do you think maryland will ever elect another republican? (Baltimore: 2014, house)

[Jpierpont]

Considering how much Maryland benefits from the federal government being large, would it be against the states self interests to vote GOP?

[LynchburgLover]

Originally Posted by Jpierpont

Considering how much Maryland benefits from the federal government being large, would it be against the states self interests to vote GOP?

Yeah, 'cause you can see the harm it does to Virginia.

[Jpierpont]

Originally Posted by LynchburgLover

Yeah, 'cause you can see the harm it does to Virginia.

Virginia is a much larger state, not analogous.

[westsideboy]

Originally Posted by MrRational

But anyone with enough good political sense to balance that sort of reasonableness would have to be some sort of martyr or zealot to not seek their political future from within the Democratic party.

I used to work for a guy from Potomac back in the 80's...
he had a real hard time seeing this as the appeal of Don Schaefer (and Mandel before him).

Well, Mr. Rational.....that sounds very rational.

The only counter weight to consider is that many counties are majority GOP, so as the politicans break into the "biz" and then move up, they have to stay true to their local base.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

The only counter weight to consider is that many counties are majority GOP, so as the politicans break into the "biz" and then move up, they have to stay true to their local base.

And a few of them might even break out of those counties and achieve a more broad appeal. But of the few who have done this and which I can recall... Gilchrest; Beall and Mathias (are there others? anyone of more recent vintage?)... didn't seem to get much actual support from that GOP. If anything, their success seems to be despite being Republicans.

No, I suspect that what really matters in terms of support and ultimate success beyond that narrow "have to stay true to their local base" are how broadly their views about things and approaches to problems align with the majority of voters and regardless of party affiliation.

Maybe in another thirty years the demographics will change enough to change this alignment.
Thirty years ago, my former boss the stalwart GOP supporter was convinced it would be less.

In my own lifetime I've witnessed two R's make it to to Governor in MD.
Neither one did so because their views were aligned with that majority. Both wins were flukes.

hth

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by KLynch10

As long as Montgomery County and PG County continues to grow, it will be tough. If you removed those two county's, I'm not sure there would ever be a Democratic Governor. Sure Baltimore City is democrat, but I think there is only 370k registered democrats, in which a percentage are actually Republicans like many people I know, and many of them never vote.

370K registered Dems in Baltimore?

State-wide, there are close to 2 million registered Dems in Maryland, while there are only roughly 1 million registered Reps and close to 600K registered Independents. Now, Independents tend to vote Republican and sometimes Dems and Reps will cross over (I believe the average is around 10% during any given election).

So as you can see, without more registered Republicans in Maryland, the chance of a Republican Governor is slim to none unless that individual is moderate enough to attract Dem voters.

[HandsUpThumbsDown]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

370K registered Dems in Baltimore?

State-wide, there are close to 2 million registered Dems in Maryland, while there are only roughly 1 million registered Reps and close to 600K registered Independents. Now, Independents tend to vote Republican and sometimes Dems and Reps will cross over (I believe the average is around 10% during any given election).

So as you can see, without more registered Republicans in Maryland, the chance of a Republican Governor is slim to none unless that individual is moderate enough to attract Dem voters.

Keep in mind also that many in Baltimore are registered dems only so they can have some say in local primaries (which serve as the general elections).

[KLynch10]

How many of those dems are in MoCo and PG, which was my point? Plus I said growth of PG and MoCo, Charles County is def PG 2.0 right now.

I think my 370k # in bmore has to be off too. There is only 620k people in bmore, what percent are under 18? Probably a lot, so that # makes it seem that just about every adult in bmore is registered, and registered dem.

[Moth]

Originally Posted by josh9494

as the title says will md ever see another republican governor or just any position in general

I suppose if Massachusetts can do it on occassion, so could Maryland.

However, I have come to see Maryland as more unapologetically left than Massachusetts.

But, a monopoly of power inevitably leads to incompetenance as someone else pointed out. In that case, a moderate Republican, perhaps a Scott Brown type, could win.

I would advise the GOP to ditch their opposition to Gay Marriage in Maryland. Its really not a battle worth fighting.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Moth

However, I have come to see (the population concentration areas of) Maryland as more unapologetically left than Massachusetts.

I would advise the GOP to ditch their opposition to Gay Marriage in Maryland. Its really not a battle worth fighting.

I would advise the GOP to also ditch their opposition to all of the social issues centered on the human sexuality of others. But then if they were willing to set these matters aside, and not make them litmus tests for the "suitability" of candidates across the country then perhaps...

nah, they'll never go for it.