Tag Archives: Saqib Ali

2022 Democratic Primary

Winners and Losers, Part II

Yesterday, Seventh State looked at the big winners from the primary but today’s post lists some people for whom the election just didn’t work out as well as they hoped.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that Progressives for Progress had a banal, redundant and misleading name, there is little evidence that this pro-development group led by Steve Silverman had much impact. Not only did David Blair lose the big county executive race but Laurie-Anne Sayles, Kate Stewart and Kristin Mink won over PfP’s preferred candidates. Councilmember Will Jawando also easily won reelection. A whole lot of money dumped to obtain many chilly receptions.

Close only counts in horseshoes. David Blair has now dumped oceans of money to get elected county executive and fallen short twice. Despite his argument that he would know how to get things done, he couldn’t seal this deal despite being an affable fellow and liberally lubricating the way with his wallet. Blair’s failure to get meaningfully involved in the county beyond donations after 2018 made it all the harder to sell himself. Lots of people who hoped to ride the Blair train are also disappointed. Hard to imagine Blair trying this again but if he does go after his white whale, his opponent can run on “Make him spend it all!”

The Republican Party made its brand so toxic nationally that even moderate Republicans like Connie Morella and Howie Denis no longer have a prayer here. But Gov. Larry Hogan showed that there was room to grow for center right candidates, as he won an impressive 44.1% in Montgomery in 2018. The nomination of fringe nutcases like Dan Cox for governor and Michael Peroutka will utterly undo this effort to create a more palatable Maryland Republican brand. Great news for Democrats running in swing districts and the party’s super majority in the General Assembly.

Saqib Ali’s uphill campaign to unseat an incumbent delegate in District 15 didn’t just lose but crashed and burned in the wake of abuse allegations. Ali once had a promising political career. But after winning election in District 39, he promptly put himself forward for the Senate opening. When MCDCC chose far more experienced Nancy King, he spent the rest of his term alienating colleagues and preparing for a close but ultimately unsuccessful challenge. Since then, he’s pursued office fruitlessly and continued to burn rather than build bridges.

Brandy Brooks seemed to have a lot going for her as she entered this campaign season. Her strong progressive message excited a major constituency in Montgomery Democratic primaries. And then it all fell apart amid serious accusations of sexual harassment. It likely would not have mattered anyway as a high burn rate left the campaign with little money.

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District 15, Saqib Ali

Saqib Ali’s Campaign Roiled by Abuse Allegations

Former Del. Saqib Ali is trying to regain a seat in the House of Delegates in District 15. He previously represented District 39 but left after one term to run unsuccessfully for Senate in 2010. This year, Ali’s well-funded campaign has been roiled by severe domestic problems.

Ali’s wife filed a petition for protection from domestic violence on May 24th. This was dismissed with the agreed upon condition that Saqib Ali attend anger management:

Mr. Ali will be evaluated by Dr. Fred Oeltjen with Maryland Counseling Center for anger management. Mr. Ali will complete anger management. The anger management program shall be recommended by Dr. Fred Oeltjen.

However, matters did not resolve. In a preliminary divorce complaint, Ms. Ali alleged:

On June 22, 2022, upon return to the marital home he once again became violent toward the parties’ older minor child, necessitating the Plaintiff [Ms. Ali] and the minor child to flee the marital home. On June 24, 2022, Plaintiff filed another Petition from Domestic Violence in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County on behalf of the minor child.

Defendant’s [Saqib Ali’s] ongoing abusive behavior toward Plaintiff and the minor children cause Plaintiff to have grave concerns over the mental stability of Defendant and his ability to be an effective and safe parent of the parties’ minor children.

Saqib Ali denied the allegations and tried to spin this as something that “sadly, a lot of people have been through” as part of a divorce. In texts available in public documents, he went further, essentially claiming that his wife is an unfit parent and a danger to at least one of his children.

Except that not only has he consented to anger management training, he also agreed on July 1 to give up custody of his kids for a full year as part of a consent final protective order:

Petitioner is awarded interim physical and legal custody of the minor children.

Respondent shall have non-overnight access with the children as agreed upon by the parties.

[T]his Order shall stay in full force and effect for one (1) year or until further Order of Court or written agreement of the parties.

This agreement makes me doubt Saqib Ali’s claims. Parents who genuinely believe that the other parent is unfit and a danger to their kids don’t normally give up custody but fight to keep them, as his wife did. Even a parent who believes the other parent is capable usually shares custody. Instead, he has given up not just custody but also the right to overnight visits. You do the math.

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Adam Pagnucco, District 15, Nancy King, Saqib Ali

The Return of Saqib Ali

By Adam Pagnucco.

This is a good day for Seventh State, MoCo political junkies, and anyone who loves a great fight. That’s because one of the all-time cage-shakers of MoCo politics from a decade ago has returned to run for office again.

Yes, it’s true. Saqib Ali is running for Delegate in District 15.

Saqib first showed up in MoCo politics in 2006 when he ran for Delegate in District 39. At that time, the three incumbent Delegates – all of whom were running for reelection – were Nancy King, Charlie Barkley and Joan Stern. Stern was a lackluster two-term Delegate who was best known for introducing legislation that would let customers bring dogs to restaurants. Her colleagues dumped her from their slate. Saqib got the Apple Ballot and beat her by more than 1,200 votes.

This was an early sign that Saqib Ali does not fear incumbents.

One year later, District 39 State Senator P.J. Hogan stepped down. Saqib, King and former Delegate Gene Counihan interviewed with the county’s Democratic Central Committee for an appointment to succeed him. Counihan was eliminated in the first round and Saqib lost to King in the second round by a 13-9 vote. Rumor had it that Senate President Mike Miller was making calls on King’s behalf. Saqib didn’t take his defeat well, drafting legislation that required central committees to take open votes on appointments. MoCo’s central committee voluntarily shifted to open votes rather than see Saqib’s bill pass.

For the next two years, Saqib and Nancy King co-existed uneasily. No matter what King did, Saqib went to her left and noisily announced it – especially when the two diverged on slots. In 2009, Saqib even published a four-part blog series analyzing how much more progressive he was than King on marriage equality, tax policy and alcohol.

But Saqib wasn’t just an attack dog – he mixed in repeated doses of social media comedy to delight his fans. Saqib was one of the earliest and most effective users of Facebook in MoCo politics. He often rewarded articles published about him – including ones that were not particularly nice – with lots of promotion and trackable eyeballs. I certainly noticed! I called him “Facebook’s favorite Delegate” and wrote, “If Ali changed his pajama color, it would go public.” No freshman politician in all of MoCo got more online attention than Saqib Ali.

In April 2010, Saqib pulled the trigger and did what everyone expected him to do: he announced he was running against Nancy King. What followed was one of the wildest primaries in MoCo political history. King was supported by the teachers, the Washington Post, the Gazette, SEIU, the AFL-CIO, the fire fighters, the police, NARAL, the realtors and virtually the entire Annapolis establishment. Saqib was supported by MCGEO, the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and Casa in Action. Both candidates had tons of money. King had backup from Mike Miller’s team. Saqib’s campaign manager was Ben Shnider, who would go on to wage an improbable but almost successful challenge to Montgomery County Council Member Sidney Katz eight years later.

The dominant feature of the 2010 District 39 Senate race was the ruthless, bloody-fisted negative campaigning waged by both sides. This was one of the nastiest political wars of all time. Saqib depicted King as a tool of corporate bosses in the alcohol and gambling industries as well as political bosses in Annapolis (especially Miller). King depicted Saqib as a lazy fool who accomplished nothing and slept on the job at the statehouse. King even coined a nickname for her opponent – “Sleepy Saqib” – that was featured prominently in an attack website as well as her mail.

Here are a few of King’s attacks on Saqib.

And here are a few of Saqib’s attacks on King.

In the end, Nancy King prevailed with 51.7% of the vote, a 248-vote margin over Saqib. In the following redistricting, Saqib’s residence was moved into District 15 to prevent him from challenging King again. Saqib finished last in a five-person school board primary two years later and is now one of Maryland’s leading advocates for a boycott of Israel, something that is sure to come up in his race. As for King, she has never been seriously challenged since. (That’s a good thing for her because that one race was equal to five really tough ones!)

There is nothing particularly objectionable about District 15’s current legislators. Senator Brian Feldman is one of MoCo’s top go-to people in Annapolis. Delegate Kathleen Dumais has been a vice chair of two House committees and was once parliamentarian. Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo was a leader in the effort to ban fracking in 2017 and freshman Delegate Lily Qi is a prominent voice for economic development. Together, they’re a solid crew and have little in the way of obvious weakness.

But for better or worse, none of them are Saqib.

Having watched Saqib up close ten years ago, his playbook is easy to understand. He will blast the incumbents for any tough budget votes they have to cast next year. He will go to their left on every issue imaginable. He will be all over social media. He will have more than enough money to compete. And most of all, he will bring enormous energy to the campaign. Whatever else he is, Saqib is a hard worker who concedes nothing to incumbents. He may or may not win, but if he is the same Saqib he was in 2010, he will make the incumbents work harder than they ever have in a political race to survive.

And Seventh State will be watching.

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2018 Elections, Montgomery County

Who is Behind “Mayor of MoCo” Website?

mayormoco1Not too long ago, a web page popped up touting County Councilmember George Leventhal (D-At Large) as the next “Mayor” (i.e. County Executive) of Montgomery County. George is widely known to be interested in the race – he ran last time but withdrew before the primary to run for reelection.

The webpage is funny and gives a list of ten reasons – some serious, some joking – why Leventhal should be the next Exec. The author is seemingly the anonymous “Mayor of Moco:”

mayormoco2Clicking on the author’s name reveals inadvertently that former Del. Saqib Ali (D-39) is the author. While his name is not mentioned anywhere on the connecting page, it shows up in the URL:

mayormoco3

In addition to creating the web page, Saqib has created an anonymous twitter account:

mayormoco5Saqib Ali has been very active in MoCo politics. He won election to the House of Delegates on a slate from District 39 in 2006. When the Senate seat became vacant, he sought it but the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee selected the much more experienced Del. Nancy King for the vacancy.

Del. Ali spent most of the next four years of his term in the House openly preparing to challenge King for the Senate seat. Indeed, the 2010 Senate primary was exceedingly close but King prevailed over Sleepy Saqib – as Sen. King labelled him during the campaign – by a margin of 3.4%.

In 2012, Saqib made a much less successful run for a Board of Education seat. In 2014, he announced but then pulled back for a run for a seat in the House of Delegates. Since then, he has become known for his activism in support of the BDS Movement, which advocates for boycotts, divestment and sanctions of Israel.

At the Montgomery Priorities Hearing, Saqib testified against legislation advocated by Del. Ben Kramer that would have resulted in the State boycotting companies and institutions that boycott Israel. More recently, he testified as a member of the Steering Committee of Marylanders for BDS on legislation before George’s committee on the Council on County legislation.

During his testimony, Saqib stated that Israeli settlements are “quite close to a war crime.” He then drops the qualifier when he says that “settlements meet the Geneva Convention definition for ‘war crime.” In short, he is now a strong and public advocate for BDS.

George Leventhal’s Viewpoint

George Leventhal kindly replied to my questions regarding the web page and BDS via email. Regarding the web page, George told me:

Saqib is a longtime friend. He let me know that he was planning to express his enthusiasm online about my potential candidacy for County Executive, but the “Mayor of MoCo” initiative is his alone, and I have had no involvement in it.

If I decide to run for County Executive, I will welcome Saqib’s involvement and will hope to win the support of a wide range of county residents, but I am a long way from making any decisions regarding 2018. In my four successful election campaigns, I am honored to have had the support of many activists in both the Jewish and Muslim communities, as well as many other communities. As an at-large councilmember who has represented more than one million constituents for nearly 14 years, I would not expect to agree with every opinion of every one of my supporters.

George’s point about not agreeing with everyone of his supporters is a good one. Who does? However, Saqib is not some random supporter among many.  Saqib and George may well have become closer allies over George’s support for efforts to incorporate a Muslim holiday into the school calendar – a positive effort that is about recognition and inclusion. But George’s “longtime friend” is also leading local activist in support of BDS who is a former state legislator and has testified at least twice on the issue. At the very least, George raised no objection to this page, which represents his first public move for a bid for County Executive. As a result, pro-BDS Saqib seems more than some minor supporter.

George also shared his views on the BDS Movement:

I do not associate myself with efforts to boycott Israel or divest from it or impose sanctions on it. I feel a deep affinity for Israel, which I have visited three times. My sister lived there for several years. I support a two-state solution. In general, I would describe my views on the Israel/Palestine issue as consistent with those of J Street.

I would not characterize Israeli settlements in the West Bank as a war crime, although I think they are extremely counterproductive to the goal of peace in the Middle East.

While many might disagree with George’s views on BDS or Israeli settlements as either too liberal or too conservative, I’d say they fall right in the mainstream of Jewish and American opinion.

Some might argue that Donna Edwards’s identification with liberal J Street did her some harm in the Democratic primary, and that the same fate could befall George. More hardline pro-Israel voters do indeed reject J Street. Many others, however, would find George’s viewpoints utterly reasonable.

The more serious political problem is when a candidate is perceived fundamentally unsympathetic to Israel. In George’s comments, that is clearly not the case, as he strikes a smart balance of “deep affinity for Israel” and support for a “two-state solution.” But linkage with a prominent BDS supporter in what is essentially his prospective campaign’s first outing undermines that perception.

Moreover, Saqib is working to make this linkage stronger. He has now become the first person to attack me on Twitter before I even drafted a piece. Expressing anger at my “smears” and “appalling tactics,” Saqib then turned to faux outrage that I won’t open up this space to him. I look forward to all the pro-BDS webpages opening up their space to AIPAC and J Street.

All of this is helpful to getting Saqib Ali more attention but it sure doesn’t help George Leventhal.

Foreign Policy in County Elections?

Normally, I would not think foreign policy terribly relevant to a campaign for county executive. Aside from the nice Sister Cities program, my hope would be that any county executive focus on the nuts and bolts of making the County work well. But Saqib’s repeated public interventions show how views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can  become intertwined with even local politics.

The injection of a prominent BDS supporter as part of George’s effort to stick his political toe publicly in the water will likely raise concerns among the many voters who oppose BDS and does not help us keep focused on the issues that matter – the ones on which George Leventhal has spent the vast majority of his career and has exhibited a great deal of genuine passion for over the years.

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Congress

MD-06 Tea Leaves

If John Delaney left office for unforeseen reasons, it would kick off something Maryland hasn’t seen since 2006: a Democratic primary for an open seat in the US House. In 2012, the battle for the Democratic nomination was a clear fight between State Senate Majority Leader Rob Garagiola and multimillionaire banker John Delaney. The nuances of the next race are likely to be more subtle. In my estimation, there are three people I am sure would run:

  • State House Majority Leader Kumar Barve (District 17)
  • State Senator Roger Manno (District 19)
  • State Delegate Bill Frick (District 16)

Del. Barve would start out as the clear favorite and would be able to tap into significant sources of funding that might not be available to other candidates: Annapolis economic donors, K Street Economic donors and National Indian American donors. He also represents a larger portion of the District than Sen. Manno or Del. Frick. I believe Del. Barve could raise upwards of $1,500,000-$2,500,000 for this campaign.

Sen. Manno might be able to consolidate the progressive community in general and the labor movement specifically around his candidacy. He has the potential  to raise $400,000-$800,000 for this campaign.

Del. Frick is a highly talented politician and would make a dynamic, attractive (in both senses) congressional candidate. His challenge in his aborted AG Campaign was fundraising. The word on the streets of Annapolis and DC has always been that he lacks the intestinal fortitude for call time.

However, Del. Frick also has an amazing network spanning from B-CC High School to Northwestern University to Harvard Law to a decade at Akin Gump. He could raise substantial sums by tapping into hat network and carve out a constituency by going on Broadcast TV. Del. Frick could raise up to $1,500,000–if he puts in the work.

I’ve also heard rumors that current District 39 Del. Kirill Reznik and former (2006-2010) District 39 Del. Saqib Ali might be interest in throwing their hats in the ring. I think Mr. Ali (who has raised up to a quarter million dollars for his bids for state and local office) would be capable of raising money nationally from the Muslim community. Mr Reznik has an appealing immigrant story that could play well in a Democratic Primary.

I also have heard rumors that Attorney General Doug Gansler could view this as a comeback bid. Doug raised over $6 million dollars in his gubernatorial bid (almost entirely from his personal rolodex). I believe he would be enormously formidable in a congressional bid. Outlook with Gansler in the Race: Lean Gansler. Outlook without Gansler in the race: Lean Barve

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Charles Barkley, Kirill Reznik, Nancy King, Saqib Ali, Shane Robinson

Surprisingly Dull in D39

District 39

None of the four incumbent Democrats that represent District 39 in the General Assembly face opposition–a surprising change from four years ago and not what many expected.

Sen. Nancy King faced fierce competition from Del. Saqib Ali in 2010. Not too long after the 2006 election, Sen. P.J. Hogan stepped down and the MCDCC chose then Del. King, who had won two terms and also served on the Board of Education, for the seat over newly elected Del. Ali.

Ali dogged King relentlessly for the rest of the term, continually attacking her as insufficiently progressive. The 2010 primary was rough with Sleepy Saqib pictures that Ali had posted on his Facebook page appearing in King’s mailers. (Kids, there is a life lesson here.) Ali ran a very strong campaign but The Rumble in Germantown ended with King taking the nomination by 248 votes.

The new redistricting plan just happened to draw Ali’s home into District 15. Unlike for congressional elections, Article III, Section 3 of the Maryland Constitution requires that legislative candidates live in their district. In the words of the Church Lady (late 1980s SNL youngsters), “how convenient.”

But not so surprising. Senate President Mike Miller has zero desire to see Saqib in the Senate. And Ali’s aggressive style in the General Assembly did not win him friends among his colleagues, though it was nearly enough to propel him into the Senate.

Ali could have established residency in the new D39 but committed to D15 when he sought the delegate vacancy last year caused by Del. Brian Feldman’s appointment to the Senate. Ali entered the delegate election in D15 but pulled out in December.

King and Del. Charles Barkley have especially robust campaign accounts–Barkley has 92K compared to 91K for King. Del. Kirill Reznik has a healthy 43K with 26K in Del. Shane Robinson’s account. I guess Reznik needs to serve more expensive hamburgers at his annual Grill with Kirill event. Or maybe Del. Barkley can take him to school.

An enjoyable election season for the incumbents in District 39–but not for those watching elections.

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