According to filings examined by The Baltimore Sun, since the 2022 election, Maryland politicians have received more than $10.2 million in political contributions from companies that have secured billions of dollars in state contracts or hired lobbyists to sway them.
The top recipients of the corporate generosity were Maryland General Assembly leaders and Governor Wes Moore. Comcast, Amazon, the Maryland Association of Realtors, Exelon, and Constellation were among the major donors.
As part of a broader increase in special-interest expenditures to influence Maryland policy, the donations rose by $2.9 million over the same time last term.
However, those figures also don’t provide a complete picture. The Sun discovered that Maryland’s system for disclosing corporate donations, which is intended to prevent pay-to-play, completely overlooks some contributions, partly due to firms’ failure to disclose mandatory contributions and partly as a result of design flaws. Only when contacted by The Sun this week did some prominent contributors reveal recent significant donations.
