Politics

Wes Moore ended election night in transition. The Democratic nominee was overwhelmingly elected as the 63rd governor of Maryland, becoming the first Black chief executive in the state’s history. “It’s clear y’all gave us a mandate,” Moore said to supporters at his Baltimore victory party on Tuesday. “That mandate is for a healthier, wealthier Maryland.”

Maryland voted to legalize recreational marijuana use Tuesday night, adding it to a growing wave of states and territories that have done so since 2012. Under the initiative, listed as Question 4 on the ballot, adults 21 and older will be allowed to possess, smoke and grow marijuana. But there’s some fine print to be aware of regarding how much is allowed and when Marylanders can legally smoke.

Maryland’s most anticipated congressional race, a rematch between Rep. David Trone (D) and Del. Neil C. Parrott (R), remains uncalled as of Wednesday afternoon, and it may be a while before results are known. Thousands of mail-in ballots are outstanding in counties across the district, chief among them Montgomery County — a key blue territory that favors Trone — and Frederick County, purple territory where the candidates have been neck-and-neck. Spokesmen in elections offices in those counties said officials will not resume counting the remaining ballots until Thursday and will not have an update on the count until Thursday night.

Baltimore County’s top prosecutor and county executive each won reelection decisively Tuesday night, results show. County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. told supporters at an election night party he “fully” expected to win his race against an opponent who promised to undo much of his work. He had nearly 60% of the votes, with all of the precincts reporting.

Ocean City’s mayoral seat and three council seats were up for grabs during this year’s municipal election. Mayor Rick Meehan ran unopposed, earning a total of 1,760 votes. Meehan has been the mayor of Ocean City since June 12, 2006, when he replaced Jim Mathias. He has successfully secured reelection every two years since then. Meehan has been a staple in the resort town since the 1980s, where he also served a 14-year term as council president prior to his mayoral election.

With thousands of mail-in ballots still to be counted, the closely-watched Anne Arundel County executive race is still very much up in the air. Despite Republican Jessica Haire holding a sizable lead, incumbent Democrat Steuart Pittman said in a message to cabinet members Wednesday morning that he expects to prevail when mail-in ballots are counted over the coming days. “The math suggests that I will be re-elected to a second term,” he wrote in the email. “I look forward to communicating with each of you in the coming days about the opportunities before us.”