Tom LoBianco, Maryland politics reporter

I’m a Maryland politics reporter based out of Baltimore. My stories can be heard on 88.1 WYPR in Baltimore and read on CenterMaryland.org.

And, coming soon, I’ll be writing a monthly politics column and blogging for Corridor Inc.

I was a state and national politics writer at The Washington Times for three years, where I covered SCOTUS Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s  confirmation battle, the climate change debate on the Hill and a smattering of Congressional candidates. I’ve had the honor of being threatened with a lawsuit by White House legal counsel for this story and yelled at by former Real World star Sean Duffy for this write-up on his congressional campaign.

I covered the Maryland State House for two years prior to that, writing extensively about the state budget (yes, I can tell the difference between zero-based budgeting and baseline increases) and the occasionally bizarre political egos that inhabit the Free State. My favorite story still has to be about the now-infamous pumpkin sign the state was going to have sex offenders hang on their doors for Halloween to ward off young trick-or-treaters. The state parole department canned the program after being lampooned on Saturday Night Live and The Colbert Report.

I’m a regular analyst on WYPR and have appeared occasionally on local radio and TV to talk politics. I do radio and TV interviews on the topics of the day, and have been known to wake up at ungodly hours for radio spots and still sound relatively coherent. (Thanks, A.J.)

In a previous life (about three years ago now) I was a political hack and researcher.  (I recommend all political journalists work a bit on “the other side” for the insight, if not the fun.)

I’ll be linking to my stories here, as well as interesting reads I spot along the way.

You might consider me a “social media” whiz, though I tend to think of it as keeping up with the profession. Follow me on Twitter @tomlobianco, or hit me up on Facebook or on LinkedIn.

Drop me a line tomlobianco (at) gmail (dot) com.