Election 2014 Wrap-up
The bad news
Yes, the Republicans won big last Tuesday. The strength of their wave was unanticipated, and it even spread to Maryland. Republican Larry Hogan will become Governor of Maryland in January. Republicans grabbed nine seats in the House of Delegates and two in the Senate. In Anne Arundel County, Steve Schuh held the county executive position for the GOP, and ultraconservative Michael Peroutka held on to the District 5 council seat. In Baltimore County, Todd Crandell picked up the 7th District council seat for the Republicans.
Seats that changed parties:
| Location | Incumbent | Senator-elect |
| District 6 (Dundalk, Essex) | OPEN (D) | Johnny Ray Salling (R) |
| District 29 (St. Mary’s County) | Roy Dyson (D) | Steve Waugh (R) |
| Location | Incumbent | Delegate-elect |
| District 1B (Cumberland, Frostburg) | Kevin Kelly (D) | Jason Buckel (R) |
| District 2B (Hagerstown) | John Donoghue (D) | Brett Wilson (R) |
| District 3A (Frederick) | OPEN (R) | Carol Krimm (D) |
| District 6 (Dundalk, Essex) | Mike Weir (D) | Robert Long (R) |
| District 6 (Dundalk, Essex) | OPEN (D) | Robin Grammer (R) |
| District 6 (Dundalk, Essex) | OPEN (D) | Ric Metzgar (R) |
| District 29A (Leonardtown, Mechanicsburg) | OPEN (D) | Matt Morgan (R) |
| District 29B (Lexington Park) | John Bohanan (D) | Deb Rey (R) |
| District 31A (Brooklyn Park, Glen Burnie) | OPEN (R) | Ned Carey (D) |
| District 35A (Elkton, Port Deposit) | David Rudolph (D) | Kevin Hornberger (R) |
| District 38B (Salisbury) | Norman Conway (D) | Carl Anderton (R) |
Maryland Democrats suffered from an unpopular outgoing governor decried by opponents for his numerous tax increases, a distant and impersonal gubernatorial campaign by Anthony Brown, low turnout levels, and a national Republican wave.
Through superior organization, we can come from behind to win, as the Republicans have done over the past decade. Democrats need to work together more effectively across all levels, as Larry Hogan did in District 6, where Republicans swept the Senate seat and all three seats in the House this year. We need to mobilize a force to turn out voters, and register new voters when they move. And we need to adopt policies popular with the people of Maryland, rather than resorting to increasing our tax burden. Many voters are still looking for a Democrat they can believe in. They didn’t find many in 2014.
The good news
There were some bright spots on Election Day:
- Democrats gained two House seats from Republicans: one open seat in District 3A in Frederick County and one in the northern Anne Arundel district 31A.
- Democratic Congressman John Delaney held on in MD-06 against Republican Dan Bongino, 49.7-48.2%.
- Democrats retook control of the Kent County legislature.
- The first Frederick County Executive will be Democrat Jan Gardner. Democrats also won three out of seven county council seats.
