Big Fish: Boyd K. Rutherford and life after lieutenant governor

After serving two terms as Maryland’s lieutenant governor and as a loyal partner to Larry Hogan, Boyd K. Rutherford is on break from public service – and is using his legal and business expertise to help companies navigate government contracting as a partner with the Columbia-based firm of Davis, Agnor, Rapaport and Skalny.

He previously served as an associate administrator in the General Services Administration under President George W. Bush, as Department of General Services Secretary in Annapolis, and as Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But now, with no Republican in the White House or the State House, Rutherford, 67, has no agencies to run, and no government problems to solve.

But he is still in touch with Hogan, and is supportive of the former governor’s campaign for Senate. Rutherford and Hogan are aligned on their views of Donald Trump, and Rutherford gives good marks to some of the early moves of the Moore-Miller administration. He spoke with Baltimore Fishbowl recently about these issues and more, in a conversation below that has been edited for length and clarity.

Baltimore Fishbowl: Explain your current role, which is your new role, and what you’re hoping to do with it, and what made it attractive to you as your next step out of the State House?

Boyd Rutherford: I have joined the Davis, Agnor, Rappaport and Skalny law firm here in Columbia. I’ve known Jeff [Agnor] and Mike Davis for a number of years, and I actually worked with Jeff Agnor on some legal matters a couple of years before going into the Lieutenant Governor’s office. When thinking about what’s going to be next, coming out of the state government, I ran into Mike Davis. Mike said, ‘Hey, think about us when that time comes.’ I gave it some thought, and I had looked at some of the other firms, and the larger firms in Baltimore. I knew I didn’t want to be at one of the big mega firms, national firms, and even looking at some of the firms in Baltimore, I just didn’t feel there was a good fit for where I am at this point in my life and what I want to do. … I’ve been here a little more than a year now, and I work in the business transactional unit, and I have a couple of business transactional clients, but a lot of what I do is kind of government affairs type of work. I’ve done some lobbying on the local level, and doing a small amount of state [lobbying] now that I’ve passed that [one-year] blackout period…A lot of it is just advising folks how to get through the process.

BFB: Why were you interested in government affairs and legal work, versus either continuing in public service outside of elected office, which you’ve done for a long portion of your career, or even seeking another elected office?

BR: I thought about running for another office, but my wife didn’t want me to. I thought it was more important at this point to stay married than to pursue something that really, really as she expressed herself strongly, that she did not want me to run. I was thinking about running for governor, but when she expressed herself strongly that she did not support that idea, it made me really think about whether this is something I really want to do. Because I never set out to be an elected politician….With her objections, I realized it wasn’t something that I wanted to do, particularly at this point in my life.

BFB: You you have a reputation as someone who runs big, complex agencies and can get the job done both at the state level and at the federal level, and maybe doesn’t need the glory but is willing to do the work. Why not public service apart from elected office?

BR: Well, I mean, no one has asked me…That wasn’t something I had to consider, because it wasn’t there presented to me. I don’t know if I’d go back into state or federal government. I mean, I’d have to see what the situation is, but it was something that I did enjoy doing, like you said, just really the operational aspects of government. I thought, I still believe there’s a lot that can be done, there’s a lot that should be done. And I think most of the challenges that we all have with government operations, aside from the political games that are taking place, but just getting things done on time, is really a question of leadership and making sure that the people who are doing the work are appreciated, but also more importantly, their supervisors understand what their jobs are, what their roles are, and that they are actually working. I found it both challenging, but also something that I enjoyed doing, because I felt that you’re getting something done, you’re actually improving the operations of government, and that means improving the way you’re able to deliver services to the public.

BFB: You’ve been a Howard County resident for a long time, and as best I know there’s not a lieutenant governor’s mansion in Annapolis, is there?

BR: And I’m quite sure Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller is living in the house where she pays the mortgage. So same thing with me. I was commuting from Columbia to Annapolis, or wherever you know I needed to be that day.

In November 2023, Rutherford and Hogan shared a stage together to discuss how to bridge political divides at a major event hosted by Rutherford’s new firm, attracting an audience of hundreds to the main auditorium at Howard Community College. It was several weeks before Hogan announced his Senate run.

BFB: A couple months ago, I saw you on stage, when your firm put on an event that had your former political partner, Governor Hogan, talking about bridging the [political] divide and bringing people together. Is this the kind of visibility you were looking for?

BR: I did not know that side of Paul [Skalny] when I came here, that he wanted to do these kind of events. Once coming over, Gov. Hogan said “If there’s anything you need, if you want to have something at the firm, kind of a meet and greet, I’m willing to do that.” All of this is before the Senate run. He did say he was willing to come and do a question and answer…As we started getting information out about it, and people started signing up, it got larger than we were anticipating. It kind of grew – and even the governor said ‘I thought it would just be at the firm with maybe 15 or 20 people; sitting around and talking.’

Supporting Hogan, bypassing Trump

BFB: Do you have any involvement in the Senate race, beyond being a supporter of the former governor?

BR: I’m helpful. I’m definitely not on the paid side of it. I had lunch with him today as a matter of fact. He was here in Howard County. We had lunch over in Elkridge at a place called Rathskeller….I had never been. The guy who owns it went to Hammond High School, and was there the same time my middle child was there. I’m helping where I can.

BFB: Larry Hogan got a lot of national attention recently with his comments after the Donald Trump criminal conviction.

BR: He actually issued his comment before the jury verdict, saying no matter how it goes, we should respect the process. The RNC and Laura Trump, she came out blazing…But I heard Sununu of New Hampshire saying her comments were ridiculous, and that Larry’s a good guy, and the governor did a great job in Maryland and will be a great senator. I saw that one of the Texas senators, Cornyn, was also supportive. So it’s just Trump, and Trump world.

BFB: Do you and Larry Hogan hold the same opinion about Donald Trump?

BR: We are both pretty much in the same place. You know, the press doesn’t pay much attention to what the lieutenant governor says, unless you say something really crazy, but I was quoted in one of the papers before [Hogan] had come out against Trump saying that I’m not supporting Trump. But this was all during that first primary [in 2016]. Larry was very strongly supporting Chris Christie. I like Chris Christie. I kind of stayed out of the primary because I’m also a Bush kind of person.

BFB: But a lot of people who were opposed to Trump at the beginning have changed their support.

BR: Yeah, that’s true. I do know people who were opposed to Trump, and I know a couple of people who have said they would never invite him to dinner with their family; they would not want to entertain with him; they don’t want him around their grandkids; but they’ll vote for him. They just felt that for particular issues, they were more in line with his issues than they are with him as a person, and they would vote for him. I have a hard time making that separation.

BFB: So you would not vote for him, based on what you’re saying?

BR: I don’t plan to vote for him. I don’t know what I want to do, because I don’t care for Biden either. I think Biden is well past his prime, and I’ll just say it, I don’t think he was ever the sharpest knife in the drawer when he was a senator. And so I just don’t know what I’m going to do. I’ll probably skip that line.

BFB:  So what I hear you saying is, if circumstances change, you might not rule out a return to public service?

BR: I mean, you never say never.

Communicating during emergencies

BFB: What’s your thoughts on the trial by fire that Wes Moore and Aruna Miller had to deal with with the Key Bridge collapse, and how they handled that?

BR:  I think he’s done a good job. In those situations, the state has a role, but it’s really a secondary role, because you’re not really doing the cleanup. But in terms of getting information to the public, that is probably the biggest thing and the best thing that he has been able to do. And being able to offer assistance to those displaced workers was something that was good and timely, so that the folks who were going to be out of work for a period of time, or at least reduced work, that they can know that they’re not having to sacrifice too much during that period of time. So I would say it was a good, particularly as it relates to informing the public and letting the public know what’s going on.

BFB: So is your wife happy right now? Has she been happy for the past year with the current setup?

BR: I’d say she’s been pleased. I joke that she doesn’t treat me any better, given that I decided to follow her wishes and not run. But I don’t get any better treatment out of it. But I think she’s she’s pleased, and we are just completing a kitchen renovation, so she’s pleased that she convinced me to cough up the money for that.