Democratic women’s group seeks swift end to Anderson investigation

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Several dozen Democratic women in Baltimore are calling on leaders in the General Assembly and the state party to speed up an ethics investigation into city Del. Curt Anderson.

Baltimore Women United said they planned to hold a protest Wednesday night outside a meeting of the Baltimore City Democratic Central Committee to highlight concerns about Anderson and ratchet up pressure for a resolution.

“In our statement regarding sexual harassment and specifically the accusations against Delegate Anderson, we called for the Democratic Party to come up with a policy for how to address sexual harassment in the cases of candidates,” said Denise Gilmore, co-chair of the group. “They have said they will do that, and we’re holding them to it. Also, we want a quick resolution to the Ethics Committee investigation on these allegations.”

Representatives of House Speaker Michael Busch, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. and the Maryland Democratic Party did not respond to requests for comment.

Anderson has been dogged by allegations of sexual harassment since this spring. In April, he unsuccessfully attempted to step down quietly from his role leading the Baltimore delegation.

Ethics Committee reviews are confidential by law and members of the panel are barred from speaking about them publicly.

Anderson, in an interview with The Daily Record in April, denied knowledge an ethics committee review or any complaints of sexual misconduct. In an interview two months later with The Baltimore Sun, Anderson acknowledged the ethics review but denied the allegations.

At the same time, he distanced himself from Del. Maggie McIntosh and Sen. Joan Carter Conway, fellow Baltimore Democrats with whom had had previously campaigned for election.

Still, Anderson narrowly held on to the third of his district’s three seats in the House of Delegates.

Last month, Baltimore Women United pressured the state party into agreeing to establish policies on sexual harassment and called on the party to pressure Anderson to vacate the office.

The party agreed to the creation of an internal sexual harassment policy and announced it was cutting ties with Anderson for the General Election — a mostly symbolic gesture as Anderson and two other Democrats face a single Green Party candidate in November.

Members of the group Wednesday expressed frustration with the lack of speed in dealing with Anderson.

“There is still no action on the allegations of sexual harassment against Delegate Anderson,” said Monisha Cherayil, one of nearly eight dozen women in Anderson’s district who signed an open letters to Busch, Miller, ethics committee members, and to the Maryland Democratic Party. “We want to be confident in the people we vote for during elections, and we’ve lost confidence that he is fit to serve. Immediate action is needed and we are feeling like we’re not being heard.”

Members of the Legislative Black Caucus, in a letter to legislative leaders, said they supported recently passed legislation strengthening how the General Assembly investigates allegations of sexual harassment involving lawmakers and lobbyists.

Del. Darryl Barnes, D-Prince George’s and chair of the caucus, wrote that “all legislators are entitled to due process.”

“There should not be any pressure put on the ethics committee to expedite the process by the Democratic Party, or any other advocacy groups,” Barnes wrote, adding that the caucus “supports anybody to include men and women who have been sexually harassed, sexually assaulted, sexually abused, and bullied, however this is not about any one individual, but this is about a process that needs to play itself out in its entirety.”