All posts by: Dinah Winnick

David H. Murray, a 20-year-old UMBC economics major and Sondheim Scholar, has advanced to the general election for a Prince George’s County Board of Education seat (District 1) after receiving roughly 1,500 more votes than candidate Zabrina Epps in the April 3rd primary. ‘I’m extremely pleased, very happy,” said Murray, in news coverage of the election. “I didn’t take it for granted. I worked for every single vote.” Murray earned 56% of the vote, while Epps, an academic advisor at CCBC, earned 31%.

UMBC sophomore Edward Burroughs, who was running for school board in District 8, was also successful in his primary bid. The Prince George’s County incumbent ran against four other candidates for two general election slots and received 67% of the vote.

“Mitt Romney has been treated rather roughly, even unfairly, by the national media,” suggests UMBC political science professor Thomas Schaller in his latest Baltimore Sun column. The article, “Worry about Romney’s positions, not his gaffes,” argues that it’s time for the national media and voters to focus on Romney’s policy platforms, rather than his relatability.
“What Mr. Romney would actually do in the White House matters more than how personally awkward he may be,” writes Schaller, “And on this count, his long list of social issue flip-flops and his troubling economic proposals are sufficient cause for concern.”

As election season moves into high gear, UMBC faculty are providing media with insight into both local and national political developments.

Laura Hussey, assistant professor of political science, commented for AP on Maryland state Sen. Anthony Muse’s campaign to oust U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin. Muse has promoted himself as a better advocate on issues such as consumer protection, but Hussey notes that Cardin maintains an incumbent’s advantage, benefiting from name recognition, prominent endorsements and strong financial support.

Hussey argues that if the seat were open, rather than occupied by an incumbent, demographic and geographic differences between Muse and Cardin would play a greater role in the election. Muse has suggested that Maryland is poised to elect an African-American to the U.S. senate at a moment when there are no black U.S. senators.

Don Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, predicted for the National Journal that “there won’t be any surprises” in the Maryland and D.C. Republican primaries—Romney is likely to easily take the lead in both.

“The Republican electorate in Maryland is a little more moderate”—and Romney-friendly—“than in other states below the Mason-Dixon line,” says Norris. Although the primary might be less exciting in Maryland than other states, the delegates are just as important. “Romney’s waging a war of attrition against Santorum and Gingrich,” Norris argues. “Every time he wins a delegate…[it] goes into the plus column to eventually get to the 1,144 that he’s got to have.”

Patch reports that nearly 60,000 people turned out for early voting in Maryland, March 24-29, but that accounts for just 1.88% of eligible voters statewide. UMBC public policy professor and chair Donald Norris, quoted in the story, suggests these early votes will have little impact on the overall election turnout.

“Virtually nothing improves voting turnout except when people are really, really excited about what’s going on in a campaign,” Norris said. The GOP presidential primary candidates are now trying to energize Republican voters across the state through local speaking appearances.

The GOP presidential primary is drawing more attention in Maryland than usual, AP reports, given the protracted fight for the nomination among the top candidates. Anticipating a low primary election turn-out among Maryland Republicans, which already comprise a relatively small group, former Gov. Ehrlich suggests the results are “difficult to predict.”

Don Norris, UMBC professor and chair of public policy, disagrees. “I think it’s going to go for Romney,” he says, “because even the base in Maryland is not as conservative of a base as…some other states.”

The latest Baltimore Sun column by UMBC political science professor Thomas Schaller delves into the Democratic primary election in Maryland’s Sixth Congressional District, a seat held by longtime Republican incumbent Roscoe Bartlett.
Schaller focuses on the candidacy of Dr. Milad Pooran, a 35-year-old Iranian-American physician and veteran of the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps. He sees Pooran as both “a different kind of candidate” and distinct from Maryland current Democratic House delegates who, as a group, “aren’t short on political careerism or business connections.” Learn more in his Sun column.

“The protracted battle for the Republican presidential nomination is about to thrust Maryland’s GOP voters into the unusual position of having a voice in a national political contest even though they live in one of the country’s most reliably blue states,” reports today’s Baltimore Sun. The battle for the state’s 37 delegates has begun.

One Maryland lawmaker suggests, “Maryland is a state that could be up for grabs,” but UMBC public policy chair and MIPAR director Donald Norris has a more reserved perspective. “Every delegate at this point is important,” he says. “But could Maryland knock one of them out? Absolutely not.”

UMBC’s Eric Zeemering, assistant professor of public policy, commented in the Baltimore Sun this week on a measure that would allow residents of New Windsor to recall their local elected officials.

Zeemering credited the sluggish economy with motivating recall efforts and petition drives across the U.S. “There is not mass public distrust of government,” he said. “In many cases, this is about the serious budget and services challenges these jurisdictions face as the full impact of the recession unfolds.”