Maryland GOP falls short of target gains
‘Drive for Five’ appears on track to yield increase of one or two seats
Maryland’s Republican Party was apparently falling short of its ambitious goals for gains in the General Assembly as Gov. Larry Hogan’s coattails turned out to be remarkably short, in spite of his re-election victory.
The GOP’s “Drive for Five” — its effort to gain five seats in the Maryland Senate that would let it sustain Hogan’s vetoes — appeared to be on track to yield a gain of just one or two seats. In the House of Delegates, Democrats were on a course to pad their supermajority by five to10 seats.
The results appear to mean House Speaker Michael Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, who both cruised to victory themselves, will still be able to override Hogan’s vetoes using only the votes of their fellow Democratic Party members.
“Voters viewed Larry Hogan as Larry Hogan, andthey werewilling to vote for him, but that does not mean they were willing to vote for Republicans overall,” said Todd Eberly, a political scientist at St. Mary’s College. “Marylanders may like the divided government that they have right now.”
Going into Tuesday’s election, Democrats controlled the Senate 33-14. They dominated the House 91-50.
These lopsided numbers made it possible for the Democrats to pass legislation routinely over Hogan’s objections and to override 15 of his vetoes. It takes 29 votes to override in the Senate and 85 in the House. The state Senate has a filibuster rule, but Miller has generally been able to muster the 29 votes it take to shut down debate.
With their veto-proof margins, Democrats were able to enact such policies as requiring employers to offer paid sick leave andeliminating the oversight role of the state Board of Public Works, which the governor chairs, over school construction projects.
As part of their campaign, Republicans targeted eight Senate seats, from Frederick County to Ocean City, in the hopes of flipping at least five. The “Drive for Five” covered Frederick County’s District 3, Baltimore County’s District 8, the District 12 seat representing parts of Baltimore and Howard counties, Charles County’s District 28, Anne Arundel County’s District 30 and District 32, the lower Eastern Shore’s District 38 and Baltimore County’s District 42.
As of late Tuesday, it appeared the GOP was on a course to win the Eastern Shore seat of Sen. Jim Mathias and the Baltimore County seat vacated by Sen. Jim Brochin — the two most conservative Democrats in that chamber. ButRepublican Sen. Gail Bates was trailing Democrat Katie Fry Hester by 154 votes in a district spanning Howard and Carroll counties with all precincts reporting. In a closely watched local Senate race, Democratic incumbent Kathy Klausmeier appeared to fend off a challenge by Del. Christian Miele, who had been strongly endorsed by Hogan.
Not a single Democratic House incumbent was on track to lose, but a half-dozen Republicans were trailing.
Eberly said the GOP losses in the House would wipe out most of the party’s gains in that chamber during the last two election cycles.
Even before the polls closed Tuesday, it was certain that there would be significant changes in the General Assembly because of retirements and primary losses by leading Democrats.
In the Senate, only one of the powerful standing committee chairmen will return: Bobby Zirkin, the Baltimore County lawmaker who heads the Judicial Proceedings Committee.