Anonymous wrote:

This has been my experience in Prince George’s as well. He has worked tirelessly and honestly in this county. Have there been mistakes, of course, but results over rhetoric.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Baker. I don't think your first elected office should be governor.

+1. He’s done good things in PG county and that’s no small feat.

What's he done in PG County? Can you explain further?

I think the Washington Post endorsement explains it best.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/democrats-should-choose-rushern-baker-for-maryland-governor/2018/05/19/97bd52aa-5947-11e8-858f-12becb4d6067_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.84cc9f33d100

IT CAN be easy to forget the spectacular mess that Rushern L. Baker III inherited when, in 2010, he became the top elected official in Prince George’s County, Maryland’s second-most-populous locality. Given his brand of steady, sane, no-drama leadership as county executive over the past eight years, it is equally easy to overlook the extent to which he has succeeded in radically rebranding a locality whose reputation had been so badly stained by public corruption, chaotic governance and crime.

Mr. Baker’s admirable, ambitious record in Prince George’s is the basis on which we support him in Maryland’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, on June 26. In a solid field of primary candidates, which includes a respected state senator, a nationally known civil rights leader and others with impressive résumés, Mr. Baker stands out for having run what amounts to a turnaround project in a county of nearly 1 million residents.

He has lately come under fire from his rivals, including Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, for controversies in the Prince George’s school system, one of the nation’s largest, including inflated graduation rates, mishandled sex abuse cases and questionable raises for top aides to the outgoing schools CEO, Kevin M. Maxwell, who was chosen by Mr. Baker.

What gets lost in the hubbub is that Mr. Baker, virtually alone among county executives in Maryland, had the political courage to seek and attain personal authority over public education in the county. His willingness to be politically accountable for reforming a huge system long troubled by poor performance and managerial dysfunction was a gamble. And despite the recent troubles, it paid off to a large degree: Enrollment climbed and test scores crept up as schools offered an enriched menu of academic choices, including expanded full-day prekindergarten and language immersion.

The Democratic primary contest, whose winner will challenge Mr. Hogan in November, has been marked by opportunistic sniping at Mr. Baker’s record with the schools, in most cases by rivals who lack his breadth and depth of experience. Well before he became county executive, Mr. Baker, as a state lawmaker from Prince George’s, was an effective advocate for improving public schools.

This has been my experience in Prince George’s as well. He has worked tirelessly and honestly in this county. Have there been mistakes, of course, but results over rhetoric.