Big Daddy’s Hand Revealed in District 39

Recently released emails show the role of Senate President Mike “Big Daddy” Miller in trying to negotiate a peace settlement between Senator Nancy King (D-39) and Delegate Saqib Ali, who is now challenging her. The settlement attempt failed, but it demonstrated just how much attention Miller is paying to this district.

The incident began when MPW’s Marc Korman contacted King about posting a District 39 team ad in the county Democrats’ spring ball program. King asked the three Delegates – Ali, Kirill Reznik and Charles Barkley – about it in this email.

On Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 3:56 PM, Nancy King wrote:

Dear Charlie, Saqib and Kirill,

I got an email from Marc Korman asking if we were going to do a team ad for the Spring Ball. If you are interested in doing maybe a half page ad from our team, can you let me know? Patty can put it together with our picture if you so choose.

Also, are any of you interested in doing a District 39 reception closer to District 39 in late April, as a wrap up/kickoff/Team 39 event? We could use the money we were going to use for the night in Annapolis and get more of our 39 constituents there.

We also need to get together to talk about team literature and possible team signs. Your thoughts on any of this? Thanks, Nancy

The reference to “Patty” indicates Patty Horton, who is King’s legislative aide.

Ali sent this reply to the other three legislators:

-----Original Message-----
From: Delegate Saqib Ali
To: Nancy King
Cc: Charles Barkley; Kirill Reznik
Sent: Mon, Mar 8, 2010 7:36 pm
Subject: Re: Team 39

Nancy,

You have called me "Crazed" and "Desperate" in the newspaper and made frivolous ethical allegations against me in an attempt to harm my reputation.

With due respect, don't you think you owe me a public apology before we even begin to think about "team"?

- Saqib

King sent the following email in return, but note the email trail that accompanies it. The source of the email was Patrick H. Murray, who sent it to King’s aide, Patty Horton.

From: Nancy King
Date: Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 11:27 AM
Subject: Re: Team 39
To: Saqib Ali, Nancy King
Cc: Charles Barkley, Kirill Reznik

Dear Saqib:

We have both said and done things – deliberately or inadvertently – that hurt each other, and our personal relationship and our public reputations have suffered as a result. The email you sent on Monday is the first time that either of us has confronted the other directly about the situation.

Neither one of us has clean hands here. You have waged an unrelenting campaign to undermine my professional reputation and personal credibility, including a public meeting where you called me a liar in front of our constituents.

This situation is unfair for the residents of District 39, who expect us to put aside our differences and focus on the problems that our State is facing. We must rise above our personal concerns and put our constituents first. If an apology will help you, please allow me to offer one.

I am sorry for any pain I have caused you as a result of my poorly-chosen words. Moreover, I am sorry that our relationship has reached a point where we read about each other in the newspaper and on blogs more often than we talk directly. It is of no value to the people we serve for us to continue to walk down such a rocky path.

I hope you will accept this in the spirit in which it was intended – as a good faith effort on my part to extend an olive branch and to begin rebuilding our relationship. I can think of nothing that would be better for the people we represent.

You are a passionate advocate, and you put your heart and soul into your work. You are a dynamic part of the District 39 team, and we would like to work with you. As I indicated in my first email, the team is preparing for post-session meetings. We need to know whether you want to work with us in order to accommodate your schedule and include you in our efforts.

Please let me know by the end of this week how you want to proceed.

Thank you again for your candor. I understand your frustration with the situation, because I share it. Again, I hope you will accept this as a good faith effort on my part to move forward as a team, so that we can best serve the people of District 39.

Sincerely,
Nancy

-----Original Message-----
From: Patty Horton
To: hearsawho@aol.com
Sent: Wed, Mar 10, 2010 10:14 am
Subject: Fwd:

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Patrick H. Murray
Date: March 10, 2010 9:11:35 AM EST
To: Patty Horton

Dear Saqib:

We have both said and done things – deliberately or inadvertently – that hurt each other, and our personal relationship and our public reputations have suffered as a result. The email you sent on Monday is the first time that either of us has confronted the other directly about the situation.

Neither one of us has clean hands here. You have waged an unrelenting campaign to undermine my professional reputation and personal credibility, culminating in a public meeting before session where you called me a liar in front of our constituents.

This situation is unfair for the residents of District 39, who expect us to put aside our differences and focus on the problems that our State is facing. We need to rise above our personal concerns and put our constituents first. If an apology will help you, please allow me to offer one.

I am sorry for any pain I have caused you as a result of my poorly-chosen words. Moreover, I am sorry that our relationship has reached a point where we read about each other in the newspaper and on blogs more often than we talk directly. It is of no value to the people we serve for us to continue to walk down such a rocky path.

I hope you will accept this in the spirit in which it was intended – as a good faith effort on my part to extend an olive branch and to begin rebuilding our relationship. I can think of nothing that would be better for the people we represent.

You are a passionate advocate, and you put your heart and soul into your work. You are a dynamic part of the District 39 team, and we would like to work with you. As I indicated in my first email, the team is preparing for post-session meetings. We need to know whether you want to work with us in order to accommodate your schedule and include you in our efforts.

Please let me know by the end of this week how you want to proceed.

Thank you again for your candor. I understand your frustration with the situation, because I share it. Again, I hope you will accept this as a good faith effort on my part to move forward as a team, so that we can best serve the people of District 39.

[SIG]

We all know what happened to this settlement attempt, but the key bit of info here is one name: Patrick Murray. He is Miller’s Deputy Chief of Staff, but he is FAR more than that. Murray is a senior strategist in Big Daddy’s service, acting as his eyes and ears in all things political. The fact that Murray was involved in drafting communication between King and Ali demonstrates both how difficult that relationship had become by March as well as the level of attention it was drawing from Miller. It also shows how close King really is to Big Daddy.

The Lords of Annapolis – and not just Miller – share a common view of King and Ali. They regard King as a solid citizen who does not cause trouble. They regard Ali as… well, this is a family blog, so we can’t print those kinds of words. The bottom line is that they DO NOT WANT SAQIB IN THE SENATE. You can bet that Big Daddy’s participation in this race will not be limited to peace offerings or rumored push polls. By the time this primary is over, there will be a lot of blood on the floor in District 39.