“The problem is that the state is comprised to a very large degree of Federal Employees and the baggage that government workers always have.”
Bingo.
Well, almost. MD is traditionally “Democrat” - homegrown from the Civil War era (can’t let it go) as well as foreigners (of the type you mention). The CW types couldn’t let go until it was too late, and by then Feds had taken over.
Never mind the problems of a big city, especially when it is a big % of your land mass as well as population.
True - there is more than just the Federal employee issue (although my wife is a Fed employee and as conservative as me)...
You have the high black population, the “hereditary Democrats” (my daddy was a Dem so I am) that are all over Baltimore, Anne Arundel, and Howard Counties, the Columbia hippie types, all contributing as well to MD’s Dem slant.