Goldwater at Home, Not the House

Delegate Marilyn Goldwater (D-16) has missed most of the current legislative session:

According to records, she was present for quorum calls – which record attendance on the House floor – 11 of 63 sessions. The 90-day session wraps up on Monday.

Goldwater, 80, said her absences were not related to her incurable blood cancer, and Democrats from Montgomery County said they were unaware of, or were not discussing, her attendance record.

Reached at home in Bethesda the afternoon of March 22, Goldwater said a case of flu caused her absences.

‘‘I don’t think that my health is affecting anything I do, and for the most part, I feel fine,” she said. ‘‘I’ve had this for five years, and I’m feeling pretty good. ...I have a very mild case [of cancer] and am very fortunate.”

From her home on Tuesday afternoon, Goldwater reiterated that her attendance was due to recent bouts of illness.

‘‘This is the first year that I’ve missed days because of being sick,” she said. ‘‘Everybody gets their share of it.”

Goldwater’s medical condition, multiple myeloma, attacks the immune system and increases susceptibility to kidney damage and bacterial infections. Fewer than one in four women over age 65 live more than five years after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, according to the National Cancer Institute.

But a patient’s health forecast also depends on how far the cancer has progressed by the time she begins treatment. Goldwater said she did not remember her doctor telling her which stage the cancer was in.

Questions about whether Goldwater planned to run for re-election arose before the Democratic primary in 2006. Political observers, including former state delegate Cheryl Kagan, were troubled by Goldwater’s faltering attendance but praised her legislative history as a whole.

When she filed to run for re-election in 2006, Goldwater had missed 18 days of the preceding 90-day session.

Two candidates challenged her in the primary election, but Goldwater grabbed the third spot on the Democratic ticket after narrowly defeating candidate Regina ‘‘Reggie” Oldak. Goldwater, William A. Bronrott and Susan C. Lee easily won November’s general election, to complete the District 16 delegation. The Gazette endorsed Goldwater in 2006.

During the campaign, Goldwater has said that she was healthy and ready to serve another term in the House of Delegates. Not all agreed. Unlike the Gazette, the Washington Post endorsed Oldak over Goldwater even though most observers agreed that Goldwater has been an outstanding delegate before her health problems.

It looks like Goldwater was unfortunately unable to spend much time in Annapolis this year. If she decides to step down before next year's session, the Central Committee and not the voters will choose the new delegate. The other sitting delegates might welcome an interim appointment as it would prevent them from facing the inevitable competitive primary for an open seat in which they would have to campaign hard for reelection.