Maryland Democratic Party Executive Director David Sloan issued the following statement after Maryland Republicans officially announced how many signatures they submitted in their effort to petition the Congressional Districting Plan to referendum:
Despite exhausting all of their limited resources on the redistricting petition, the Maryland Republican Party has fallen far short of their intended goal. The GOP has failed to convince even their own activists to support their far-right, tea party agenda. Voters will see the GOP’s referendum effort as a desperate partisan power-grab designed to overturn a redistricting plan that reflects Maryland’s diversity, creates more competitive districts and was upheld by the US Supreme Court.
Pending the State Board of Elections’ determination that the validated petition signatures satisfy constitutional requirements, the Maryland Democratic Party will weigh all options to protect the integrity of the referendum process and ensure that every petition was completed and collected in line with Maryland laws and regulations.
This November, we are confident that Maryland voters will once again resoundingly reject Maryland’s dead end Republicans, and will choose to move forward with President Obama and Democrats.
Maryland Democratic Party Chair Yvette Lewis issued the following statement today after Karl Rove attended the Maryland Republican Party’s annual dinner:
President Bush and Mr. Rove inherited a $1.2 trillion surplus but handed President Obama a trillion dollar deficit, created zero net private sector jobs over 8 years, led the economy into deep recession while handing out exorbitant tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires, and presided over a period where incomes for working families fell, poverty proliferated and the number of uninsured ballooned.
So it’s not surprising, Mr. Rove failed to mention the disastrous Bush legacy during his momentary break in Maryland from raising secret money and peddling dishonest attack ads. Mr. Rove pulled the strings behind an Administration that demonstrated remarkably bad judgment and routinely prioritized political ambition over good policy.
President Obama and Governor O’Malley are committed to moving our state and country forward, and are fighting to make the right investments for the future, ensure more children can afford college, promote high-tech innovation and manufacturing and support renewable American energy. The President’s policies have already helped us create 4.3 million private sector jobs during 27 straight months of job growth. Mitt Romney and Karl Rove simply want to double down on the same bad Bush policies that caused this economic mess in the first place. Their approach to strip away consumer protections, privatize Social Security and Medicare, slash investments in workers and students, while protecting tax breaks for the wealthy and big business, is irresponsible and wrong.
The choice in this election is whether we continue to move forward with the President or go back to the days of Karl Rove. I am confident that Maryland and the nation will refuse to go backwards on Election Day.
Maryland’s floundering Republican Party chose another out of touch, obstructionist tea party candidate to run for higher office today. With House of Delegates Minority Leader Anthony O’Donnell announcing his candidacy for Congress, the GOP signaled they believe in promoting failed leadership.
Last spring, Anthony O’Donnell spent more energy trying to block progress instead of moving Maryland forward and even the miniscule Republican Caucus began to make plans to replace O’Donnell as Minority Leader. Even his own Party wants him out, but he thinks he should move up. This is eerily similar to Nancy Jacobs’ exit from a failed term as Senate Minority Leader to run for Congress in the 2nd district and GOP Chairman Alex Mooney’s decision to leave the party with over $100,000 in debt to run for Congress in the 6th district.
O’Donnell has shown he values partisan politics over consensus and solutions for Marylanders. In 2011 alone, O’Donnell voted against a balanced budget, school construction and infrastructure investments.
Maryland does not need another member of Congress that will join Roscoe Bartlett and Andy Harris in voting with the GOP to raise taxes on the middle class, raise healthcare premiums on seniors, and dismantle important programs like Medicare. While the GOP plays politics, Congressman Steny Hoyer continues to fight for the needs of all of his constituents.
