Free Republic

Public Policy Polling is out with a new survey this morning on the gay marriage referendum likely to be on the Maryland ballot this fall.  It's historic, because it shows that Maryland is likely to pass—by a wide margin—the referendum holding up the bill that lawmakers passed in late February. It's incredible because of the shift in previous polls, particularly among black voters in Maryland.  Check out this flip: In March, 56 percent of black respondents said they would vote against the law, with only 39 percent supporting it. Now, 55 percent of black voters plan to support it, with only 36...

The Maryland General Assembly passed a $260 million tax increase Wednesday as it adjourned from a three-day special session that ended with Gov. Martin O'Malley saying he will bring lawmakers back for another session this summer. The House gave final approval to two bills that will raise income taxes and shift a portion of teacher pension costs to counties to balance the state’s $35.5 billion budget, which is nearly $1 billion larger than last year’s spending plan.

When Marylanders go to the polls in November, the most interesting races might not involve political candidates. The state’s voters will elect eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives and one U.S. senator, and will help choose a president, but an unprecedented slate of ballot initiatives is expected to set the state’s course on social issues, including same-sex marriage and illegal immigration, and potentially on gambling and congressional redistricting. This will be the first time in 20 years that a voter-petitioned referendum makes the state’s ballot, and as many as three could appear. All were initiated by Republicans who...

Fox News & CNN are projecting Romney wins MD in their banners. Santorum wasn't on the DC ballot. Wisconsin polls close at 8pm CDT/9pm EDT.

Earlier today, Maryland federal district Benson Everett Legg decided the case of Woollard v. Sheridan. Plaintiffs on the case are Robert Woollard and the Second Amendment Foundation. The lead attorney for plaintiffs is Alan Gura, the winning attorney in D.C. v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago. As explained in the district court’s Dec. 2010 ruling, rejecting a motion to dismiss: Plaintiff Woollard initially obtained a handgun carry permit after he was assaulted by an intruder in his home in 2002. The permit was renewed in 2005. At that time, the intruder had recently been released from prison, providing a “good...

WASHINGTON - Frederick County wants to make visitors feel right at home with welcome signs highlighting some of its best aspects, but Maryland is blocking efforts to put the signs on state highways. The signs say, "Welcome to Frederick County. Open for business." Board of County Commissioners President Blaine Young said he believes politics is to blame for the state's rejection. "The state feels that government creates jobs. We feel that businesses create jobs and that's why they reject putting our signs on state-operated highways," he said. "If the State of Virginia can have 'open for business' on their welcome...

BALTIMORE – Forty Maryland Republican legislators and party leaders Tuesday endorsed Gov. Rick Perry for president. “Rick Perry is the candidate who not only can lead our party to victory in 2012 – he’s the candidate who will get America working again,” said State Senator Chris Shank. “With more than a million jobs gained in Texas on his watch, Gov. Perry’s record proves that the conservative philosophy works.” “Rick Perry is a principled conservative who has signed 65 tax cuts, reduced state spending and stood up to the job-killing regulations of Washington bureaucrats,” said State Delegate Kelly Schulz. “Gov. Perry...

Secret Service Agent-Turned Senate Hopeful: ‘I Like the President,’ but ‘Policies Just Wrong’ After more than a decade protecting presidents with the Secret Service, Daniel Bongino is currently running against the policies that the most recent president he worked under – President Obama – has moved along. Bongino, who quit his job with the Secret Service in May to run for the Senate as a Republican in Maryland, told us on ABC’s “Top Line” today that it’s nothing personal. “I like the president a lot personally. We had a good relationship. He was a wonderful man to me, and this...