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The latest from Rick Hutzell
Hutzell: By the numbers, a Maryland primary election index
COLUMN | Elections involve a lot of numbers. There are numbers now, however, that can give us some clues. Consider these while you wait.
Hutzell: Who do you trust to find the truth about Wes Moore’s story?
COLUMN | Armstrong Williams says truth is self-evident. Comparing The Sun's coverage of Wes Moore's military record with reporting by The Banner's Lee O. Sanderlin suggests it's far more complicated.
Hutzell: At 68, I swam across Spa Creek in Annapolis. The best part was the company.
COLUMN | How do you make a busy waterway livable, swimmable? For almost 20 years, the Spa Creek Conservancy has been working to do that.
Hutzell: Bill Ferguson was once the upstart. This election turned that around.
COLUMN | Sixteen years ago, a first-time candidate beat a powerful Baltimore state senator. Now Bill Ferguson, that young upstart, is the Maryland Senate president facing a social media challenger with surprising support. How did this conversation get all turned around?
Hutzell: Chris Van Hollen’s got a list. Talarico tops it, Boafo is at the bottom.
COLUMN | James Talarico, the Democrat's hope for winning a Senate seat in Texas, is at the top of Chris Van Hollen’s buddy list right now. Like every list, however, if there is a top, there must be a bottom. That would be Maryland Del. Adrian Boafo.
Hutzell: How to pick the next Anne Arundel exec in 3 easy steps
COLUMN | Democratic voters face the first competitive primary for county executive in 40 years. It’s divided party loyalists. With not much separating the three main candidates’ goals, how do you choose?
Hutzell: Who said it best? Maryland county exec candidates in their own words.
COLUMN | Can you guess which candidates for county executive in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties said these words? Probably not. They’re often interchangeable. So, who says them best?
Hutzell: Can David bring down a Maryland Goliath? It’s happened before.
COLUMN | Maybe social media sensation Bobby LaPin can beat state Sen. Bill Ferguson in the Democratic primary for their South Baltimore district. Maybe not. But in Maryland’s usually predictable political landscape, an upset like this has happened before.
Hutzell: A corrupt park superintendent gets fired. Score one for Anne Arundel’s new auditor.
COLUMN | Anne Arundel County’s newly revitalized auditor’s office uncovered misconduct in the Recreation and Parks Department, leading to the firing of a park superintendent and raising questions about government oversight.
Hutzell: Pulled from the Inner Harbor after 11 years, a mystery man reveals his secrets
COLUMN |How Franklin Roosevelt Daniels got to the bottom of the Inner Harbor in a stolen van remains a mystery. Why he was there, and why no one came forward to claim a loved one missing for a decade, might be easier to understand.
Hutzell: Harry Dunn isn’t finished fighting the insurrection
COLUMN | Harry Dunn says he didn’t sue to block Donald Trump’s Anti-Weaponization Fund to help his campaign for Congress. In a district hurt hard by the president’s audacity of greed, it sure should.
Hutzell: In Annapolis, you can’t eat a hot dog standing up
COLUMN | Annapolis is a city of rules, layered thickly over hundreds of years in Maryland’s small-town state capital. None may be quite so silly as this.
Hutzell: Can presidents and generals be funny? They try at the Naval Academy.
COLUMN | If President Donald Trump hadn’t chosen to skip on speaking at the Naval Academy commissioning ceremony on Friday, he probably would have tried to land a witty remark. They all do. From FDR to Biden, they sometimes succeed and sometimes fail. They always get a laugh.
Hutzell: That time Alex Murdaugh showed up at our family reunion
COLUMN | We were at a state park in Kentucky for my wife’s family reunion. It was the kind where someone springs for T-shirts, and the blue-and-gold ones handed out for ours read, “Whole Fam Damily Reunion 2012.” Then the Murdaughs walked in. You know, the Alex Murdaughs.
Hutzell: Pam Beidle had $400K to fund a political legacy. She’s spreading it around.
COLUMN | State Sen. Pam Beidle wanted to give the $400,000 left in her campaign fund to the slate she created. Turns out the rules don’t allow that. What can she do with this small fortune now?
Hutzell: Embroiderers stitch their place in America’s 250th anniversary tapestry
COLUMN | No celebration of America’s 250th anniversary rivals America’s Tapestry for sheer volunteer spirit. The embroidered retelling of stories from the original 13 states was inspired by the Great Tapestry of Scotland.
Hutzell: Speed dating for Congress: How Maryland’s 5th District candidates stand out
COLUMN | In Maryland’s biggest primary, almost anything seems possible just 32 days from the start of early voting. A look at how candidates are trying to break out of a crowd of Democrats.
Hutzell: As Chesapeake Bay ferry proposals flounder, the future is a water taxi
COLUMN | Ferry travel is a romantic idea, but when romance hits political and fiscal reality, the water gets a little rough. Chesapeake Bay proposals are — at best — delayed.
Hutzell: The award for zaniest video by a Maryland legislator goes to ...
COLUMN | Del. Lesley Lopez's kidnap video was the most gonzo social media moment of the 2026 General Assembly, but probably not the last Maryland will see like it.
Hutzell: Bridges fast and slow: A reality check on building the new Key
COLUMN | China built a bridge in 42 hours. China built the world’s tallest bridge in four years. Why can’t America build more like China? Before we get any more freaked out on the latest Key Bridge setback, here’s some perspective on building bridges.
