MGM Resorts has opened an office at National Harbor, where the company wants to build a new casino. ( Photo by Jeffrey MacMillan for The Washington Post ) Howard County Executive Ken Ulman (D) announced his support Thursday for Maryland’s expanded gambling plan, becoming the latest of the state’s potential 2014 gubernatorial candidates to take a stand on the divisive issue.

Ulman endorsed Question 7 at a press conference alongside two other county executives — Prince George’s Rushern L. Baker III (D) and Montgomery’s Isiah Leggett (D) — who had made their support of the plan clear during last month’s special legislative session.

In November, voters will get the final say on the plan, which calls for allowing a new casino in Prince George’s County, as well as Las Vegas-style table games at the state’s five previously authorized slots sites.

“When it comes to economic development, we’re talking about 2,000 construction jobs, 4,000 permanent jobs,” Ulman said. “These are great jobs for our economy, and I want them here in Maryland.”

House ethics rules say an aide can’t run to succeed his or her boss and stay on the congressional payroll, but a staffer for Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) did so for the past four months.

The aide in question, Alex Mooney, moved to fix what Bartlett’s office called a “clerical error” Thursday after being contacted about the matter by The Washington Post.

Mooney, who also serves as chairman of the Maryland Republican Party, has been on Bartlett’s staff since June, according to House payroll records, which list Mooney as a ”part-time employee” who made $2,000 that month. Mooney told MarylandReporter.com in July that he was working for Bartlett a couple of days a week as “community outreach director.”

Mooney, who also worked as an aide to Bartlett earlier in his career, considered running for Bartlett’s seat this year when some Republicans thought the veteran lawmaker would retire. Instead, he declared in January that he would not run and would support Bartlett for reelection. Bartlett fended off seven Republican challengers in the April primary but now faces a tough general election race against financier John Delaney (D) in a district that was altered in the redistricting process to favor Democrats.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley addresses the Democratic National Convention this month in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s political travels will take him to Florida and North Carolina on Thursday, according to aides.

O’Malley, the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, is scheduled to spend much of the day campaigning in North Carolina with his party’s gubernatorial hopeful Walter Dalton.

O’Malley will appear at a fundraiser with Dalton, the state’s current lieutenant governor, in Winston-Salem and at a pair of public events focused on jobs and education in Greensboro and Raleigh, according to aides.

In polls, Dalton has been trailing Republican Pat McCrory, a former Charlotte mayor. A McCrory victory would mean the first GOP governor in in the Tar Heel State in 20 years.

Dalton and McCrory are vying to Gov. Bev Perdue (D), , who decided not to seek re-election. Perdue is vice chairwoman of the DGA, which attempts to expand the ranks of Democratic governors across the country through fundraising help and other assistance.

A top Perdue aide recently joined O’Malley’s political action committee. The PAC is among the latest evidence that O’Malley is working to increase his national visibility, with a possible 2016 presidential bid in mind.

O’Malley’s southern swing Thursday also includes an address to a conference of a major labor union, the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada. The group is meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Adam Lambert, the glam-rocker who rose to prominence on television’s “American Idol,” is the latest celebrity to be enlisted by the campaign to uphold Maryland’s same-sex marriage law.

Lambert has been booked next week for a benefit concert at the 9:30 Club in the District, with proceeds to go to Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the group leading the campaign for November’s ballot measure known as Question 6.

Singer-songwriter Adam Lambert poses during Spring 2013 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on Sept 11. (Andrew H. Walker - GETTY IMAGES FOR MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK) Tuesday’s fundraiser featuring Lambert, who is openly gay, follows a star-studded event pulled together to benefit the same group last week in New York. That gathering included the likes of actress Susan Sarandon, former first daughter Barbara Bush and hockey star Sean Avery.

“Marriage equality is about treating everyone as equals, regardless of who they fall in love with,” Lambert said in a statement. “I’m honored to appear at this event to help do whatever I can to bring notice to a cause that is close to my heart.”