POLL: ABORTION, ECONOMY FUEL VOTING: An uncertain economic future and the threat of an abortion ban are among the issues motivating Marylanders to vote this election season, a new poll of likely voters for Baltimore Sun Media and the University of Baltimore shows. Nearly half of surveyed Democrats and Republicans and 40% of unaffiliated voters — 47% of those surveyed in total — said they feel more motivated to vote Nov. 8 than in recent elections. Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
MOORE, TOP DEMS OUTRAISE RIVALS: Democratic gubernatorial nominee Wes Moore, who’s built a commanding lead over Republican Dan Cox heading into Election Day, raised $5.8 million in the last two months to bring his fundraising haul to $7.5 million since winning the nomination in July — most of which he has kept in the bank, campaign finance reports show. Sam Janesch and Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
- Democrats running for the three statewide offices in Maryland have outraised their Republican opponents by dramatic margins over the past two months, and enter the final sprint to Election Day with substantially more resources than their GOP foes. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
VP HARRIS TAKES DEM STAGE IN B’MORE: With only 10 full days left to cast a ballot, Vice President Kamala Harris implored supporters Saturday to submit their votes as she rallied in Baltimore with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Wes Moore and others on the party’s ticket. Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
- Harris said the party has a strong case to make for showing up to the polls, saying that wins in 2020 delivered the infrastructure bill, a cap on insulin prices, a child tax credit and the first Black female justice on the Supreme Court. Ovetta Wiggins and Erin Cox/The Washington Post.
- “There’s some scary stuff happening in our country right now,” Harris told the rec center crowd in Baltimore. Harris warned that “so-called leaders” have been using their positions to preserve personal power and to divide the country. Pamela Wood and Penelope Blackwell/The Baltimore Banner.
Alan Keyes, left, is greeted by gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox at an event on Friday. Photo from Dan Cox’s Facebook page.
COX, REPUBLICAN FIELD AT ‘FREEDOM RALLY:’ Maryland Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox spoke at a Freedom Rally on Saturday afternoon. Candidate for Maryland Attorney General Michael Peroutka and Maryland Dels. Nino Mangione and Pat McDonough, who is running for Baltimore County executive, were also in attendance. Sinead Hawkins/WBFF-News.
MOORE ON BUS TOUR AND GOVERNING: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore says his bus tour is about more than gaining votes. “This is how we’re going to govern… This is the joy, because we’re going to need everybody in for governance. So, this is very much how we’re setting up the standard now for what we are going to do when we get to Annapolis.” he says. Shannon Clark of CNS/MarylandReporter.com.
BIDEN TO END MIDTERM PUSH IN MARYLAND: President Biden will end his midterm push in Maryland, the same deeply Democratic state where he launched his fall tour to persuade the economy-weary public to keep Democrats in power. Erin Cox/The Washington Post.
POLL SAYS BIDEN SHOULD NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION: A new poll from Baltimore Sun Media and the University of Baltimore found nearly a third of the state’s likely Democratic voters say President Joe Biden should not seek re-election. Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.
Heather Mizeur, left, and incumbent U.S. Rep. Andy Harris debate issues from abortion, inflation to the Jan. 6 insurrection in their only meet-up before Election Day. Screenshots from CecilTV.
MIZEUR TAKES ‘HOT SEAT’ TO WIN OVER SHORE VOTERS: Heather Mizeur is asking Eastern Shore voters to look past her party affiliation. “I’m not running against Andy Harris because he’s a Republican and I’m a Democrat,” she told a recent gathering. “I’m running against him because he’s a traitor.” A Catholic who lives on a 34-acre farm with her wife Deborah, Mizeur spoke in a warm, gentle tone, though she told her audience that “being nice doesn’t mean that I’m not fierce.” A feature of the former Maryland delegate’s campaign has been house gatherings with Republican voters — events she nicknames “Heather in the Hot Seat.” Adam Willis/The Baltimore Banner.
WASHINGTON POST VOTERS GUIDE: What races are on the ballot? Who’s running for Maryland’s top open seats? Who’s running for Congress in Maryland? What statewide questions are on the ballot? What about the state legislature? And when will ballots be counted? Ovetta Wiggins and Erin Cox/The Washington Post.
POLL: MOST TO VOTE FOR RECREATIONAL CANNABIS: Most Marylanders plan to vote in favor of a ballot measure that would legalize cannabis in the state for those 21 and older, a poll for Baltimore Sun Media and the University of Baltimore shows. Some 63% of the likely voters surveyed statewide said they agreed with legalizing the drug, 25% said they opposed it and 12% said they were unsure. Christine Condon/The Baltimore Sun.
POLL: ARUNDEL VOTERS SAY TAXES ARE TOO HIGH: More than half of likely Anne Arundel County voters said taxes are too high while many listed crime and overdevelopment as key local issues, according to a recent poll by The Capital. Dana Munro/The Capital Gazette.
A LONE DEMOCRAT IN CARROLL: When residents of Carroll County’s District 3 cast a ballot in this year’s general election, they will be the only ones who can vote in a race between a local Democrat and a local Republican. There is only one Democrat running for local office in the county, and he is running for the District 3 commissioner seat. Sherry Greenfield/The Carroll County Times.
HOUGH OUTRAISES, OUTSPENDS FITZWATER: Frederick County executive candidate Michael Hough, R, raised and spent more money than his Democratic opponent, County Councilwoman Jessica Fitzwater, over the last two months, according to campaign finance reports. Hough, a Maryland state senator who has represented Frederick and Carroll counties since 2015, received $280,000 in campaign contributions between Aug. 24 and Oct. 23, the period covered by the reports. Jack Hogan/The Frederick News Post.
CECIL OPENS TWO EARLY VOTING SPOTS: For the first time, Cecil County is offering two precincts for early voting; both are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Every day for the duration of early voting from Oct. 27 to Nov. 3. On the first day of early voting, 750 votes were cast. Matt Hubbard/The Cecil Whig.
MO CO SCHOOLS GET MORE ELECTRIC BUSES: The Montgomery County School District added 61 new electric buses to its fleet on Monday, part of a planned 326 buses to be added by 2024. Although Montgomery now has the largest operating electric fleet in the nation, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that 391 school districts across the U.S will soon receive nearly $1 billion combined for new clean school buses. Jonathan Donville/Capital News Service.
AUDIT CRITICIZES HEALTH VENDOR OVERSIGHT: Maryland state health officials botched oversight of a vendor they hired to pay mental health providers, causing accounting nightmares for clinicians and delays in care for patients in crisis, according to an audit released Friday by the state Department of Legislative Services. Steve Thompson and Jenna Portnoy/The Washington Post.
- The report published Friday finds the state agency failed to monitor Optum and its Minnesota-based United Behavioral Health Inc. company as it handled claims for roughly 260,000 people receiving Medicaid benefits for mental health and substance abuse treatment. The lack of oversight has cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in potential overpayments and denied or under-reimbursed claims from the Federal government, the audit concluded. Bryan Sears/The Daily Record.
- Some of the system’s flaws prevented Maryland from tapping approximately $28.8 million in federal reimbursements, the review found. And although the state was eligible to claw back as much as $20.5 million from the vendor, the health department did not do so “despite the vendor’s ongoing failure to provide an operational system or comply with certain requirements,” the audit found. Bruce DePuyt/Maryland Matters.
