Washington Post - Hogan Knocks Debate Moderators for Not Asking about Maryland Health Exchange

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By John Wagner

Following the first Maryland gubernatorial debate on Tuesday, Republican Larry Hogan continued to criticize his Democratic opponent -- and also took a swipe at the moderators.

In a statement issued by his campaign, Hogan said it was "absolutely shameful" that the two moderators from WJZ-TV and the Baltimore Sun did not ask a question about Lt. Gov. Anthony B. Brown's role in the botched rollout of Maryland's online health insurance exchange.

"Maryland's rollout was a national embarrassment, and Brown continues to duck all responsibility for his role in its implementation," Hogan said.

The Republican nominee noted that WJZ, the CBS affiliate in Baltimore, had solicited questions for the debate from voters and said he found it "very unlikely that not a single Marylander had a question about the worst boondoggle in state history."

Andy Green, the editorial page editor of the Baltimore Sun, who was one of the questioners, declined to comment on Wednesday.

A representative from WJZ also declined to comment on the choice of questions at the debate, which the station said attracted more than 100,000 viewers in overnight ratings. The debate was also broadcast on Maryland Public Television on Tuesday night.

Maryland's online exchange crashed on the day it debuted last fall and was so glitch-ridden that the state is now rebuilding it with technology from Connecticut. Though Brown played no day-to-day role in the site's operations, he was tasked with Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) with overseeing Maryland's implementation of federal health-care reforms.

Justin Schall, Brown's campaign manager, said Wednesday that Hogan's statement appeared to be an indication that Hogan and his supporters thought "he gave a bad performance and felt a need to attack the media who hosted the event."

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