning a scheme to suppress the black vote using 112,000 fraudulentrobocalls, which discouraged voters from going to the polls.[41] Political consultant Julius Hensen was also convicted on one count.[42]
In October 2011, Ehrlich was named chairman ofMitt Romney's Maryland campaign forelection as president in 2012.[43]
After initially supportingJohn Kasich as a Republican candidate in the2016 presidential primaries, Ehrlich endorsed nomineeDonald Trump in May 2016.[44]
.jpg)
As of December 2020, Ehrlich was working assenior counsel in the Washington office ofKing & Spalding, a major corporate law firm, on the governmental advocacy and public policy (lobbying) team.[45]
In August 2022, the Maryland Republican Party announced that Ehrlich would lead its "2022 Victory Campaign" to support the party's nominees in that year's elections, includingDan Cox andMichael Peroutka.[46][47] He spent most of his tenure fundraising for the Maryland Republican Party as a whole.[48] Cox and Peroutka were defeated in a landslide by Democratic nomineesWes Moore andAnthony Brown in the general election on November 8, 2022.[49]
| Year | Office | Subject | Party | Votes | Pct | Opponent | Party | Votes | Pct | Opponent | Party | Votes | Pct | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Congress, District 2 | Robert Ehrlich | Republican | 125,162 | 63% | Gerry Brewster | Democratic | 74,275 | 37% | ||||||||
| 1996 | Congress, District 2 | Robert Ehrlich | Republican | 143,075 | 62% | Connie Dejuliis | Democratic | 88,344 | 38% | ||||||||
| 1998 | Congress, District 2 | Robert Ehrlich | Republican | 145,711 | 69% | Kenneth Bosley | Democratic | 64,474 | 31% | ||||||||
| 2000 | Congress, District 2 | Robert Ehrlich | Republican | 178,556 | 69% | Kenneth Bosley | Democratic | 81,591 | 31% | ||||||||
| 2002 | Governor | Robert Ehrlich | Republican | 879,592 | 52% | Kathleen Kennedy Townsend | Democratic | 813,422 | 48% | Spear Lancaster | Libertarian | 11,546 | <1% | ||||
| 2006 | Governor | Robert Ehrlich | Republican | 825,464 | 46% | Martin O'Malley | Democratic | 942,279 | 53% | Ed Boyd | Green | 15,551 | 1% | ||||
| 2010 | Governor | Robert Ehrlich | Republican | 776,319 | 42% | Martin O'Malley | Democratic | 1,044,961 | 56% | ||||||||
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)they'd like him to pick NFL games, as other politicians – including former Maryland governor Bob Ehrlich – have long done for the show.
Governor Bob Ehrlich's addresses to my 'Persuasion' class at Towson twice a year 1993-present
The former guv spent the afternoon at Towson U. professor Rick Vatz's class, as he has many times before
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMaryland's 2nd congressional district 1995–2003 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of Maryland 2002,2006,2010 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Maryland 2003–2007 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former Governor | Order of precedence of the United States | Succeeded byas Former Governor |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
