WBAL - Anthony Brown, Larry Hogan Spar in First Gubernatorial Debate

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By David Collins

Anthony Brown and Larry Hogan met Tuesday morning for the first of a series of debates between the two gubernatorial candidates.

It was a spirited debate that produced a bold campaign promise from the Democrat.

"There will be no new taxes in the Brown-Ulman administration," Brown said.

"The last time you said, 'There's not going to be any taxes, we don't foresee any taxes in the future,' was in the last election when you and (Gov.) Martin O'Malley said the exact same thing. Then, you raised 40 taxes in a row," countered Hogan, a Republican.

"Larry, you and I stand in completely two different places," Brown said.

The candidates clashed in their first general election debate in the race for governor as Hogan promised to eliminate the rain tax and go after Chesapeake Bay pollution from another primary source -- other states.

"You stand somewhere upstream in the Susquehanna River, point your finger at Pennsylvania and New York, accusing them of not doing what you are unwilling to do here in Maryland," Brown said, referring to Hogan's opposition of the rain tax for Marylanders.

"Well that all sounded good, but a lot of it was nonsense," Hogan said.

The Brown campaign has hammered Hogan in TV ads on women's issues. Hogan reiterated he supports women's reproductive rights and birth control and he would not roll back current law.

"I think you should apologize to the women of Maryland for trying to scare them," Hogan said.

The candidates then sparred about the state's business climate.

"Our first strategic goal will be to position Maryland's business climate to be No. 1 in the nation," Brown said.

"Why haven't you strengthened the business climate? Because it is your policies, our regulatory environment," Hogan said.

"In his most recent so-called savings plan, (Hogan) calls for a $450 million cut to school construction. That would set us back years," Brown said.

But Hogan countered, simply saying, "There he goes again, confusing the facts."

Brown then moved on to gun control.

"You spoke to a group of extreme gun owners and said, 'Give me a pass in public because when I'm governor, I'm going to use executive orders to roll back the provisions of the Firearm Safety Act,'" Brown said.

Hogan addressed that claim and others after the debate.

"It's just a bunch of nonsense. No, I did not (do that). It's just another attempt to distract people away from the real issues in the campaign," Hogan said.

Brown left immediately after the debate, sending surrogates to meet with reporters.

"This is absolutely a clear choice. Anthony Brown won this debate. He's ready to be governor today," said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.

During the debate, Brown was not questioned about his leadership in the rollout of the failed health benefits exchange, and Hogan didn't bring it up.

One political analyst believed the debate revealed why Maryland lieutenant governors have never been elected to the top spot.

"Lt. Gov. Brown is going to have to fight hard over the next 30 days to establish himself as an independent candidate," Johns Hopkins University political science professor Matthew Crenson said.

The debate came on the same day as a Goucher poll was released that showed both candidates appear to have an image problem with Marylanders.

There are two more debates scheduled before Election Day on Nov. 4, including a debate held by WBAL-TV and Maryland Public Television on Oct. 18. WBAL-TV's Jason Newton will moderate that one-hour debate between Brown and Hogan. It will air at 7 p.m. on WBAL-TV and on WBAL NewsRadio 1090 AM.

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