Ex-Franchot Aide Resigns as Chair of State’s New Alcohol and Tobacco Commission

Less than two months after becoming chairman of a new regulatory entity called the Maryland Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, Len N. Foxwell, the former chief of staff to Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D), has resigned.

In a letter sent earlier this week to Maryland Appointments Secretary Chris Cavey, Foxwell said he planned to step down following the commission’s next meeting on Thursday to avoid potential conflicts of interest between his volunteer state position and his recently-launched communications and political consulting business.

Foxwell became chairman of the commission, the state’s new regulator of the alcohol and tobacco industries, at its first meeting in late January.

The very creation of the commission was the product of a years-long, high-profile dispute between Franchot, who as comptroller was until recently the state’s leading regulator of alcohol and tobacco, and the General Assembly. Legislation passed by the Assembly in 2019, over the objections of Franchot and despite a veto by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), stripped the comptroller’s office of its regulatory duties.

The law created a commission under the governor’s purview to oversee the same liquor and tobacco inspectors and law enforcement officers who had worked for the comptroller — and Hogan, as a favor to his frequent ally Franchot, nominated Foxwell to the panel. Franchot and Foxwell, his longtime top aide and adviser, parted company last fall — though by that time, Foxwell’s nomination to the commission had been officially submitted to the state Senate for consideration.

More