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 …
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 …
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Primary polling places in Dundalk were slow and lonely on Tuesday.
Across Dundalk and Edgemere, polling places looked mostly empty and lonely Tuesday, Maryland's primary election day. At Dundalk Middle School, just 98 voters had signed in to cast their ballots as of 2:15 p.m. While the site's chief judges would not disclose how many voters are registered to vote at the school, both said turnout was the lowest in recent memory. "Turnout has been very slow," Democratic Chief Judge Mya Collins said Tuesday afternoon. "About as slow as I can ever remember." Collins has been working the Dundalk Middle polls for about seven years. Her Republican counterpart, Vicki Matthews, said the turnout was the lowest of her eight years on the job. Matthews said she assumed voter traffic would pick up at the end of the work…
State Sen. Nancy Jacobs cruised to an easy victory in the 2nd Congressional District Republican primary over five other candidates.
State Sen. Nancy Jacobs claimed victory over five other candidates Tuesday night in her bid to earn the Republican nomination in the 2nd Congressional District. According to unofficial totals at 1 a.m. from the Maryland Board of Elections, Jacobs had 12,027 votes (59.1 percent), easily holding off her closest competitor Del. Rick Impalaria, who had 4,840 votes (23.8 percent). Other candidates included Larry Smith (2,291 votes), Howard Orton (481), Ray Bly (394) and Vlad Degan (305). Jacobs will now go on to face incumbent Democrat Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger in the general elections. Her win came on the same night that Mitt Romney won the Maryland GOP presidential primary. "It's time to ditch Dutch (Ruppersberger)," Jacobs said. "We know…
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’…
Old Dundalk resident Marian Long encourages all to take advantage of the privilege and the right to vote in elections.
Old Dundalk resident Marian Long sounds like a walking history book. She takes her voting responsibility seriously and remembers that it is a privilege not available in many places around the world. "It's my pleasure and my duty," she said to poll workers as she finished casting her votes at Dundalk Middle School and accepted her "I Voted" sticker. Long, a Keyway resident, told Patch she's a registered Democrat, but that's because that's what seems to count in the blue Old Line State. "I'm a Republican at heart but a Democrat in Maryland because that's who has a voice in this state," she said. "I would have gladly voted for Nancy Jacobs, but because she's a Republican, I couldn't in the primary. I just have to hope she makes it to the …
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 in Maryland over former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, 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, by 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, …
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 ›