Junior government and politics major
After months of campaigns, debates and speculation, this state’s gubernatorial election is finally here. It’s an election that, by reasonable logic, should have been decided after the Democratic primary. A state with a 2-to-1 Democratic advantage and only one Republican governor in recent decades could be expected to pick the Democrat, regardless of who that candidate was, right?
Wrong. Residents of this state have proven once again that they are willing to carefully scrutinize each gubernatorial candidate and cast a ballot for a Republican, regardless of their own Democratic or independent status. Republican Larry Hogan led among independents, 49 percent to 39 percent in a Oct. 4-8 poll from The Baltimore Sun. With opponent Anthony Brown winning 71 percent of Democrats, it is clear this state is open to considering both major candidates. The October poll had Brown up 7 percent among likely voters.
It is not just this state’s residents and politicians who know this race is close. Democrats and Republicans across the region are pouring money and star power into an election almost no one thought would be competitive. While this election was far from perfect, it was not the “dud” my brother and I feared in our Sun column in June. Hogan made this race meaningful to state residents by making it competitive in policy and at the polls. With Election Day on Tuesday, the election is in our hands, so it’s time to pick a candidate.
Hogan is the right candidate to lead this state for the next four years. This state needs economic improvement, tax reform and government accountability, and those are Hogan’s greatest strengths. As a businessman, Hogan knows how to create jobs and how to discern which policies are beneficial or threatening to the business environment. This state’s economic indicators are weak — employment, growth, business and climate — and a person with a business background can send us in the right direction. He has been vocally against the tax increases state residents have faced, from the sales tax to the rain tax.
Hogan has made government accountability an important part of his campaign and a central focus for his running mate, Boyd Rutherford. Government accountability is especially important after Brown’s oversight of this state’s health care exchange cost taxpayers $288 million.
This state has accomplished tremendous social reform in the past eight years. Many of those issues, such as legalization of same-sex marriage and abolishment of the death penalty, have been decided and will not be changed. Not only has each candidate pledged not to change each result, but both Brown and Hogan are powerless to do so, even if they wanted to. Courts and the General Assembly will protect those rulings. On education, I would like to see more from Hogan, but I think he — or Brown — should delegate any needed reform to experienced education personnel because neither has a background in the field.
A final but important reason I support Hogan is his dedication to earning votes and commitment to being a watchdog for citizens’ interests while in office. In a previous column, I detailed why candidates should earn our votes, and I believe Hogan’s tireless campaigning has maximized every dollar, opportunity and minute reaching out to voters. His hard work and strategy on the campaign trail indicate he would be a competent leader in Annapolis.
In the watchdog role, Hogan is akin to Democratic Comptroller Peter Franchot, who has proven he will continue to be talented at protecting citizens’ tax dollars. With his management experience, Hogan will work to ensure government operates effectively. He demonstrated in the primaries that he’s more interested in economic solutions than partisan politics. Hogan is a dedicated candidate who has the experience to manage this state’s priorities.
Matt Dragonette is a junior government and politics major. He can be reached at mdragonettedbk@gmail.com.
