As the curtain fell on the nation’s midterm elections last night, Republican Larry Hogan celebrated his victory in this state’s gubernatorial race at the Westin Annapolis hotel. The festivities capped a knock-down, drag-out race that unexpectedly drew national attention to a state in which registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans 2 to 1.
It also marked a symbolic close to Gov. Martin O’Malley’s eight-year tenure as this state’s chief executive, an administration that will undoubtedly color many current university students’ notions of state politics for decades to come.
Though Hogan won’t ascend to the state’s highest office until mid-January, let’s reflect on just what O’Malley’s two terms meant for this state.
Eight years. The overwhelming majority of students enrolled at this university hadn’t even graduated middle school when O’Malley won the 2006 gubernatorial election. The housing bubble had yet to burst. President Obama was just gearing up for his 2008 presidential run. Times weren’t necessarily simpler, but they were markedly different.
Fast forward: Hogan defeated front-runner Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, spelling the end of a Democratic administration that’s been marked by significant social progress on a variety of issues.
O’Malley voiced support for a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, which voters upheld in a 2012 referendum.
He closed the infamously violent Maryland House of Correction in Jessup in 2007 and advocated the repeal of the state’s death penalty, which was abolished in 2013 for all future offenders.
And though he’s waffled on immigration policies in recent months, O’Malley signed into law the state’s Dream Act, which voters upheld in a 2012 referendum, granting undocumented immigrants’ children in-state tuition rates if they and their parents met certain requirements.
When it came to higher education affordability, O’Malley and the General Assembly limited tuition increases to 3 percent per year after a four-year freeze ended in 2010. As a result, this state had the second-lowest growth in four-year tuition and fees in the last five years, behind only Missouri.
On big issues such as same-sex marriage, the death penalty and the Dream Act, this editorial board urged O’Malley, the General Assembly and state voters to go down on the right side of history, and they’ve followed through admirably each time.
But there’s a reason O’Malley’s approval ratings have plummeted to an eight-year low of 41 percent with less than three months left of his administration, according to a poll conducted by the Washington Post and this university that was released last month.
State residents’ biggest qualms stem from the governor’s liberal economic policies — which pushed tax hikes (more than 40 increases throughout his tenure) over budget cuts — and the state’s struggling business climate.
A Gallup poll found that nearly 50 percent of state residents would leave the state if they could, many citing high taxes as an incentive to relocate. This state also maintained its No. 40 ranking in business tax climate for the third straight year, according to the Tax Foundation. In January, it also faced a more than $400 million deficit.
With a Democratic handoff to Brown, who supported many of O’Malley’s economic policies, state residents might have faced more of the same.
Now, it falls to Hogan — a businessman whose campaign lambasted O’Malley’s financial record — to right this state’s economic course. His platform indicates he has the know-how and business clout to succeed, but only with bipartisan cooperation in a deep-blue state.
As the state hurtles toward its first Republican administration in more than a decade, this editorial board urges Hogan and legislators to bridge the party gap and work together to put this state on the path to solvency and an improved business climate, all while upholding its demonstrated commitment to social equality.
