Hogan wins second term as governor

By Lauren MacNeill and Brendan Straub
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer   

Gov. Larry Hogan was re-elected decisively Tuesday night, becoming the first Maryland Republican to win a second gubernatorial term since 1954.  

Hogan, 62, and his running mate, Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford, received nearly 62 percent of the vote in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 2-1 margin.  

Democrat Ben Jealous, who fought an uphill battle from the start, received only 32 percent of the vote.  

The governor wished his opponent well in his future pursuits and thanked him for “running a spirited campaign and for giving Marylanders a real choice.”  

Hundreds of Hogan supporters attended the governor’s election party at the Westin Hotel in Annapolis to celebrate the win.   

“I am deeply humbled by the trust the people of Maryland have placed in me,” Hogan said in his victory speech. “Thank you for giving me this incredible opportunity to continue to serve.”  

Hogan said that Marylanders “voted to keep changing Maryland for the better and showed us that what unites us as Marylanders and as Americans is always greater than that which divides us.”  

“It’s been quite a campaign,” said Tom Kelso, Hogan’s campaign chairman. “I admire Gov. Hogan very, very much.”  

Hogan supporter Ed Kauffman of Crofton, Md., said the governor has great popularity because he focuses on issues and not the party line.  

“He is an issues man before he is a Republican,” Kauffman said. “And he is open to issues as a viewpoint.”  

Hogan promised Democrats and independents who crossed party lines to support him that he would continue to be the governor for all Marylanders.  

Registered Democrat Quinn Fowler from Silver Spring said Hogan is the first Republican politician she has voted for.  

“I believe in what he stands for,” Fowler said. “I’ve met him and spoken to him and I like what I see.”  

Hogan has portrayed himself as a bipartisan governor who has won approval from across the political spectrum.  

“Tonight the voters of Maryland put aside divisive, partisan politics,” Hogan said. “And the people in our great state voted for civility, for bipartisanship and for common sense leadership.”  

Hogan said Maryland has always been “a state of middle temperament” and that “the politics that have divided our nation need not divide our state.”  

John Sollers, a Hogan supporter from Edgewater, Md., said Hogan has created a people’s government.  

“I hope what Hogan has established as governor will carry past his second term,” Sollers said. “He is a breath of fresh air.”  

Hogan surprised many Democrats four years ago when he defeated then Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown. He has since sought the middle ground in Maryland politics.   

“I am proud that we are setting an example for the rest of America,” Hogan said. “Tonight, Maryland sent a loud and clear message to Washington that they will hear all across America.”  

Supporter Caitlin Parm said Hogan is “a man who does what he says” and is more of a change that people want to see.  

“From the get-go I never doubted him,” Parm said. “It’s a great day.”  

Jealous conceded at 10:45 p.m. in front of friends, family and supporters at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore.  

The 45-year-old former president of the NAACP said Marylanders have more in common than they have uncommon, regardless of the color of their skin.  

“The future of the Democratic Party is defined by us deciding to get back to being our best selves. The party of FDR, the party of RFK, the party of MLK and Barbara Mikulski,” Jealous said. “We’re the party that Barbara built.”  

He praised Maryland for being the first state in the nation to pass three landmark pieces of legislation: the DREAM Act, marriage equality and the abolition of the death penalty.   

In his speech, he proclaimed that he is proud of his team for not taking any money from big corporations. 

“I would like to thank the finance team who was told a year ago that while everyone else would be riding a bicycle, they would have to ride a unicycle,” Jealous said.   

Jealous is a civil rights leader, community organizer and former investigative journalist who touted his ability to hold government leaders accountable.   

Jealous’s roots in Maryland stretch across generations. His grandfather worked on the B&O Railroad and his grandmother at Planned Parenthood.   

His mother grew up in West Baltimore in the McCulloh Homes complex and helped to integrate Western High School as a member of the NAACP’s Youth and College Division. His father was part of a small group of white men who fought for the efforts of desegregating Baltimore’s downtown business district.  

“My dad is one of the few white guys who was jailed repeatedly to desegregate this downtown,” Jealous said.   

During the campaign, Jealous proposed what he called Innovation Maryland, a plan designed to help small businesses reach their potential. He also criticized the Hogan administration because, he said, Maryland had lost 5,500 jobs in June 2018 and the state was last in the nation in job growth.   

In his plan, Jealous pledged to lower the Maryland sales tax to 5.75 percent, which he believed would have helped Maryland stay competitive in the region. He wanted to create a Small Business Bill of Rights that would have given protections to small businesses against corrupt behavior.   

Innovation Maryland also would have ensured that all state bids were posted publicly online and communicated to Maryland’s small business communities.   

Jealous faced an uphill battle in the race for campaign donations. His latest campaign finance form for the period Aug. 22 to Oct. 21 showed that he had raised $1.2 million and spent an estimated $700 on media and $575 on printing and campaign materials. Hogan raised more than $2 million during the same period to add to the $8 million he already had in the bank.   

The co-founders of Less Plastic Please, Pat Hershey and Allisa Neifeld, said they are thankful for the honest campaign that Jealous ran.   

“I am happy he didn’t give up – didn’t have any help from outside corporations,” Hershey said. “He had a vision for Maryland and we don’t regret one bit of working for him because we believe what he says is right for Maryland.”   

The two women said Hogan has not done enough to protect the environment. They also said the Republican’s re-election is “the end of democracy as we know it.”  

Jealous proposed raising teacher salaries by 29 percent to be more competitive with other surrounding states. He also wanted to provide the necessary funding for universal pre-K by taxing and regulating marijuana for adult use.   

“We need smaller classrooms, teachers who are paid more and better qualified teachers, which we are not going to get under Governor Hogan,” said Brenda Dorenfield, a retired Baltimore City teacher.   

Hogan touted several accomplishments in his first four years as governor, including setting record funding for education at $25 billion.  

He introduced an education lockbox to increase funding by $4.4 billion over the next 10 years. An additional $1 billion has been allocated for school construction. Hogan also put $175 million of casino revenues towards school safety improvements, as well as mental health counselors, school safety officers and other school safety efforts.  

The governor has put $16 billion towards transportation, $2 billion of which was a historic investment to build and repair roads and bridges throughout the state.  

The Hogan administration outlined a traffic relief plan designed to improve the Capital Beltway, Interstate 270, the Baltimore/Washington Parkway, the Baltimore Beltway and Interstate 95 north of Baltimore.  

In addition, Hogan has taken credit for creating over 100,000 new jobs over the past four years. He has publicized his $1.2 billion to Maryland families and small businesses in tax, toll and fee relief.  

“I stand here tonight full of hope,” Hogan said. “Hope for our state, hope for our nation and hope for a future that is brighter than the present and brighter than the past.”