The Maryland Democratic Party’s “center-right legislators have shrunk to a handful,” writes Barry Rascovar, a former editorial writer at the Baltimore Sun.
The Republican Party faces a similar problem.
None of the three GOP legislators who voted for marriage equality is returning to Annapolis. Two were elected to local office, Senator Alan Kittleman and Delegate Wade Kach; Del. Robert Costa has retired.
Five years ago, I introduced legislation listing the family members who are allowed to remove a deceased’s remains from a burial site and reinter them elsewhere. An amendment to remove domestic partners from that list was supported by 32 Republicans. Only two voted against it.
Twelve Republican members voted in 1991 for the choice legislation that the voters approved on referendum, 68-32%.
For nearly 40 years, compromise language has authorized Medicaid funding of abortions because of a woman’s mental health. An amendment to strip that language received 48 votes in the House. All but six of the 48 were Republicans.
No Republicans voted for the Firearm Safety Act of 2013.
I tried to find out how many GOP members of the new legislature were endorsed by the NRA, but you must belong to the NRA to view its endorsements,
As Groucho Marx would say, that’s not a club that would accept me as a member.
