Last month, President Obama and Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney battled it out for the title of President of the United States. In Maryland, elections were held of their own to amend the state’s constitution and Marylanders voted yes or no on Questions 1-7. In addition, residents of Montgomery County voted on county specific Questions A, which allowed businesses to hire qualified citizens with disabilities, mental or physical, on a non-competitive basis, and B, which limited the bargaining rights of police employees.
Overall- Obama won and all questions passed, even if just by a small margin. Democrats were generally excited about these results, with an exception of maybe Question B because it limited the rights of a union, and the Democrats tend to fight for union rights. Since Maryland is known for being overwhelmingly Democratic, all questions were expected to pass. However, the state is not 100 percent for or against one party, and Maryland’s Republicans are speaking out on their party’s behalf.
Presidential Results- Obama won Maryland’s 10 electoral votes in a 61.4 to 36.5 percent victory, as expected, according to the Baltimore Sun. While Obama’s re-election had Democrats cheering and rejoicing, Republicans hung their heads as they realized what the re-election meant for the country.
“The [re]election of [President] Obama changes nothing,” said junior Dane Ray, a member of WJ’s Young Republicans club. “He has his hands tied by rules and regulations so nothing is going to get done.”
Ray explains that the way the government is set up, it is going to be hard for Obama to pass anything on the agenda if the legislative branch keeps stalling and not agreeing on any issue.
Junior Nevo Magnezi, co-President of the club, agreed with Ray’s statement.
“Everything [will stay] the same. It’s the same condition as two years ago, it’s just gridlock again,” he said.
Question 4- The Maryland DREAM Act was passed with a 58 percent majority, according to WUSA9. The act allows illegal and undocumented immigrants who graduated or currently attend a Maryland Public School for at least three years to receive in-state college tuition. It’s the equivalent of the nationwide Dream Act, only localized to the state of Maryland.
“I strongly disagree with question four,” said junior Kendra Allgood, co-president of the Young Republicans Club. “Kids shouldn’t be punished for their parents’ actions, but they certainly shouldn’t be rewarded.” Allgood addresses the fact that most undocumented child immigrants came to the U.S. by their parent’s doing.
However, not all members of the Young Republicans club are in consensus. Ray doesn’t mind the DREAM Act as long as one condition is met.
“I’m fine with the dream act as long as most of the money is not out of taxpayers pockets,” he said. Magnezi, like Allgood, said he sympathized with young children brought to the U.S. illegally, but not to the point of awarding college tuition.
Question 6- The Civil Marriage Protection Act, a referendum petition, which put legalized gay marriage in the state constitution, passed only by a small margin, where the results were 52 for it and 48 percent against it, according to CNN. Montgomery County, on the other hand, had a 65 to 35 percent approval for the question. Because Question 6 passed, not only was gay marriage kept legalized, but Maryland became one of three states, the others being Maine and Washington, to have gay marriage as an amendment in its state constitution. However, the referendum also protected religious institutions from having to marry gay couples.
According to the GOP platform’s website, marriage is defined as “a Sacred Contract… as the union of one man and one woman.” In contrast, Allgood disagrees with the Republican party’s platform.
“I agree with Question 6,” she said. “It’s a good thing it got passed.”
Like Allgood, Magnezi said that he doesn’t have a problem with the referendum.
“It’s your business, your life,” said Magnezi. “I don’t want the government to interfere.”
Question 7- The Gaming Expansion Referendum, which would allow table games to exist in casinos, passed with 60 to 40 percent of the population for it. The outcome was not expected because a controversy was set around Question 7 as to whether the new money will go toward education or not. Whether people were against it or not, it passed and now the people of Maryland will have to wait and see which side was right. Ray was on the side that did not want the law to pass.
“[Question 7] is a terrible way to raise money,” he said. “Casinos do not provide a public service.”
Allgood said she didn’t know exactly how she felt on the issue.
“[It] feels like a good idea, but then again, politicians will always do something to promote or sabotage something,” said Allgood.
Magnezi said he really isn’t that concerned because people are going to gamble. He said since it’s going to happen, people should gamble here instead of West Virginia.
Signing Off- In all, if the election had a scoreboard, the Democratic side would have an overwhelming lead, while the Republican side would just have gotten on the board. Though the overall election results did not turn out the way he had hoped, Magnezi looks toward the future.
“Let’s see what happens in four years,” he said.