Among the historic judicial appointments Gov. Martin O'Malley made official Wednesday morning, the governor also named his chief lobbyist to become a Baltimore County District Court judge.
In her first year as chief legislative officer, Stacy A. Mayer pushed through perhaps O'Malley's most ambitious legislative agenda this past session, passing new gun laws, repealing the death penalty and raising the tax on gasoline for the first time in two decades.
Mayer, 40, came to the state's top lobbyist job after four years as a deputy legislative officer, and she spent 12 years as an assistant state's attorney in Howard and Baltimore counties. Mayer was nominated in 2012 for an earlier vacancy in the Baltimore County District Court. Once nominated, judges remain candidates for two years.
Also on Wednesday, O'Malley officially named the state's first female chief judge and, pending Senate confirmation of a second judge, gave Maryland's highest court a female majority for the first time in its two century history.
Update at 12:06 p.m.: Mayer's appointment not only drew a round of surprised gasps and immediate accolades from lawmakers who listened to O'Malley make the announcement this morning. It also spurred a press releases.
Del. Sam Arora, a Montgomery County Democrat, put out a statement praising the appointment: "I know few people with a comparable mastery of the law and talent for public service. She has that unique combination of heart and mind—honed from years of service as a prosecutor and an advocate—that will serve her well on the bench."
* An earlier version of this post did not make clear that Mayer had been previously nominated for a judgeship by the Judicial Nominating Commission.