Anne Arundel County is a pretty socially-liberal place. Even many of the Republicans are socially liberal, or at least more so than the average Republican voter in the US. So, I decided to test that theory by mapping out the results of the two socially-oriented state questions on the ballot in November: Question 4 (tuition for immigrants) and Question 6 (marriage rights for gays).
Question 4
Question 6
The biggest thing that surprised me was the stark difference between the Severna Park/Arnold area vs. the Pasadana/Lake Shore area. While both capes are reliably Republican, Lake Shore is far more socially conservative than Arnold. Nearly every precinct between the Severn and Magothy rivers voted in favor of marriage equality, while there were only three between the Magothy and the Patapsco.
Another fact that struck me from the maps was that Crofton is very similar in this way to Severna Park and Arnold. Every single Crofton precinct voted in favor of question 6, even though the town is a toss-up politically (49% Obama in 2012). In addition, no Crofton precinct voted for question 4 by less than 48%.
Voters in Maryland's 33rd legislative district and the 5th councilmanic district should take note. For a pretty socially liberal electorate, their elected officials are currently very conservative.
The same cannot be said for Crofton's more reliably Democratic neighbor, Odenton. Over 57% of Odenton went for Obama in 2012, but it appears to be more socially conservative than Crofton. The Maple Ridge precinct (04-003) voted against question 6, and they were joined by King's Ransom (04-012) and East Piney Orchard (04-023) in their opposition to question 4.
Other than that, everything was as expected. West county and Annapolis vote liberal, south and northeast county vote conservative. The south continues its leftward trend, due to "spillover" from PG county and trends towards Democrats in Shady Side. However it will be quite some time before the south turns "blue."
Back in 2009, I laid down the following rant concerning Maryland Delegate Don Dwyer (R-Crazytown) and his quest to ban being gay:
Congratulations, Delegate Donald H. Dwyer, Maryland state delegate
from District 31. You have won the Hero of the Millennium Award. And you
certainly deserve it.
You are one of the few Americans who realize that the American Dream
has nothing to do with being successful and raising your kids into a
world that will accept them for who they are; it’s about going on a
crusade against equal rights for same-sex couples. Upon hearing that Conaway v. Deane & Polyak,
which would have granted marriage licenses to nine Maryland couples,
was being heard by the Baltimore Circuit Court, you flipped your lid.
You introduced countless proposals into the state legislature which would have blocked the attempt altogether. After the judge ruled in the plaintiff’s favor, you sponsored a bill which would have banned same-sex marriage in the state. That’ll teach those pesky gays!
When the state Court of Appeals finally ruled against Conaway, you didn’t even stop to party — you introduced a resolution to impeach the circuit court judge for daring to find in favor of Marylanders seeking equality.
You have also averaged two amendment proposals per year, and it shows
your perseverance, especially since they are consistently defeated with
greater and greater margins (13-6 for your latest 2009 attempt, which had the added perk of banning the mere discussion of same-sex marriage in public schools).
Sir, you know what it takes to be a true American. You are role model
for conservative Republicans and homophobes throughout the world.
Maryland is proud of you.
That was three years ago. Of course, this year, Maryland finally passed an equal-marriage law (subject to a popular referendum this November). Dwyer can't have been pleased, and maybe he just missed the spotlight.
Then, in late August 2012, this happened. I put it in caps because it's absolutely ridiculous, and gets more so after every word.
The youngest child, a 5-year-old girl, had a fractured skull.
This coming from the hardcore "Christian" Delegate Dwyer.
Dan Rodricks of the Baltimore Sun wrote an excellent article about the effects of the crash on Dwyer's political career. It also contains some lovely tidbits about his anti-equality crusade:
"my memory of Dwyer from that conversation was less the devout Christian
than middle-age homophobe, obsessed with the sinister advance of gay
rights."
"For one thing, [gay men and women] would demand that homosexuality be taught in public schools"
"Dwyer made it sound like some sort of indoctrination process, or gay recruitment. The man was pretty serious about that."
"In the State House, he handed out a pamphlet with explicit descriptions
of gay and lesbian sex acts, claiming that similar material had been
passed out to children in Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage is
legal."
"Dwyer opposed everything gay, including a bill granting certain benefits
to unmarried couples, such as medical decision-making and hospital
visitation rights"
"He also called for the impeachment of Doug Gansler following the
attorney general's opinion that Maryland could recognize same-sex unions
legally performed in other states."
And he closes with a very, very good point:
"Gays, lesbians, transgender and bisexual people — how do they impede or harm Dwyer's life?"
