Location is irrelevant.
Just south of us is IL, which is also far from the nation's capital. How did we elect a Republican majority but IL didn't?
It's all about leadership, and standing your ground, and fighting for what you believe in. When you support the goals of your opposition under the false premise of bipartisanship, why even be a Republican?
Former Gov. Ehrlich, as I recall, adopted your strategy. He was nearly irrelevant for four years, with many of his vetoes being overridden, and leading directly the election of the most liberal governor in Maryland's history, who damaged the state immeasurably.
Maryland's legislature, if push comes to shove, can govern without the new Republican governor. They demonstrated this with Gov. Ehrlich. That's the facts.
Gov.-elect Hogan is a good old boy. He's been involved in local politics since his youth, as his daddy was a locl boy that served in Congress and as the PG County executive. He has friends on both sides of the aisle. There are still a fair number of old-style southern Democrats in this state, and reading their commentary during the election season, it was quite clear that many of them preferred Mr. Hogan to outgoing Lt. Gov. Brown. Stretching out his hand to these folks is the way to get some of them to work with him.
Conversely, if he takes a confrontational approach, these not-as-insane Dems will circle the wagons and vote with the other Dems against every piece of legislation he proposes, and to overturn every veto he makes. And for good measure, just as they did to Gov. Ehrlich, maybe they'll toss in a bogus criminal investigation or two, so they can call him "corrupt" when he runs for re-election.
He's in real estate development, an area where many of our part-time state legislators make a few bucks, and many make a lot more than a few. He has good business relations with many of these folks. Given his stated approach, he will likely be able to peel off a moderate number of not-completely-insane Dems, and be able to accomplish a limited agenda, primarily tied to reducing taxes, moderating spending, and not furthering the social agenda of the liberals.
And that is as good as it's going to get.
sitetest
“Just south of us is IL, which is also far from the nation’s capital. How did we elect a Republican majority but IL didn’t?”
Washington has the money lure... Chicago not so much.