Today State Senator Allan Kittleman announced that he will be  resigning as the Senate minority leader.  Kittleman, who represents District 9 in Howard County, has served in this leadership position since 2008.  The Gazette reports:

“I am confident that I could have stayed on as leader for the whole session if I wanted to,” Kittleman said. “However, I could just sense that the majority would feel more comfortable having someone who is more socially conservative, and that’s just not who I am.”

The senator said the decision to step down became clear to him in the past week, following discussions with other senators.
….
Kittleman was not asked to resign, and the Republican members will elect a new leader. He does not have a preferred successor.

The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun are also covering this story.