Wednesday, December 11, 2024 | Baltimore, MD
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Politics

The United States Capitol Rotunda
Sarah Elfreth vows to keep fighting to protect Marylanders’ interests ‘regardless of who controls Congress’

After more than a year on the campaign trail, Congresswoman-elect Sarah Elfreth is ready for the real work to begin. Elfreth, a Democratic state senator who represents Annapolis and southern Anne Arundel County, recalled feeling a “huge sense of relief” Tuesday night when she realized she had won the race for Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes parts of Anne Arundel and Carroll counties and all of Howard County.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Trump gains in Maryland: A trend or an aberration?

No, Maryland is not about to flip from blue to red. Vice President Kamala Harris carried the state by more than 20 points, and Democrats held the open U.S. Senate seat and were on the way to retaining their 7-1 advantage in the state’s U.S. House delegation — their top political priorities this year. They also waded into local school board elections for the first time in recent memory and fared pretty well.

Abortion-rights advocates celebrate Question 1 win, now worry about a federal abortion ban

Abortion-rights activists celebrated the overwhelming approval Tuesday of a ballot measure that adds reproductive rights to the state constitution, but woke up Wednesday to President-elect Donald Trump and fears that a Republican-controlled Congress could undermine Tuesday’s win. Even though Trump backed away from previous anti-abortion positions during this campaign, reproductive-freedom activists fear that abortion protections under the state’s new constitutional amendment would be undermined by a federal abortion ban, if one is enacted, and are working out next steps to take.

Trump Impact: Largest Maryland county assesses future economic effect of presidential election

The largest Maryland county, Montgomery County, also has the biggest federal government workforce in the state. With about 95,980 federal employees calling the county their home, local officials are looking into how President-elect Donald Trump’s second term could impact the economy. Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich told reporters Wednesday that while it’s no longer considered a “company town,” the county will be conducting an assessment to weigh the potential economic impacts of Trump’s plan to move government jobs out of the D.C. area.

Read More: WTOP
‘Some breathing room, some time to process’: Maryland voters digest election results

As Henry Shippey walked to his job at a bar in Fells Point the day after the election the fact that everyone and everything seemed the same as always came in stark contrast to what was swirling inside his head. “I was filled with existential thoughts and dread,” the 22-year-old Bolton Hill resident said. He took Thursday off.

 

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Raised in the era of Trump politics, young voters never envisioned a Harris win

Though she voted for Vice President Kamala Harris and hoped the Democrat would come out on top, 20-year-old Morgan State University student Raegan Green said she “wasn’t at all surprised” by the outcome of Tuesday’s presidential election. “I checked my phone, saw the results and continued to eat my breakfast,” she said. “It didn’t faze me. I had tests to study for and a 9 a.m. class to get to.”

A straight-on view of the Maryland state capitol in Annapolis, Maryland, at Christmas time.
Maryland leaders are preparing for a Trump presidency

The majority of Marylanders didn’t select Donald Trump as their next president, but his policies may alter their everyday lives, affect state income tax revenue and stable federal jobs, and sever sorely needed federal resources. The incoming Republican has already threatened to reverse hard-fought victories won by Maryland Democrats, like the relocation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters to Greenbelt and stripping future funding promised by President Joe Biden’s infrastructure and clean energy legislation.

train tracks with power lines above them
Baltimore’s Red Line is not dead yet, but Trump win threatens mass transit

Baltimore’s Red Line cleared another hurdle Tuesday with Democrat Angela Alsobrooks’ win in the U.S. Senate race against its longtime nemesis, former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who recently doubled down on his opposition to the revived transit project he scuttled. Then it immediately ran into a wall. Republican Donald Trump’s victory Tuesday means he will head back to the White House in January and usher in, many fear, an administration hostile to Democratic strongholds like Baltimore and bent on cutting funding to transit expansion.

 

Who will succeed County Executive Angela Alsobrooks in Prince George’s?

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks will become a member of the United States Senate in January. If she waits to give up her current job until right before then, her successor would be chosen from among the county council members eyeing a promotion. Her successor might come from the county council, but it’s likely that whoever finishes out her term will do so by winning another special election next year.

Read More: WTOP
8 people vying to replace Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. when he leaves for Congress

Baltimore County residents will have a chance to weigh in on the council’s choice for a new county executive, replacing newly minted Democratic Congressman-elect Johnny Olszewski Jr. in January. A public hearing is being planned for the first week of December, said Council Chairman Izzy Patoka, in order “to hear from the public, our stakeholders, what they believe the qualities are that an interim county executive ought to have.”

Read More: Baltimore Sun

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