Maryland Senate approves GOP election board nominee despite questions on personality, past

The Maryland Senate approved a Howard County Republican to serve on the State Board of Elections on Friday — but not without debate.

“I think one of the qualifications that we need to consider when selecting our members of the State Board of Elections is their temperament. Another is their judgment,” Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Committee Vice Chair Cheryl Kagan, a Montgomery County Democrat, said before the deciding vote. “I have found this nominee to be severely lacking in both.”

Maryland’s Republican Party has struggled to put forth nominees that Democrats, who hold a supermajority in the legislature, find acceptable after the former Republican appointee, Carlos Ayala, resigned in January after his arrest on charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Diane Butler, an Ellicott City resident and former member of the Howard County Board of Elections, was nominated by Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, upon recommendations from the state Republican Party. She was approved by the full Senate chamber Friday on a vote of 32-12.

Kagan, who does not sit on the Senate Executive Nominations Committee, said she researched Butler and spoke with several people regarding her track record. She told her colleagues Friday that a lot of the information that gave her pause about Butler was found after she was considered, questioned and received a committee vote.

“I have made a lot of calls, frankly, to Republicans, and mostly those in Howard County,” Kagan said. “Words that have come up include ‘inappropriate,’ ‘litigious,’ and they talk about overstepping and boundaries.”

Before Kagan came forward with new information Friday, certain members of the Senate Executive Nominations Committee were ill-at-ease about Butler. During her questioning before the committee, she was asked about an email she sent to the State Board of Elections regarding the veracity of mail-in ballots, and a Facebook comment she wrote asking if “Nazi armbands” were next among the CDC’s masking guidelines during the pandemic.

She was ultimately given preliminary approval by the committee on a rare split vote among Democrats.

Kagan said Friday that Butler was involved in lawsuits against the Howard County Planning Board and the Howard County Detention Center. Both were dismissed for not being credible.

“Those were just two that were, kind of, low-hanging fruit that we were able to find,” Kagan said.

Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready, a Republican representing portions of Carroll and Frederick counties, said Friday that his party had concerns when Ayala came up for a vote in 2023, but voted to approve him, regardless.

Ready said he and Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey, an Eastern Shore Republican, collaborated with the state Republican Party to identify a qualified candidate.

“She was asked hard and extensive questions, and her answers were very solid,” said Ready. “I think the body should be careful about the idea that if someone expresses strong opinions about things dealing with election processes, that that is in some way the same as, you know, January 6, or whatever.”