Need a few laughs next week? The Montgomery County Young Democrats are hosting a Republican Debate-watching party next Wednesday, October 28th in Silver Spring (details below). They'll have comedians on hand to skewer Donald Trump and the GOP Clown Car gang, including Lee Camp, Chelsea Shorte, and Brian Parise.
Below Maryland Juice provides a rundown of fundraising numbers for Democratic candidates running the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives in Maryland. We are posting numbers from a range of sources including official FEC reports, press releases, and news articles -- but when all the candidates officially file FEC reports, we will continuously update the data with the submitted information. Note that candidates can also make loans and/or personal contributions to themselves. In future posts, we'll take a deep dive into various aspects of these fundraising reports.
INFORMATION LAST UPDATED
October 19 at 6:06 pm
Summary Table of Current Cash on Hand
US Senate
Chris Van Hollen - $4.1 million
Donna Edwards - $368,507
8th Congressional District
Kathleen Matthews - $891,716
Jamie Raskin - $693,918
Kumar Barve - $276,344
Will Jawando - $196,481
Ana Sol Gutierrez - $151,573 (includes $44,500 loan)
David Anderson - $46,000 (includes $30,000 loan)
Joel Rubin - report not required (recently filed candidate)
BACKGROUND: Maryland currently has two vacancies in the House of Delegates, due to the recent passing of Delegate Jim Proctor and the resignation of Delegate Will Campos for personal reasons. Both members of the General Assembly served as Democrats, and under Maryland law, the vacancies will be filled by a vote of the elected Democratic Central Committees representing the counties where the members previously served. The recommendations of these county Central Committees are then sent to the Governor for formal appointment.
Notably, Delegate Will Campos' District 47B is contained wholly within Prince George's County. As a result, the elected members of the Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee get to make the recommendation for Campos' replacement. In contrast, Delegate Jim Proctor's District 27A is contained within both Prince George's County and Charles County. Correspondingly, both counties' Democratic Central Committees take independent votes on a replacement for Delegate Proctor. Though the appointment process is not yet complete in either legislative district, we have a very good sense of who will replace Delegates Jim Proctor and Will Campos:
Likely Replacement in District 27A: Susie Proctor
Likely Replacement in District 47B: Carlo Sanchez
DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL COMMITTEES CHOOSE SANCHEZ & PROCTOR - The Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee (PGCDCC) met on October 6th to nominate people to fill the Delegate vacancies in D27A and D47B. Without any of the drama or backroom chaos that often accompanies these procedures (on bothsides of the aisle), the PGCDCC unanimously recommended Susie Proctor and Carlo Sanchez to fill the vacancies for District 27A and 47B, respectively. These names are submitted to Governor Larry Hogan, who has fifteen days to make the appointment.
For Mr. Sanchez, the process effectively concluded last night since
District 47B is completely within Prince George's County, but Proctor's
District 27A also includes portions of Charles County - so that Central
Committee must weigh in as well for the second vacant seat. Article III, Section 13 (b) (3) states (excerpt below, emphasis mine):
If the vacancy occurs in a district which has boundaries comprising a portion or all of two or more counties, the Central Committee of each county involved shall have one vote for submitting the name of a resident of the district; and if there is a tie vote between or among the Central Committees, the list of names there proposed shall be submitted to the Governor, and he shall make the appointment from the list
Earlier this evening, the Charles County Democratic Central Committee joined their Prince George's counterparts in recommending Susie Proctor for the D27A vacancy by a vote of 14-1. Proctor faced competition from Charles County Orphans Court Judge Darlene Breck, and activist and former Commissioner-candidate Jim Easter.
MD'S UNIQUE PROCESS FOR FILLING STATE LEGISLATIVE VACANCIES - Maryland is one of 25 states that fill legislative vacancies through an appointment process, while the other 25 (including Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia) have special elections. While the Governor makes the formal appointment, the Maryland Constitution stipulates that the appointee must of be of the same political party as the person they succeed and carves out a role for the local Central Committee. Article III, Section 13 (a) (1) lays it out (excerpt below, emphasis mine):
In case of death, disqualification, resignation, refusal to act, expulsion, or removal from the county or city for which he shall have been elected, of any person who shall have been chosen as a Delegate or Senator, or in case of a tie between two or more such qualified persons, the Governor shall appoint a person to fill such vacancy from a person whose name shall be submitted to him in writing, within thirtydays after the occurrence of the vacancy, by the Central Committee of the political party, if any, with which the Delegate or Senator, so vacating, had been affiliated, at the time of the last election or appointment of the vacating Senator or Delegate, in the County or District from which he or she was appointed or elected, provided that the appointee shall be of the same political party, if any, as was that of the Delegate or Senator, whose office is to be filled, at the time of the last election or appointment of the vacating Delegate or Senator, and it shall be the duty of the Governor to make said appointment within fifteen days after the submission thereof to him.
Carlo Sanchez
WHO IS CARLO SANCHEZ? - Carlo Sanchez's name was mentioned immediately following Del. Campos' resignation. He's a lifelong resident of House of Delegates District 47B, and is currently President of the Carole Highlands Civic Association. While the Prince George's Central Committee is his first elected position (he is the body's Secretary), Carlo has been active in local campaigns including managing Wanda Shelton Martin's unsuccessful bid for Delegate in the 47th in 2010. Carlo currently works as Public Safety Training Officer at Montgomery College.
Mr. Sanchez received the backing of Senator Ramirez and the 47th Delegation, and surprisingly no one else threw their hat in the ring. Other names that were floated include Dinora Hernandez who sits on the Price George's County Board of Education, and former Jolene Ivey-aide Wanika Fisher. Carlo's appointment would keep the number of Latino state legislators at 6. Maryland is home to more than 500,000 Hispanic residents. District 47B is the state's first Hispanic-majority district.
Susie Proctor
WHO IS SUSIE PROCTOR? - Susie Proctor is widely assumed to be the choice to complete her husband's term in the House of Delegates. The support of Senate President Mike Miller, who represents District 27, likely sealed the deal . Susie is a former educator, having worked for Prince George's County Public Schools for 30 years. She has not run for elected office before, but is the Vice Chairman of the Prince George's Community College Board of Trustees and Chair of the County Tax Assessment Appeal Board.
Widow/widower succession is not a new concept nationally or locally. Maryland examples includes former Congresswoman Beverly Byron, former Delegate Mary Conroy and former Montgomery County Councilmember Don Praisner.
Aaaaand we're back! Sorry for the 10 month hiatus, but Maryland Juice founder David Moon stepped away from his writing duties to learn how to become a lawmaker in Annapolis. During that period, a lot of good political news went uncovered, but in recent months some new blogs and local publications have stepped into the Maryland press void. We hope to re-join this community in the coming weeks -- but as always, we will do so from the lens of Maryland's progressive Democratic community, with a twist of civil liberties and justice blended into your juice. :)
Unfortunately (or fortunately), Maryland Juice 1.0 (David Moon) will be taking an indefinite hiatus from his writing duties and lining up new writers for the blog. During this transition period, he'll be helping the new writers understand the readership data for Maryland Juice, it's writing style, etc. The goal will be to keep the mission of the blog the same (eg: justice oriented Maryland political news), but to bring some new voices into the mix. That being said, all story ideas and press distribution should go to the new writers. Moon is going to be shifting into a passive role with the blog. We'll see where this takes us.....
OH SNAP, NEW WRITERS! - The first of the new writers under the Maryland Juice 2.0 reboot will be Matt Verghese, a Montgomery County-based Democratic politico. He's kicking us off with a handful of articles on voter suppression in MoCo, endorsements in Maryland's Congressional races, and a summary of recent state polling results. Add this guy to your press list & send him some juicy leads: matt@marylandjuice.com.
Meet Matt Verghese, a Maryland Juice 2.0 writer
WHO IS THIS GUY ANYWAY? - Matt Verghese comes to Maryland Juice after a long stint in Annapolis - including working for the General Assembly, serving as Political and Communications Director of the Maryland Democratic Party, and as Lt. Governor Anthony Brown's Deputy Chief of Staff. He's been involved in a number of campaigns - including Governor O'Malley's 2010 reelect, serving as Deputy Coordinated Campaign Director in 2012, and the 2014 gubernatorial race. He currently works as a Senior Aide to Tom Hucker at the Montgomery County Council.
Matt is lover of all things Maryland - especially the Terps, berger cookies, crabs smothered in Old Bay, and local craft beers. He's opinionated (extremely so according to some), happily biased against outdated trickle-down reactionary policies and the politicians who espouse them, and a wonkish enthusiast of data, tables and charts. Matt lives in Montgomery County and is a proud graduate of MCPS. He received both his bachelor and master's degrees from the University of Maryland. You can reach Matt Verghese at matt@marylandjuice.com.
Below Maryland Juice provides a round-up of endorsements for each Democrat running in the state's two open-seat races for the U.S. House of Representatives: 1) the 8th Congressional District (currently held by Rep. Chris Van Hollen) and 2) the 4th Congressional District (currently held by Rep. Donna Edwards). DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY ENDORSEMENTS IN MD'S 8TH AND 4TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT - We included endorsements from organizations, current elected officials,
and former elected officials. We also included labor unions whose donations appeared on the candidates' campaign finance reports. Candidates not listed below are Democrats who have not announced any endorsements we are aware of. If you think we've missed anything, please
contact me at matt@marylandjuice.com. QUICK TAKE -- DO ENDORSEMENTS MATTER? - Voters often say that political endorsements don't influence their decision making. Celebrities, newspapers and even faith leaders don't do much better. Why? Voters want to see themselves as independent decision makers not overly influenced to cast a ballot because some editorial board or politician told them to. But in a race where issues and ideology don't distinguish the candidates, endorsements might help voters decide (maybe more than they're willing admit). The competition for endorsements is often part of a behind-the-scenes "invisible primary" among the political class, and when there is often limited press coverage of these primaries - endorsements often guarantee (positive) media attention. With 5 current members of the General Assembly running for Congress -- including 3 committee chairs -- the Annapolis undercurrents are not difficult to see (eg: 10 members of Economic Matters endorsing their Chairman Dereck Davis in the 4th District, House Speaker Mike Busch and Senate President Mike Miller endorsing their respective colleagues). Personal relationships matter too (see eg: Rep. Sarbanes endorsing law school classmate Sen. Raskin, County Executive Baker backing longtime family friend Glenn Ivey, etc). What are the marquee endorsements? Those that bring with them money, people and attention. That's why labor matters, as do persons with high recognition and approval among the electorate (current and former Presidents top that list). Important to note that since this election is in a purely federal cycle without state races on the ballot, many state and local electeds cannot expend their state campaign financewarchests on behalf of their chosen federal candidates. Don't count anyone out yet, because there's still one thing that could potentially make the biggest difference in today's post-Citizen's United and McCutheon campaign-world: A super PAC.
8TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT ENDORSEMENTS
Jamie Raskin
National Organizations:
Democracy for America
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers PAC (donation)
Progressive Change Campaign Committee
Progressive Democrats of America
Federal Elected Officials:
US House Rep John Conyers (MI)
US House Rep John Sarbanes (MD)
US House Rep Mark Takano (CA)
Former US Senator Birch Bayh (IN)
Former US Senator Joseph Tydings (MD)
State Elected Officials:
Attorney General Brian Frosh
Former Attorney General Doug Gansler
State Senate President Mike Miller
State Senate Majority Leader Catherine Pugh
State Senator John Astle
State Senator James Brochin
State Senator Ed DeGrange
State Senator Nathaniel McFadden
State Senator Mac Middleton
State Senator Susan Lee
State Senator Rich Madaleno
State Senator Karen Montgomery
State Senator Douglass JJ Peters
State Senator Paul Pinsky
State Senator Victor Ramirez
State Senator Jim Rosapepe
State Senator Ron Young
State Senator Bobby Zirkin
Delegate Sheila Hixson
Delegate Karen Lewis Young
Delegate David Moon
Delegate Will Smith
Delegate Jimmy Tarlau
Former Delegate Gil Genn
Local Elected Officials:
Montgomery County Sheriff Darren Popkin
Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy
Montgomery County Planning Board Chair Casey Anderson
Montgomery County Council President George Leventhal
Montgomery County Councilmember Roger Berliner
Montgomery County Councilmember Hans Riemer
Montgomery County Councilmember Marc Elrich
Montgomery County Board of Education President Pat O'Neill
Montgomery County Board of Education member Judy Docca
Montgomery County Board of Education member Rebecca Smondrowski
Former Montgomery County Board of Education President Shirley Brandman
Takoma Park Mayor Bruce Williams
Takoma Park City Councilmember Kate Stewart
Takoma Park City Councilmember Seth Grimes
Takoma Park City Councilmember Fred Schultz
Takoma Park City Councilmember Terry Seamens
Takoma Park City Councilmember Jarrett Smith
Kensington Mayor Pete Fosselman
Kensington City Councilmember Paul Sexton
Rockville City Councilmember Tom Moore
Martin's Addition Councilmember Josh Bowers
Chevy Chase Village Board of Managers member Minh Le
Former Mayor of the Town of Chevy Chase Mier Wolf
Kathleen Matthews
Federal Elected Officials:
US House Rep Cheri Bustos (IL)
US House Rep Katherine Clark (MA)
US House Rep Debbie Dingell (MI)
US House Rep Anna Eshoo (CA)
US House Rep Lois Frankel (FL)
US House Rep Ann McLane Kuster (NH)
Former US House Rep Beverly Byron (MD)
Kumar Barve
Organizations:
Maryland Medical Political Action Committee
State Elected Officials:
Maryland House Speaker Mike Busch
House Speaker Pro Tem Adrienne Jones
Former Maryland Speaker Cas Taylor
Former Maryland Speaker Clayton Mitchell
Former Senator Jennie Forehand
Delegate Pamela Beidle
Delegate Talmadge Branch
Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo
Delegate Barbara Frush
Delegate Jim Gilchrist
Delegate Anne Healey
Delegate Marvin Holmes
Delegate Carol Krimm
Delegate Steven Lafferty
Delegate Clarence Lam
Delegate Eric Leudtke
Delegate Cory McCray
Delegate Aruna Miller
Delegate Andrew Platt
Delegate Shane Robinson
Delegate Dana Stein
Delegate Joe Vallario
Delegate Craig Zucker
Former Delegate John Hurson
Former Delegate Carol Petzold
Former Delegate Galen Claggett
Local Elected Officials:
Garrett Park Mayor Peter Benjamin
Westminster Councilmember Greg Pecoraro
Former Montgomery County Board of Education Member Alan Cheung
Ana Sol Gutierrez
Organizations:
Poder PAC
4TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT ENDORSEMENTS
Joseline Pena-Melynk
Organizations:
Blue America
Congressional Hispanic Caucus BOLD PAC
Democracy for America
International Association of Heat & Frost Insulators PAC (donation)
Poder PAC
Progressive Change Campaign Committee
State Elected Officials:
State Senator Jim Rosapepe
Delegate Ben Barnes
Delegate Pam Beidle
Delegate Mark Chang
Delegate Barbara Frush
Delegate Peter Hammen
Delegate Anne Healey
Delegate Shane Pendergrass
Delegate Ted Sophocleus
Local Elected Officials:
Prince George’s Councilmember Mary Lehman
Prince George’s Councilmember Danielle Glaros
Prince George’s Board of Education Member Lupi Grady
Anne Arundel Councilmember Andrew Prusky
Anne Arundel Board of Education Member Stacy Korbelak
Anne Arundel Board of Education Member Julie Hummer
Laurel Mayor Craig Moe
Laurel City Council President H. Edward Ricks
Laurel City Councilmember Michael Leszcz
Laurel City Councilmember Valerie Nicholas
Laurel City Councilmember Frederick Smalls
Laurel City Councilmember Donna Crary
Mount Rainier Councilmember Tracy Loh
Former Prince George’s Councilmember Tom Dernoga
Former Laurel Mayor Robert DiPietro
Dereck Davis
State Elected Officials:
Delegate Angela Angel
Delegate Vanessa Atterbeary
Delegate Charley Barkley
Delegate Darryl Barnes
Delegate Ben Brooks
Delegate Ned Carey
Delegate Bill Frick
Delegate Cheryl Glenn
Delegate Adrienne Jones
Delegate Ben Kramer
Delegate Mary Ann Lisanti
Delegate Sally Jameson
Delegate Will Smith
Delegate Frank Turner
Delegate Joe Vallario
Delegate Michael Vaughn
Delegate Jay Walker
Delegate C.T. Wilson
Local Elected Officials:
Prince George’s Councilmember Derrick L Davis
Glenn Ivey
Organizations:
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 26
State Elected Officials:
State Senator Victor Ramirez
Former Delegate Will Campos
Local Elected Officials:
Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker
Brentwood Mayor Rocio Treminio-Lopez
Anthony Brown
Organizations:
VoteVets PAC
Once again, if you think we've missed anything, please
contact me at matt@marylandjuice.com.
Below Maryland Juice provides highlights from a new Goucher Poll on the Presidential race, Governor Larry Hogan and a few policy debates. You can see the summary data below. A few quick items of interest:
Slim majorities of Marylanders approve of Larry Hogan & Barack Obama's jobs, but many residents don't yet have an opinion on Hogan.
Governor Hogan's issue ratings are lower, and he receives his lowest marks on education -- the most important issues facing the state and the only issue where Democrats disapprove
Marylanders support marijuana legalization, and a super-majority of residents support a path to citizenship for undocumented residents.
Marylanders disapprove of the job Congress is doing by a whopping 83%.
It's early in the Presidential race, but Hillary Clinton tops the polls for Maryland Democrats & Martin O'Malley is scraping the bottom in his own state
Who Would Maryland Democrats Vote for in Presidential Primary?
Hillary Clinton: 43%
Joe Biden: 23%
Bernie Sanders: 17%
Martin O'Malley: 2%
Who Do Maryland Democrats Think Will Win Nomination?
Hillary Clinton: 54%
Joe Biden: 14%
Bernie Sanders: 8%
Marylanders' Approval of Governor Hogan's Job as Governor:
Approve: 58%
Disapprove: 18%
Don't Know: 23%
Marylanders' Approval of Governor Hogan's Handling of Issues (ranked by importance):
Approve
Disapprove
Public education
40
33
+7
Taxes
51
29
+22
Economic growth
52
21
+31
Job creation
42
28
+14
Crime
43
32
+11
Transportation
50
29
+21
Environment
43
27
+16
Marylanders' Approval of President Obama's Job as President:
Approve: 53%
Disapprove: 38%
Don't Know: 7%
Marylanders' Approval of Congress' Job:
Disapprove: 83%
Approve: 9%
Don't Know: 7%
Marylanders on Marijuana Legalization:
Support Legalization: 52%
Oppose Legalization: 42%
Marylanders on Who Should Decide Marijuana Policy:
States Should Decide: 64%
Federal Government Should Decide: 31%
Marylanders on Redistricting:
Prefer Independent Commission: 73%
Prefer Redistricting by Electeds: 21%
Marylanders on Starting School After Labor Day:
Support Starting After Labor Day: 72%
Oppose Starting After Labor Day: 19%
Marylanders on Undocumented Immigrants:
Allow Them to Stay In Jobs With Path to Citizenship: 62%
Make Them Leave Jobs & the USA: 20%
Allow Them to Stay Temporarly In Jobs Without Path to Citizenship: 13%
WASHINGTON POST: The Republican majority on the Montgomery County Board of Elections, led by an appointee of Gov. Larry Hogan (R), voted Monday to shift two heavily used early-voting sites to less populous locations, prompting Democratic charges of voter suppression.
The board voted 3 to 2 to move early voting from the Marilyn Praisner Community Center in Burtonsville, which serves high-poverty East County communities along U.S. 29, to the Longwood Community Recreation Center in Brookeville, 13 miles to the northwest. The panel also shifted early balloting from the Jane Lawton Community Recreation Center in Chevy Chase, about a half-mile from the Bethesda Metro station, to the Potomac Community Recreation Center, on Falls Road, 10 miles to the northwest....
Notably, Jim Shalleck was the 2014 Republican candidate for Montgomery County Executive and formerly chaired the MoCo Republican Party. After listening to public testimony on Montgomery County's early vote locations, the MCBOE took a partly line vote (3-2) to close two early voting centers and replace them with locations closer to Republicans. The Montgomery County Republicans' proposal now heads to the five-member State Board of
Elections (SBOE) for a final vote on October 15th. Notably the SBOE also now has a Republican majority, but one more person has to
weigh in before this vote occurs: Linda Lamone, the State Administrator of the Board of Elections. Code of Maryland Regulation 33.17.02.02F states (excerpt below):
MARYLAND CODE: Upon
receipt of a form for a proposed early voting center, the State
Administrator shall review and make a recommendation to the State Board
as to whether to accept or reject the proposed early voting center....
Lamone could base a recommendation against the GOP's early voting proposal based on criteria listed
in state regulations, including provisions that polling locations be "served by public transportation and roads"
and have "parking facilities sufficient for early voting." Notably Lamone has served as Maryland's State Administrator since Governor Paris Glendening and previously
foiled an attempt by Republican Governor Bob Ehrlich to remove her from her position.
The provision that sites be "served by public transportation" could be problematic for the Republicans' proposal to close the Burtonsville site and replace it with one at the Longwood Community Recreation Center in Brookeville. Only one bus route serves the Brookeville site (Ride On Route 53, with a stop .3 miles from the polls), and
the bus only runs in the morning and evening on weekdays. Meanwhile, early voting is open all day.
If Lamone were to recommend against the early voting changes, it would take a super-majority of the SBOE to approve the Montgomery County Republicans' proposal. And if all else fails in stopping the Republican voter suppression effort, there is one final backstop: A few state legislators representing Montgomery County are contemplating legislation to increase the county's number of early voting sites from nine to eleven, using the two additional sites to restore polling locations in Chevy Chase and Burtonsville. The Washington Post's Bill Turque reported on this backstop legislation (excerpt below):
WASHINGTON POST: State Sen. Rich Madaleno (D-Montgomery) said Wednesday that when the general Assembly reconvenes in January, he and Del. Eric Luedtke (D-Montgomery) will introduce a measure to expand the number of early voting sites in the county from nine to 11. The bill would restore the Marilyn Praisner Community Recreation Center in Burtonsville and the Jane Lawton Community Recreation Center in Chevy Chase to the list while retaining the two new sites selected by the board, Longwood Community Recreation Center in Brookeville and Potomac Community Recreation Center in Potomac....
[GOP MCBOE Chair] Shalleck said his only goal was to improve the “geographic diversity” of the sites, creating access to early voting for communities that have had none. But County Council staff have raised questions about whether the Longwood site meets all the Maryland criteria for early voting centers, specifically access to public transportation. [County Counicilmember Nancy] Navarro said the measure sponsored by Madaleno and Leudtke was “ a great idea. I’m really hoping this could be a fix,” she said....
VIDEO OF GOP BOARD OF ELECTIONS MEMBERS DISCUSSING THE CHANGES: In response to the controversy, Montgomery County Councilmembers held a public hearing to question the county Board of Elections (MCBOE) about the motivation for these changes. In the video clip below (posted by Councilmember Tom Hucker) you can see the recently appointed Republican Chair of the MCBOE Jim Shalleck admit that:
Replacing the Burtonsville and Chevy Chase early voting sites with ones closer to Republicans would mean fewer voters live close to an early vote polling location
Not a single person who testified at a public hearing about polling locations called for closing the Burtonsville or Chevy Chase polling locations
Not a single person testified in favor of the proposed new sites in the less densely populated neighborhoods
Republican members of the MCBOE held private calls with Republican Party leaders about changing the early voting sites
Let’s break the Republicans' decision down:
IMPACT OF THE GOP'S PROPOSED EARLY VOTING CHANGES: The move by the GOP Board to "expand the geographic reach of early voting" may seem innocuous, but is hard to see as anything but a partisan move -- instead of one based on fair and efficient election administration. Congressman Van Hollen points out that Chevy Chase's Lawton Community Center is the only western down-county early voting site within walking distance of a Metro station. The Republicans are proposing to close this polling location and open a new one in a far-less populated area in Potomac that is not Metro-accessible.
But what is most suspect about the GOP’s proposal is how it moves early voting away from the high concentration of minority voters in East County. You can visualize what the impact of this change by using the Racial Dot Map from the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. The black star on the map below is the current Burtonsville early voting center. The shading around the star represents the concentration of minority voters:
Borders reflect approximately 5 mile radius from Praisner Center
The same voter suppression in Burtonsville holds true for lower-income voters. The following map was created using the Synthetic Population Viewer developed by RTI International. Again, the star represents the Burtonsville early voting site, and the shading near the site represents lower income voters:
Unsurprisingly, these voters tend to vote Democratic. By comparison, the precincts around the Republicans proposed new site in Brookeville are among the handful of areas that Governor Hogan won in Montgomery County in 2014. The black star below represents the GOP's proposed new site in Brookeville, and the shading around the star represents the concentration of the Republican vote:
Thousands of low-income minority and Democratic-leaning voters will now be over 10 miles away from the nearest early voting center. But election data in Maryland show that the closer you are to an early voting site, the more likely you are to use it.
One big reason is a new Maryland law taking effect that allows same day voter registration. Starting in 2016, Maryland residents can register to vote and cast a ballot at any early voting center for 8 days. According to Demos, same-day registration would increase overall turnout especially among young adults, voters of color and low-income families. Research even suggests that voter turnout is maximized when same day registration is coupled with early voting. Moving early voter centers away from the voters most likely to benefit from same day registration? This is surely not the intention of the GOP....
BUT IT COULD’VE BEEN WORSE (HA): Facing perhaps unexpected pressure from the press and elected officials to fully explain their rationale for the early voting changes -- Republican MCBOE Chair Jim Shalleck warned Kate Ryan of WTOP that it could’ve been much worse (transcript below, emphasis mine):
JIM SHALLECK: If we wanted to be political we could’ve cut Silver Spring and Wheaton - the two most heavily Democratic voting sites. But we didn’t.
EARLY VOTING WORKS WELL FOR MINORITIES AND LOW-INCOME VOTERS: The Washington Post’sEmily Badger makes a persuasive economic case about why early voting is important to minorities and low-income voters (excerpt below, emphasis mine)
WASHINGTON POST: Early
voting is intimately bound up in race, not simply because minorities
are more likely to take advantage of it, but because the policy itself addresses systemic barriers they face.
When we decide to vote, we're not simply making a calculation about
whether we like the candidates, or care about the issues at stake, or
value the abstract idea of democracy. We also have to make calculations
about how to get to the polls, whether we can spare the time to go
there, and who will watch the kids while we're gone.
These costs associated with voting — in lost pay, in childcare, in transit fares — are higher for minorities and the poor. Which is why they are among the largest beneficiaries of early, flexible voting.
Act now to stop the Maryland Republicans' voter suppression efforts:
