Shoot, I thought I still had until tomorrow to early vote, but FYI- it ends today!!
I think we are just going to go Tuesday then. I haven't even made any decisions!
Who are you all picking for governor? I still need to look at some of the candidates but I am leaning Wes Moore. I feel like my views align with a lot of people here though so I'm open to suggestions!
MH was supposed to be away starting on the 19th so we were going to early vote. Then he got COVID. We were able to request mail-in ballots on the last day. Hoping they actually show up!
I'm also undecided on most races. I feel like we have the enviable issue where most of them would be fine so it's harder to choose. No one is running around claiming to be pro gun and anti abortion in the democratic primary.
I think several of our gov options are pretty solid. Moore and Perez both seem to align really well with my priorities. I personally like Tom Perez the best, mostly based on how concrete his statements are on his website. He has very specific and actionable bullet points rather than just ideas and "will work toward x cool thing." And in the areas where I'm particularly well informed because of my job or my husband's job - he's dead on for what needs to happen.
Wes Moore has a lot of stuff on his website that I love, but it feels mushy to me, or is more vague than I'd like. As an example in his transportation plan, he mentions 15 minute communities and having more of them. That's awesome. But the state doesn't' control zoning or land development approvals, so what are we talking about? Are you planning on some sort of zoning reform incentive? Special grants for mixed use infill development? How, at the state level, would you plan to encourage this change? I think there's a few ways the state could tackle that, but there's also a lot of ways the state could talk about this in a totally empty way with zero effectiveness. There's several specifics like that where it feels like a lot of talk with no backing. Which might be unfair at this stage, but that's the big differentiator between him and Perez for me, and since I have not much else to help me choose one over the other, that's what I'm going with.
wawa you’d know more about this than I do but Wes Moore’s running mate is Aruna Miller, a civil engineer who has worked in transportation issues in Montgomery County for 25 years.
wawa you’d know more about this than I do but Wes Moore’s running mate is Aruna Miller, a civil engineer who has worked in transportation issues in Montgomery County for 25 years.
Yep. Which is why his fuzzy ideas on transportation give me even more pause. There should be something more concrete in there...
But like I said, it's a thin distinction at this stage. I wouldn't be mad if moore/miller won.
We dropped our mail-in ballots off Sunday so this is a bit anticlimactic. I'm really interested to see how things turn out.
rubytue I just heard a thing on NPR about those Dan Cox ads. Apparently they're funded by the Democratic Governors Association. They claim it's an attack ad but Republicans say they just want him to win because he'd be easier to beat in November.
I am still undecided on multiple things, but I guess I need to finish up figuring it out!
Anyone who has been in MD longer than me (or paid more attention, I guess) have good advice on whether we should keep reelecting our US senator or House candidates? I kind of want to NOT vote for the senator because I think the whole senate should be replaced (except my girl Elizabeth Warren) but I also am not super confident about the woman who he is running againts.
Sarbanes seems...fine? IDK? I am so over the lack of any progress on anything in government that I am struggling to reelect anyone.
Random: After spending the evening trying to figure this out last night, I had a dream last night that I met Elizabeth Warren at a political event and started crying because I was so upset that I didn't get to vote for her for president, lol.
I am still undecided on multiple things, but I guess I need to finish up figuring it out!
Anyone who has been in MD longer than me (or paid more attention, I guess) have good advice on whether we should keep reelecting our US senator or House candidates? I kind of want to NOT vote for the senator because I think the whole senate should be replaced (except my girl Elizabeth Warren) but I also am not super confident about the woman who he is running againts.
Sarbanes seems...fine? IDK? I am so over the lack of any progress on anything in government that I am struggling to reelect anyone.
Random: After spending the evening trying to figure this out last night, I had a dream last night that I met Elizabeth Warren at a political event and started crying because I was so upset that I didn't get to vote for her for president, lol.
I have no issues with Ben Cardin, and I really like Chris Van Hollen (he was my House Rep before he ran for Senate). I also love my current House Rep, Jamie Raskin.
I am still undecided on multiple things, but I guess I need to finish up figuring it out!
Anyone who has been in MD longer than me (or paid more attention, I guess) have good advice on whether we should keep reelecting our US senator or House candidates? I kind of want to NOT vote for the senator because I think the whole senate should be replaced (except my girl Elizabeth Warren) but I also am not super confident about the woman who he is running againts.
Sarbanes seems...fine? IDK? I am so over the lack of any progress on anything in government that I am struggling to reelect anyone.
Random: After spending the evening trying to figure this out last night, I had a dream last night that I met Elizabeth Warren at a political event and started crying because I was so upset that I didn't get to vote for her for president, lol.
I think you’re right, Sarbanes is fine. And, I had SO many dreams mahout Elizabeth Warren and getting selfies with her during the primary. Lol.
I am still undecided on multiple things, but I guess I need to finish up figuring it out!
Anyone who has been in MD longer than me (or paid more attention, I guess) have good advice on whether we should keep reelecting our US senator or House candidates? I kind of want to NOT vote for the senator because I think the whole senate should be replaced (except my girl Elizabeth Warren) but I also am not super confident about the woman who he is running againts.
Sarbanes seems...fine? IDK? I am so over the lack of any progress on anything in government that I am struggling to reelect anyone.
Random: After spending the evening trying to figure this out last night, I had a dream last night that I met Elizabeth Warren at a political event and started crying because I was so upset that I didn't get to vote for her for president, lol.
I think you’re right, Sarbanes is fine. And, I had SO many dreams mahout Elizabeth Warren and getting selfies with her during the primary. Lol.
That's funny Literally the candidate of our dreams!
In my dream, she was so sweet about my tears, too. As I'm sure she would be IRL.
We requested ballots by mail and also chose the option to get them in the mail from now on. We dropped them off at the drop box before 8pm - it was all very easy. My local polling place looked busy this morning when I drove by.
I picked Perez - it was hard to find info that directly compared the candidates but the Baltimore Banner did a nice job by posting a bunch of yes or no questions for each candidate.
I'm really surprised by this since Hogan is so (inexplicably) beloved here. In some ways this is good, since he is supposed to be much easier to beat in November. However, we're totally screwed if he does somehow become governor. I also hate that this is a "win" for Trump.
Just heard snippets of acceptance speech from the republican primary winner of the nomination for governor. Unsurprisingly, he’s completely terrifying. I know that there were some non-typical reasons why we ended up with a republican governor for the last eight years. Is it likely that we will end up with another republican governor??
I'm really surprised by this since Hogan is so (inexplicably) beloved here. In some ways this is good, since he is supposed to be much easier to beat in November. However, we're totally screwed if he does somehow become governor. I also hate that this is a "win" for Trump.
I’m not sure how many trump people you know in MD, but based on the ones I’ve seen a lot of people turned on hogan the last couple years. In part because he took a few reasonable measures early on the pandemic (I think). I’m not sure this is a good gamble for democrats. I’ve long said maryland is not nearly as “blue” as everyone thinks we are.
The Dan Cox news is terrifying. I am taking solace in the fact that 65.4% of Marylanders voted for Biden. However, the economy has tanked since then so who knows how many of those folks would vote for someone with Trump ideas who isn't Trump. IDK. I'd obviously rather have a democrat governor, but I'd take Hogan (or a Hogan dup) over a Trumper anyday so I hope that this strategy doesn't backfire.
I know exactly 0 Trump people or Republicans in MD.
My husband is a registered Republican but has voted mostly D in the past few elections. He voted for Shultz yesterday. And will vote for the Democratic candidate in the fall.
The Dan Cox news is terrifying. I am taking solace in the fact that 65.4% of Marylanders voted for Biden. However, the economy has tanked since then so who knows how many of those folks would vote for someone with Trump ideas who isn't Trump. IDK. I'd obviously rather have a democrat governor, but I'd take Hogan (or a Hogan dup) over a Trumper anyday so I hope that this strategy doesn't backfire.
I know exactly 0 Trump people or Republicans in MD.
I thought I didn't know any either, I live in one of the navy blue counties. I was walking the dog the other day and saw a Cox sign in someone's yard. I didn't even know who he was so I had to google him. I was shocked anyone was brave enough to publicly back a trumper in our neighborhood.
The Dan Cox news is terrifying. I am taking solace in the fact that 65.4% of Marylanders voted for Biden. However, the economy has tanked since then so who knows how many of those folks would vote for someone with Trump ideas who isn't Trump. IDK. I'd obviously rather have a democrat governor, but I'd take Hogan (or a Hogan dup) over a Trumper anyday so I hope that this strategy doesn't backfire.
I know exactly 0 Trump people or Republicans in MD.
I know that there were dem funded ads for Cox/against Shulz, but I really don't think that was the ultimate factor in Cox winning. it's just the die hard registered R's getting what they want.
This is how I see it - In 2014 trumpy bs wasn't a big factor yet here. Hogan was running in the primary against a former teacher and Harford County exec (i.e. not particularly trumpy), and then promised not to touch abortion, gay rights or do anything drastic with guns, while still giving all the good racist anti-baltimore dog whistles, won the general, and then actually kept those promises. (all of them. Including the racist "fuck baltimore" ones) And he was running against the Dem he painted as (at least partially accurately) totally fucking up Maryland's ACA rollout. So he won the general, and a second term after keeping those promises.
But now the stalwart R's get their trumpy candidate after a decade of drinking that koolaid? Yeah, they're going for it. They want a REAL republican. *puke* Someone who says the quiet parts out loud. Somebody who wouldn't be in favor of lockdowns and masks and all that. But I don't see this state state actually electing that guy. All 17 people in Garrett County? sure. But Frederick, Kent and Talbot all flipped against trump in 2020, and he lost ground in several other counties that stayed red. They're not going to suddenly be all in for Cox now.
That said...I hate that Cox won because I am far from complacent and he's scary aF. I'm not sure if this is a reasoned thought, but I'd feel a lot more confident if Perez or Franchot were going to win for the Dems because I think the only way this goes bad is if the democratic candidate comes off as too idealistic/unrealistic and combined with Moore being a youngish black guy with no elected experience....I'm not confident the middle of the road folks who just want nothing to change ever are gonna show up for him. I'm still pretty sure he'll win, but...not sure enough not to be comfortable with the idea of Cox as the R candidate.
I need mail in ballots to be counted and reported, please and thank you. @@ right now two of the canidates for BOE that are blatant homophobic shitstains are leading for carroll county. I really hope mail in ballots make a difference.