1. Peter Van Rensselaer Franchot was born on November 25,1947 and is an American politician who was the 33rd comptroller of Maryland.
55 Facts About Peter Franchot
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Peter Franchot was elected comptroller in 2006, and was re-elected three times.
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Peter Franchot was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.
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Peter Franchot attended Amherst College, but later left to join the presidential campaign of Senator Eugene McCarthy.
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Peter Franchot graduated from Northeastern University School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1978.
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Peter Franchot then served as staff director for then-Congressman Ed Markey from 1980 to 1986.
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From 1987 to 2007, Peter Franchot served in the Maryland House of Delegates, representing the 20th legislative district, which includes Takoma Park and Silver Spring.
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Peter Franchot was a member of the Appropriations Committee and chaired the Public Safety and Administration Subcommittee, as well as the Transportation and the Environment Subcommittee.
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In 1988, while serving his first term in the House of Delegates, Peter Franchot ran for Maryland's 8th congressional district against Republican incumbent Connie Morella.
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Peter Franchot considered a run for governor to challenge Ehrlich, but ultimately ran for Comptroller of Maryland.
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Peter Franchot defeated Schaefer in the Democratic primary election, marking Schaefer's first loss in his 51-year career.
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Peter Franchot defeated the Republican nominee, Anne McCarthy, in the general election on November 7,2006.
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Peter Franchot considered running for the 2014 Democratic nomination for governor.
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Peter Franchot took office on January 22,2007, and was re-elected in 2010,2014, and 2018.
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Peter Franchot used his seat on the Board of Public Works and his high-profile political position to publicly pressure officials in Baltimore City and Baltimore County to immediately install air conditioning units in aging school facilities that lack HVAC systems.
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Peter Franchot frequently sparred with school system leaders and elected officials from Baltimore County, a jurisdiction that in 2011, had 65 school buildings without air-conditioning.
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Peter Franchot argued that the high social costs of increased crime, broken families and bankruptcies would outweigh any revenue gains.
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In June 2012, Peter Franchot criticized the General Assembly for holding a special session for a proposal for a new casino at the National Harbor, which would be the sixth casino in Prince George's County.
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Peter Franchot opposed a 2020 referendum to legalize sports betting in Maryland.
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Peter Franchot opposed a bill that was unanimously passed by the General Assembly during the 2017 legislative session that imposed restrictions on the sale and distribution of craft beer products in the state.
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On January 22,2020, Peter Franchot announced his candidacy for governor of Maryland in the 2022 election, which would be vacated by Larry Hogan, who is term-limited, in 2022.
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Peter Franchot's running mate was Monique Anderson-Walker, a member of the Prince George's County council.
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Peter Franchot received endorsements from over 100 current and former officeholders, including former representative Wayne Gilchrist and former lieutenant governor Melvin Steinberg.
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On July 1,2022, Peter Franchot's campaign announced that its workers had unionized with Campaign Workers Guild.
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Peter Franchot conceded on July 22,2022, and endorsed Democratic nominee Wes Moore.
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Peter Franchot identifies as an "independent Democrat", holding fiscally conservative and socially liberal views.
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In December 2014, before Governor-elect Larry Hogan was sworn in, Peter Franchot pledged a bipartisan alliance with the incoming governor, and the two have worked together for various causes on the Maryland Board of Public Works.
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In 1991, Peter Franchot sponsored legislation to provide access to abortion in Maryland while requiring physicians to inform minors' parents when their children seek an abortion.
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Peter Franchot later backed down from this stance, voting for a foster care contract with Seraaj Family Homes, an Alabama-based child placement services company, in June 2019.
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In May 2022, Peter Franchot sent a letter to Governor Larry Hogan, asking him to release $3.5 million in funds to train abortion care providers as part of House Bill 937, or the Abortion Care Access Act.
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Peter Franchot criticized the Hogan administration's use of emergency contracts to pay for the state's COVID response efforts.
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Peter Franchot criticized the governor's purchase of 500 thousand COVID-19 test kits from South Korea, expressing concerns about the transparency and accountability in what happened to the tests.
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On July 1,2022, Peter Franchot announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19.
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Peter Franchot supports having a post-Labor Day start for Maryland public schools, launching a "Let Summer Be Summer" campaign to move the start of the school year to after Labor Day in 2015.
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Peter Franchot opposed legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly in the 2019 legislative session that would give local school boards the choice to start school years earlier than Labor Day.
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Peter Franchot opposes the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, saying that he would rather shift the state's school curriculum to include teacher buy-ins and lessons that offer students "skill and knowledge about the modern economy".
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Peter Franchot opposed tax reforms to pay for the Blueprint's proposals.
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Peter Franchot has faced criticism from environmentalists for his support of proposals to widen the Capital Beltway and Interstate 270, and to rebuild the American Legion Bridge, but he defends his stance by arguing that most vehicles on the road will be powered by electricity rather than gasoline by the time the improvements are made to the highways and bridges.
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In 1988, Peter Franchot sponsored legislation that restrict the sale and manufacture of handguns.
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Peter Franchot expressed concern over a proposal from Governor Martin O'Malley to increase the state's minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2017, saying that legislators should consider its potential negative impacts on small business owners.
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In 2020, Peter Franchot refused to pause the automatic increase in the state's minimum wage during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Peter Franchot endorsed US senator from Illinois Barack Obama for president on January 10,2008.
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Peter Franchot endorsed former secretary of state Hillary Clinton for president on November 17,2015.
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Peter Franchot endorsed Senator Amy Klobuchar for president on February 17,2020.
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Peter Franchot supports using a bipartisan commission consisting of an equal amount of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to draw the state's congressional and legislative districts.
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Peter Franchot supports splitting the state legislature's 47 multi-member districts in 141 single-member districts.
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Peter Franchot supported a 2012 ballot referendum to repeal the state's congressional maps.
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In December 2012, Peter Franchot said that he would allow same-sex married couples to file taxes jointly.
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Peter Franchot opposes levying a carbon tax, saying that it's more important to get a buy-in from fossil fuel companies to develop carbon capture technology.
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Peter Franchot opposed legislation introduced during the 2012 legislative session that would levy a fuel tax indexed to inflation.
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In May 2022, Governor Hogan wrote to Peter Franchot asking him to suspend the mandated gas tax increase, to which Peter Franchot replied asking Hogan to declare a state of emergency to suspend the gas tax until September.
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Legislative leaders rejected Peter Franchot's request, saying that the gas tax hike pause would "not result in Marylanders seeking a price reduction at the pump" and would cost the state over $200 million in transportation funding.
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Peter Franchot supports building the proposed Red Line transit line, but says the state should consider a monorail instead of "automatically going with conventional rail or light rail".