With the final votes being counted in the 2022 elections, it’s clear that Democrats will not only maintain their supermajority in the Maryland General Assembly, they’re expanding it, too.

For the last four years, Democrats held 99 out of 141 seats in the House of Delegates and 32 out of 47 seats in the state Senate — enough to overturn vetoes from Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.

Those numbers appear to be going up to 102 Democrats in the House and 34 in the state Senate, if preliminary results hold as the final ballots are counted.

Much of the credit goes to House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson, who led the efforts in their respective chambers to reelect Democratic incumbents and flip seats to bring new Democrats into the legislature.

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Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate each have their own caucus campaign committees in which they pool resources to help vulnerable candidates as they work to boost their party’s numbers in Annapolis. Democrats who had weak or no opposition in their general election races often donated their time and money to the coordinated effort to help others.

The Senate Democrats flipped two key seats in Anne Arundel and Harford counties, where the Republican incumbents chose not to run for those positions again.

House of Delegates Democrats had key pickups in districts in Hagerstown, central Anne Arundel County, northeastern Baltimore County as well as a district that straddles parts of Howard and Montgomery counties.

Having a supermajority was strategically important to Democrats for the last four years, as it gave them leverage over the Republican governor with the ability to overturn nearly all of his vetoes. But now, Maryland is getting a Democratic governor, Wes Moore — meaning that veto fights, while still possible, are less likely.

The Maryland Democratic Party touted their General Assembly wins alongside victories in statewide offices and county executive races. “Our state party and our candidates across the state set a goal to win up and down the ballot, to win with unity and compassion, and to lead that same way from the moment the results were called,” the party said in a statement.

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Hogan’s national win-loss record is better than Maryland

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s endorsed candidates did not fare well in Maryland. But he did much better in picking candidates in other states.

Not a single one of the candidates supported by the outgoing Republican governor in Maryland won their race: congressional candidates Nicolee Ambrose and Yuripzy Morgan, comptroller candidate Barry Glassman, state Senate candidates Reid Novotny and Sid Saab and county executive candidates Allan Kittleman in Howard and Mike Hough in Frederick. (Hogan also supported, of course, his daughter Jaymi Sterling, who was unopposed in the general election for state’s attorney in St. Mary’s County.)

Hogan did fare better, though, with candidates he supported in other states, according to a list of endorsed candidates provided by An America United, his advocacy organization.

Hogan’s win-loss record in the rest of the nation stands at 16 wins and six losses.

The Hogan-endorsed winners across the country included seven Republican candidates for governor: Brian Kemp in Georgia, Mike DeWine in Ohio, Chris Sununu in New Hampshire, Phil Scott in Vermont, Kim Reynolds in Iowa, Brad Little in Idaho and Joe Lombardo in Nevada.

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Two Hogan-endorsed Republicans lost gubernatorial elections: Christine Drazan in Oregon, and Mark Ronchetti in New Mexico.

For Congress, Hogan-endorsed candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives had six wins and one loss. Two candidates he endorsed for U.S. Senate lost their races, while the third — U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — won reelection on Wednesday, following a complicated ranked-choice voting election.

Hogan also endorsed three candidates for statewide offices in other states, with two wins and one loss.

Governor isn’t much of a gambler

Speaking of Hogan, he hasn’t been shy about expressing irritation at the slow pace of implementing gambling on sports in Maryland. But he doesn’t appear to be keen on actually gambling himself.

When he held a press conference to tout the day-before-Thanksgiving start of mobile sports betting, the governor was asked if he’d be placing any bets.

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“I’m not the most technology-oriented guy, so I might have to get somebody to help me figure out how to put an app on my phone and use it,” Hogan said. “Maybe I’d place a bet on the Ravens or the Terps or something just to say I did it.”

pamela.wood@thebaltimorebanner.com

Pamela Wood covers Maryland politics and government. She previously reported for The Baltimore Sun, The Capital and other Maryland newspapers. A graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, she lives in northern Anne Arundel County. 

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