Bob Ehrlich

Robert Leroy "Bob" Ehrlich, Jr. (born November 25, 1957) is an American attorney and Republican politician who served as the 60th governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007 after defeating Democratic opponent Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in the 2002 election. Prior to serving as governor, Ehrlich represented Maryland's 2nd Congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Before that he served in the Maryland House of Delegates.

In the November 2006 elections, Ehrlich lost to Democrat Martin O'Malley. In 2010, Ehrlich again ran unsuccessfully against O'Malley. Ehrlich then announced, via his website, that he would "return to private life". In October 2011, he was named chairman of Mitt Romney's Maryland campaign for the 2012 Republican nomination for President.

Early life, career, and family

Ehrlich was born in the Southwest Baltimore suburb of Arbutus, Maryland, the son of Nancy (Bottorf), a legal secretary, and Robert Leroy Ehrlich, a commission car salesman. After attending Gilman School, he graduated from Princeton University (1979), where he attended on a partial scholarship and was captain of the football team and a member of the Cap and Gown Club. He continued on to law school, graduating from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1982.

Robert

The name Robert is a Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic *χrōþi- "fame" and *berχta- "bright". Compare Old Dutch Robrecht and Old High German Hrodebert (a compound of hruod "fame, glory" and berht "bright"). It is also in use as a surname.

After becoming widely used in Continental Europe it entered England in its Old French form Robert, where an Old English cognate form (Hrēodbēorht, Hrodberht, Hrēodbēorð, Hrœdbœrð, Hrœdberð) had existed before the Norman Conquest. The feminine version is Roberta. The Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish form is Roberto.

Similar to the name, Richard, "Robert" is also a common name in many Germanic languages, including English, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, and Icelandic. It can be used as a French, Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian name as well.

Variations

Trivia

Robert, and also the name Joseph, were in the top 10 most given boys' names in the US for 47 years, from 1925 to 1972.

In Italy during the Second World War, the form of the name, Roberto, briefly acquired a new meaning derived from, and referring to the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis.

Governor of Maryland

The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers in both the State and local governments, as specified by the Maryland Constitution. Because of the extent of these constitutional powers, the Governor of Maryland has been ranked as being among the most powerful Governors in the United States.

The current Governor is Larry Hogan, a Republican who defeated Lt. Governor Anthony Brown on November 4, 2014.

Selection and qualifications

Like most state chief executives in the United States, the Governor is elected by the citizens of Maryland to serve a four-year term. Under the Constitution of Maryland, the Governor can run any number of times, but not more than twice in a row. This makes it possible for a two-term governor to run for the office again after remaining out of office for at least one term. An eligible candidate for Governor must be at least 30 years old, and also a resident of and a registered voter in Maryland for the five years preceding the election. If a candidate meets this minimum requirement, he or she must file his or her candidacy with the Maryland State Board of Elections, pay a filing fee, file a financial disclosure, and create a legal campaign financial body. The Governor, like all statewide officials in Maryland, is elected in the even-numbered years in which the election for President of the United States does not occur.