Outside of Baltimore City/County, Montgomery and PG county the state is pretty red. Same is true of my former state, bluer than blue California. Get out of the cities and it turns into freeperville pretty fast. About the only states that buck this trend are some New England (VT) and Upper Midwest (MN, WI, IA) states.

O'Malley did help to get some meaningful gun control legislation passed as Governor. And that pissed off the gun-lovers a lot. I know people who voted for O'Malley and Obama that voted for Hogan because of guns. It's crazy, but that's the way it is, and it worries me that guns will hurt us in the GE for president.

The other factor is taxes. O'Malley raised numerous taxes and fees as Governor. He did a great job getting the Maryland income tax to be more progressive by raising income taxes on the wealthy. But he also raised many regressive taxes and fees, e.g., taxes on alcohol and cigarettes, gasoline tax, the sales tax, tolls for I95. A lot of middle class and poor people were hurt by those tax increases and didn't feel like more of the same.

It is remarkable how poorly O'Malley polls in Maryland against Clinton and Sanders. I think he did a pretty good job as Governor. He was much worse as mayor of Baltimore in my opinion.

...the loss was a result of a campaign by Brown which almost every observer said was lackluster and almost invisible. And, to point out the unspoken factor, the fact that Brown is an African American also affected his chances.


Also that election was part of a national trend in which pent-up conservative opposition to Obama fueled republican turnout. Most people vote in off-term elections to express dissatisfaction, not approval. Maryland was no exception to the national trend.

I think the reasons you list are overstated. O'Malley's tax increases were mostly progressive, outside of the sales tax which was offset by the Earned Income adjustment, raising taxes on those who could most afford the increase. Complaints about taxes came from our population of republicans, not any sizable number of Democrats. Support for gun safety legislation had a similar political divide between parties.

And O'Malley didn't do much to campaign for Brown. I don't know by what measure you are saying that his tax increases were mostly progressive. Maybe I am overlooking something, but the income tax increase is the only one that I can think of that was progressive. I agree that a lot of the anti-tax and anti-gun stuff comes mostly from Republicans, but there is a sizable number of Democrats and independents who care about that stuff too.

I think the points you make are good ones. You identify some of the key factors. But I think guns and taxes also played a role. I think I did exaggerate the role of the latter in my post; so thanks for pointing out the other factors.

...with sizable majorities. Moreover, he accomplished a progressive agenda, enacting legislation in my state which the others in this campaign are still just talking about.

That race was Anthony Brown's to win or lose. He ran a lackluster campaign which most Marylanders ignored.

Those who know him best are rejecting him.

...polling results in this election or not.

And you still made a false point about the last election, attributing the loss to O'Malley.

Who does that remind me of?

...basically, in our state, with our Democratic registration advantage, it IS the Democratic nominee's to win or lose. The statement 'to win or lose' is a well-known expression. It doesn't mean anything like they way you interpreted it.

At any rate, the comment was directed to those blaming O'Malley for the loss. You're off in the stratosphere somewhere.