After announcing his bid to replace Gov. Larry Hogan, Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker says he is focused on improving the state of Maryland.
Though the county has dealt with several issues, including child pornography crimes by a teacher’s aide at Judge Sylvania Woods Elementary School in Upper Marlboro, Md. and by a teacher/coach at Bradbury Heights Elementary School in Capitol Heights, Md. along with an investigation, from the governor’s office, on grade tampering in the county’s public school system, Baker, 58, still thinks he has a fighting chance at the Democratic nod for the governor’s seat.
Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker is running for the Democratic seat for Maryland governor in 2018. (Courtesy photo)
“I believe in the teachers of Prince George’s County, I believe in the principals, I believe they care about their students and they care about their craft,” Baker told the AFRO July 20. “We need the state, especially when they’re doing backgrounds, to be able to prioritize those issues that are coming from our school system. Those are the realities that we live in now in the state, that we have to take every allegation serious and we have to do a thorough investigation.” He said the governor and the state need to provide more leadership in education.
Bakeris one of several candidates to announce bids for the Democratic nod, including former NAACP president Benjamin Jealous, Maryland Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Montgomery), tech entrepreneur Alec Ross, and Baltimore attorney Jim Shea. Besides the five who have already announced their candidacy, five others, including Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz; U.S. Rep. John Delaney (D-6); former Attorney General Doug Gansler; Maya Rockeymore Cummings, wife to U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-7); and former U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards are considering seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. Baker announced his bid in June.
“The whole notion of running is not against an individual, but really to change the direction the state is going in and to move it forward,” Baker said. “I believe that it is a great state, but I believe that we can be greater.” Maryland primary elections are scheduled for June 26, 2018.
Under Baker’s administration, Prince George’s County – the second largest jurisdiction in the state of Maryland with the second largest population – is leading the state in job creation with 319,784 jobs created in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. Baker said he thinks Maryland should lead the country in job creation and technology. “Maryland needs to play a leading role in advocating for changes on a Federal level,” he said.
Even so, there is concern that Baker, Jealous, and possibly Cummings and Edwards’ bids for the Democratic ticket could split the state’s Black vote. “I’m not running against Ben Jealous. I’m not running against anybody. I’m running for the office of governor,” Baker said. “I think what voters are going to look at in Baltimore City and I know Prince George’s County, and Montgomery County and every place throughout the state is not what you’re going to say, people say a lot during the campaign season. I’ve been around long enough to know that almost none of it happens. So, people are going to actually look at what you’ve done.”
He said his experience working in the private and elected sectors places him above the competition. “For 10 years before being elected to office, I worked for a community development in D.C. actually doing economic development in the H Street, U Street corridors creating jobs, having to deal with social issues that was what shaped part of my understanding. It’s helped me as county executive,” he said. “I think the unique perspective I bring is that body experience, but in an executive position where you had to deal with multiple issues at once.”
One of Baker’s priorities, if he becomes governor, is to work on resources for state jurisdictions, such as providing funding to repair old school buildings throughout the state. In 2016, David G. Lever, past executive director of the Maryland Interagency Committee on School Construction under the Board of Public Works, told the Baltimore Sun that 52 percent of Maryland’s 1,392 public school buildings were built before 1990, with many designed with the “open classroom” approach that was prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s.
A possible solution to fixing problems with the state’s school buildings and other needs, Baker said, is for the governor to provide more resources. “In order to really help Baltimore County, Prince George’s County which has aging school buildings, then the state has to provide resources to do it,” Baker said. “Same thing in Baltimore City, there’s no subdivision in any county in the state that has the ability to handle all of its education issues. If it is a state function, the state has to be aggressive and that has to be led by the governor.”
The winner of the primary election will then face Gov. Larry Hogan (R) in the Nov. 6, 2018 general election.
Baker was born in Valdosta, Ga. As a teen, Baker lived in Okinawa, Japan and Massachusetts. He was also a captain in the U.S. Army Reserves Judge Advocate General Corps from 1987-2001. In 1982 Baker graduated from Howard University with a bachelor’s degree in history and from Howard University Law School in 1986.
