The Silly Season Arrives Early: Madness, Candy, Sears Challenges And More, In Political Notes

By Bryan P. Sears, Maryland Matters

March 19, 2026

Revenge is a dish served … sweet?

For weeks Del. Vaughn Stewart (D-Montgomery) has dished out a series of pranks on unsuspecting colleagues on the House floor. Wednesday night, someone — perhaps a victim of earlier shenanigans — decided to get even.

“I’ve been pranking everybody,” Stewart said. “New members are particularly delicious targets.”

How Stewart got to be the prankster in chief is a bit like the tale of the Dread Pirate Roberts from “The Princess Bride.” He was not the original mischief-maker. That was House Appropriations Chair Del. Ben Barnes (D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s), who one day bequeathed the title to Stewart.

Jokes have included having unsuspecting delegates announce reality show contestants. Some have announced that Kelly Kapowski or Topanga Lawrence — fictional characters from television shows “Saved by the Bell” and “Boy Meets World” respectively — were in the gallery.

In another case, Del. Denise Roberts (D-Prince George’s) announced a newly formed band would play an end-of-session party. The band members? Barnes, Del. Deni Taveras (D-Prince George’s) and Del. William J. Wivell (R-Washington and Frederick). Roberts was in on the joke; the band members were not.

During a second-floor session Wednesday evening, Stewart found himself on the receiving end of a special delivery. Page after page delivered large, warehouse-club-sized bags of mints and candies to his desk.

“People always say, ‘I’m going to get you back. I’m going to get you back,’ but they never do,” Stewart said. “But someone did. I don’t know who it was, but we’ll figure it out.”

Vaughn was at a loss to explain why candy was the currency of the apparent payback. He said he’s not much of a candy guy. Soon after they arrived, Stewart walked around the chamber handing out candy.

“The bags were dispersed,” Stewart said. “The best one was the Jolly Ranchers, which Del. (Lorig) Charkoudian (D-Montgomery) wanted immediately. I don’t know where those went.”

Stewart turned to questioning the pages after the session. If they knew, they weren’t telling. But the high school students managed to walk away with a large bag of candy. Vaughn left empty-handed.

“They got the candy and I didn’t get any information,” Stewart said. “I got jobbed.”

“Just your average crossover week,” he said with a shrug before walking away.

And if you sent Stewart the candy and want to get something off your chest, Maryland Matters is ready to hear your confession.

A matter of perspective

There are times — in the physical world, at least — when Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County) is to the left of House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel). In the political world? Never.

Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County) during a Maryland Freedom Caucus news conference in February. (Photo Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)

Szeliga is a member of the Maryland House Freedom Caucus, a group of the most conservative members in the chamber, while Peña-Melnyk is among the more progressive members of the Democrat-dominated House, a fact noted by Szeliga in an exchange with the speaker about an hour and a half into Wednesday’s second-floor session.

After a round of final votes on a list of bills, Peña-Melnyk paused to ask if any delegates wanted to change their votes and then, looking up from the podium, recognized the delegate from “Baltimore County, from my left.”

“Thank you so much. I’ll never be on your left,” Szeliga deadpanned, drawing a round of laughter from the chamber, before breaking out in laughter herself.

“You can try, it’s not a bad place to be,” said a laughing speaker.

“And we are rolling,” Szeliga said.

Peña-Melnyk gave it one more shot — “Trust me, it’s not a bad place to be” — before Szeliga cited two votes she wanted to change and the speaker moved on, very carefully calling on delegates “from the middle,” “all the way in the back” and, for conservative Del. Nino Mangione (R-Baltimore County), who sits near Szeliga on Peña-Melnyk’s left, “the gentleman from Baltimore County — to the right.”

Madness in the House

Just before the House adjourned its first session on Wednesday, House Majority Whip Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince George’s) announced Howard University’s first victory in the NCAA basketball tournament, labeled “March Madness.”

“I know all of you are anticipating the results of last night’s game. I’m happy to say that my Howard University men’s basketball team was triumphant. This is the university’s first win [in the tournament],” said Martinez, a Howard alum.

The Bison defeated the University of Maryland, Baltimore County 86-83. Although the campuses are slightly more than 30 miles apart, the teams traveled to Dayton, Ohio, for Tuesday’s tournament play-in game.

Martinez asked other Howard alums to stand, including Dels. J. Sandy Bartlett (D-Anne Arundel), Charlotte Crutchfiled (D-Montgomery), Bernice Mireku-North (D-Montgomery) and Denise Roberts (D-Prince George’s).

“It’s our unofficial fifth HBCU [because] 20% of Howard students come from the state of Maryland, and here in Maryland we have the most alum of any other legislature in the country,” Martinez said, “So Howard University is the state of Maryland.”

It had to have been a disappointment for at least two Baltimore County legislators, however: Del. Eric Ebersole and Sen. Charles Sydnor III both attended Saturday’s America East Conference Championship game at UMBC, and experienced euphoria as the Retrievers beat the Vermont Catamounts, 74-59.

Before Tuesday night’s game, Ebersole stood on the House floor and held up a black-and-gold UMBC T-shirt and said, “Go Retrievers, beat the Bison. Here we go!”

“They played a good game against Howard last night,” Ebersole, a UMBC fan who graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, said Wednesday. “They came out and got a little behind and could never quite get their feet under them, the rest of the way, they almost did. There was a shot at the buzzer. It banged off the rim.”

Sydnor, a UMBC alum, said Wednesday he’s still proud of the team that won the America East Conference’s regular season title, allowing it to host all three conference tournament games.

UMBC is “the only male basketball team in the state of Maryland in the NCAAs this year,” Sydnor said. “I know many alum are proud. My daughters, being students there, I know they’re proud. We enjoyed watching the games. I’m excited for them [the team], for the university and for the entire basketball and athletic program.”

Howard moves on to the field of 64 and travels to Buffalo, New York, to face the No. 1-seeded Michigan Wolverines on Thursday night.

Sears challenges

Paging Dr. Freud…

Look, we know Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready (R-Carroll and Frederick) didn’t really say it. We know that it was likely just a misinterpretation by the transcription program, Otter.

But we really want to believe that, while addressing his colleagues on the Senate floor Wednesday, Ready actually said, “We’re facing more Sears challenges,” in reference to our own Bryan Sears. For any of the lawmakers who have crossed his path, it’s easy enough to imagine them nodding their heads knowingly when hearing about Sears challenges.

In reality, Ready tells us, he said “serious challenges.” But that won’t stop us from looking into the possibility of printing T-shirts, mugs and tote bags.

‘Making the case’

A nonprofit group is “grateful” the Senate approved a $70.8 billion fiscal year 2027 budget that includes almost $11 million for a statewide teacher development program known as “coaching.”

After Wednesday’s 40-6 vote in the Senate, Maryland READS released an ad encouraging the House to follow suit. Part of the message in the one-minute video is “coaching provides an opportunity for teachers to receive job, embedding training,” said Jessica Coley, a principal at Princeton Elementary in Prince George’s County.

The Maryland READS – which stands for Reading Education Aligned to Data and Science – coaching campaign, called “Making the Case,” coincides with March’s National Reading Month.

The coaching program is included in the state’s Academic Excellence program this year, but is not funded. The money, if approved by the legislature, would bring in literacy coaches to help students not only improve in overall student achievement, but also provide educators with knowledgeable coaches in all aspects of education, like the science of reading.

Data from the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program shows the results from tests students took this spring that showed a third straight year of overall improvements in language arts scores. However, test results also showed significant gaps remain between demographic groups, such as Black, Latino and students with disabilities.

At a December event hosted by Maryland READS, State Superintendent Carey Wright emphasized a coach’s main focus will be working with teachers on a daily basis and not handle “recess duty” or “bus duty.”

Meanwhile, Maryland READS will bring its literacy advocacy this week to Prince George’s County, and has a tentative community meeting in Baltimore on March 27.

“When the Governor, State Superintendent, and General Assembly are united in prioritizing evidence-based solutions to address our state’s reading crisis, we know that dramatic improvements are just around the corner,” said Maryland READS Executive Director Trish Brennan-Gac in a statement. “This is exactly the kind of momentum Maryland’s students and educators need, and we urge the full legislature to carry it across the finish line.”

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: scrane@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and Twitter.