Wednesday, May 9, 2012
In an interview on ABC News, the president says he supports same-sex marriage. The issue is likely to go to referendum in Maryland this fall.
President Barack Obama picked the day after a decisive vote in North Carolina to announce that his "evolution" on the issue of same-sex marriage was complete—he now supports it. In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Obama said: I have to tell you that over the course of several years, as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage—at a …
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
A suit filed by Democratic Senators Delores Kelley and Jim Brochin says the plan violates the Maryland Constitution and protects the political voice of Baltimore City at the expense of Baltimore County.
UPDATED (1:13 p.m.)—Two Baltimore County state senators have filed suit in the state Court of Appeals seeking to overturn Maryland's recently enacted legislative redistricting plan. Democratic Senators Jim Brochin and Delores Kelley, in a suit filed Tuesday, claim the new districts violate the Maryland Constitution and a 2002 Court of Appeals ruling that governs redistricting. A copy of the lawsuit is attached to this story. The suit is one of four seeking to overturn Gov. Martin O'Malley's redistricting plan. At the heart of the 17-page complaint are allegations that the commission that redrew the state's 47 legislative districts unfairly protected the city's political power in Annapolis, while diluting the county's representation. "For …
Monday, April 16, 2012
Political analyst of FiveThirtyEight.com spoke as part of Social Sciences Forum lecture series.
New York Times blogger Nate Silver discussed the 2012 presidential election and his forthcoming book at UMBC on April 10 as part of the Social Sciences Forum lecture series. A statistician, elections expert and writer, Silver emerged as a national figure during the 2008 U.S. presidential election, when his website correctly predicted the winner of all 35 Senate races and the presidential race in 49 of 50 states. In 2008, Silver launched his own site, FiveThirtyEight.com--named after the number of electors in the Electoral College. "I've been a virtual groupie of FiveThirtyEight.com ever since 2008," said social sciences dean John Jeffries, a political historican, while introducing Silver. A gallery of images from the lecture has been …
Thursday, April 5, 2012
House of Delegates could take up a final vote on an amended bill as early as Friday.
The fate of a bill that creates a partially-elected school board in Baltimore County hangs on one vote that could come as early as Friday. Members of the county House delegation met Thursday afternoon moments after the full Senate approved an amended version of the bill that already passed the full House. The delegation voted 13-6 to concur with Senate amendments that changed the House bill from a fully-elected school board to a board with six elected and five appointed members.
Activists say it's easier to meet the state's standards for referendums than to petition a county law to the ballot.
A group of county activists wants to make it easier to petition county laws to the ballot and, ironically enough, the group's effort begins with a petition. Ann Miller, a Republican activist, is one of a number of volunteers who spent election day collecting signatures on a petition to change the Baltimore County Charter. If successful, the change to the County Charter would mean that voters seeking to challenge a law by referendum in the future would need to collect the signatures of less than 8,700 registered county voters to get an issue on the ballot. Miller and volunteers working with her are learning first-hand the difficulties in petitioning a county law to referendum as they attempt to collect enough signatures to overturn a …
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Check out the charts below for preliminary results in Tuesday's primary elections.
- ELECTIONS
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Tuesday, April 3
Sen. Ben Cardin easily won the Democratic primary Tuesday for U.S. Senate, far outpacing his closest challenger, state Sen. C. Anthony Muse of Prince George’s County. Cardin, 68, will run for his second term against the winner of the Republican primary—which, as of 10 p.m., was a tight race between candidates Dan Bogino and Richard J. Douglas. Incumbent candidates easily won their Congressional primaries throughout the state. Republican Rep. Andy Harris in District 1 and Democrat C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger in District 2 ran unopposed in their primary races. Republican state Sen. Nancy C. Jacobs of Harford County was winning her party's primary Tuesday and was the likely contender to take on Ruppersberger in November. It is unclear what …
Incumbents Cummings, Harris, Ruppersberger, and Sarbanes also lock up primary wins.
UPDATED (11:15 p.m.)— Mitt Romney has won the Maryland Republican presidential primary, according to multiple news outlets. At 11 p.m., Romney leads Rick Santorum 91,402 (48 percent) to 57,299 (30 percent) with 1,281 of 1,851 precincts reporting. "I voted for Romney, he's the lesser of the evils," said Lisa Watts of Darnestown, MD. Chuck Duvall also of Darnestown, said he voted for Ron Paul, but expected Romney to win the Maryland primary. Both he and his wife, Ruth, said they planned to support Romney against Democratic incumbent President Barack Obama even though he wasn't their primary selection. A Romney win in Maryland was not unexpected. CNN declared Romney the winner at 8 p.m. when polls in Maryland and Washington closed. “Maryland’…
A map of polling places in the 21227 zip code.
It's primary day in Maryland! Are you voting? Here's a map of polling places in the greater Arbutus area.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Maryland's Republican "moderate middle" will matter on Tuesday.
Will former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s lead in Maryland turn into a win in Tuesday’s GOP presidential primary? Romney has a 17-point advantage over former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in Maryland, according to a poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports on Wednesday. It showed Romney is supported by 45 percent of Maryland Republicans, Santorum by 28 percent, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich by 12 percent and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, 7 percent. Even though officials aren’t predicting a high turnout in Maryland on Tuesday, it is expected to be an important day in the presidential race, when the “moderate middle of the Maryland GOP will be relevant,” according to The Washington Post. “There are more of us in this state than in others, I …
Thursday, March 29, 2012
It’s been "slow and steady," according to one election official.
Nearly 60,000 people in Maryland have turned out for early voting, a service the state started offering in 2010. The 59,716 people who voted as of Wednesday represent 1.38 percent of eligible voters. “I’m using the phrase ‘slow and steady,' " said Montgomery County Board of Elections spokeswoman Marjorie Roher. “There are not lines in most cases at all; normally there’s one or two people at each of the poll places.” Early voting started March 24 and ends at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 29. The Maryland primary is Tuesday, April 3. Early voting in the 2010 gubernatorial primary elections, the first year it was in place, netted 2.44 percent voter turnout, or 77,288 of the eligible voters, state election data shows. Election officials in Maryland …
Carol
11:31 am on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Right on! Escariot, you forgot a couple remember the hundreds of thousands dollars for those trips, the vacation Mrs. O and her friends and family took, the fly over New York City. What a waist of our money. I guess they want to make sure theres nothing left for the next Pres. Fast and Furious is number one who is going to pay for this mans life, his blood is on all those that were involved in … more ›