On November 6th, 2018, the state of Maryland will vote on their governor: current Governor Larry Hogan or his opponent Ben Jealous.  

After Martin O’Malley decided to run for President in 2016, Hogan beat Anthony Brown, Martin O’Malley’s Lieutenant Governor, to become Governor.  During Hogan’s first term as governor he had to deal with the Baltimore Riots in 2015, and he was also diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, which is a form of lymphoma with the absence of binucleate giant cells,  which Hogan has announced that he is now cancer free. His dad Lawrence Hogan has also recently passed away during his term.

During his first term Hogan accomplished a bunch. One of these accomplishments was that he cut taxes. Under Martin O’Malley, the residents of Maryland had to pay many taxes, such as increasing the sales tax from five percent to six percent, and this was driving people out of the state. Larry Hogan cut taxes including the rain tax. This was a tax that taxed how much rain fell on your lawn during the month.

Sophomore Larry Krepp expressed, “I like the way he is running Maryland.”

Hogan has a strong bipartisan support, his approval rating is around 70%. People have praised him for many things, one of them was that he was praised for being a reassuring presence during the 2015 riots in Baltimore.

Another reason why his approval rating is so high is that he has shown willingness to go against president Donald Trump. He has came out publicly and disagreed with Trump on topics such as family separation. Hogan even called Maryland’s National Guard home from the U.S-Mexico border.

Hogan described, “Unlike Washington where nobody gets along and nothing ever seems to get done, here in Maryland we’ve chosen a different path. We’re setting an example for the rest on the nation.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/republican-larry-hogan-wins-md-governors-race-in-stunning-upset/2014/11/05/9eb8bf46-60ac-11e4-8b9e-2ccdac31a031_story.html?utm_term=.e945bd893713

The man running against Hogan is Ben Jealous. Jealous is a resident of Baltimore and is the former President of Baltimore’s NAACP(National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). After leaving the NAACP in 2013 he joined Kapor Capital which is a venture investment firm.

When Jealous  described what he would change as governor, one of the things was that he wants to help to end the gender wage gap. He has also said that the majority of his cabinet members will be women.

Jealous exclaimed, “Women are paid on average $10,000 less than men in our state!”

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-jealous-plans-20181017-story.html

Sophomore Jacy Duffy stated, “Men and Women should be paid the same everywhere.”

Jealous Jealous would like to: offer debt free college, reduce the prison population, provide universal health care, and raise teacher pay by 29%. Jealous was also one of the leaders who helped to abolish the Death Penalty in the state of Maryland.

Hogan responded, “Local school boards, not the governor, decide teacher salaries.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/jealous-hogan-will-offer-starkly-different-visions-in-maryland/2018/06/27/de658738-7a06-11e8-80be-6d32e182a3bc_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.69dde2851f03

Hogan would like to: control spending, reduce taxes further, and draw new businesses to Maryland.

Krepp said, “I would like to see better zoning policies.”

Hogan expressed, “Frankly this election is going to come down to whether people are happy with the direction the state is headed in or whether they want to go backwards.”

https://www.npr.org/2018/06/25/622972925/in-this-blue-blue-state-democrats-fight-to-beat-popular-republican-governor

Both Hogan and Jealous views are very different and both believe that they can win. Hogan is predicted to win but nothing is certain; this will be decided on November 6th.      

 http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/104829418-132.html