Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler agrees with some of Governor Martin O’Malley’s agenda that just passed the recently concluded Maryland General Assembly. But he disagrees with three key parts of that agenda: repeal of the death penalty, the gas tax increase and locating wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean.

With O’Malley term-limited and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown the governor’s choice to succeed him, Gansler is likely to throw his hat in the ring as well. In a visit Monday to St. Mary’s County, Gansler told the Bay Net that it’s still more than a year away from the key Democratic primary, but he gave strong hints that he will file in the fall

During his visit to the county Gansler met with a number of potential supporters. He visits often, his parents having had until recently a home in Breton Bay.

Regarding the death penalty, Gansler believes it should apply to perpetrators such as the Newtown school shooter and the Boston Marathon bombers. To the alleged perpetrator who survived that reign of terror in Boston, Gansler asked, “Should he live on taxpayer dollars for the next 35 years,” and he answered “no” to his own question.

Gansler said the death penalty is “a deterrent to some people on the same level that any law is a deterrent to crime.” Massachusetts does not have the death penalty either.

Regarding windmills, Gansler said he is a strong environmentalist. But he would like the state’s emphasis to be providing assistance to farmers to protect the Bay from agricultural runoff. “I would like to have a more robust agricultural community in the state,” he said. He also noted the concerns about the wind turbines by the Navy community in St. Mary’s County.

Regarding the increase in the gas tax,” the attorney general said, “I think that is unfortunate.” He said of gas the increase, “it goes to people who can least afford it,” and he said it falls disproportionately on rural area such as St. Mary’s, which don’t have mass transit alternatives.

Gansler was asked how needed road projects such as the Gov. Thomas Johnson Bridge would get funded. He said, “Whatever bridge you build shouldn’t be on the backs of poor people.” He said the Transportation Trust Fund shouldn’t be raided for other uses and that there should be a balance between funding for roads and mass transit.

He said additional monies for roads can be secured through a more robust state economy. “We need to ix the economy,” he insisted.

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