Martin O'Malley
Encyclopedia
Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American Democratic
politician
who is currently serving as the 61st Governor
of Maryland
. Previously, he served as the mayor of Baltimore
from 1999 to 2007. He is currently the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association
.
suburb of Potomac, Maryland
, the child of an attorney.
O'Malley attended the Our Lady of Lourdes School in Bethesda and Gonzaga College High School
, the same school of such political notables as Patrick Buchanan. He went to college at The Catholic University of America
, graduating in 1985. Later that year he enrolled at the University of Maryland School of Law
in Baltimore, earning his J.D.
in 1988 and passing the bar
that same year.
presidential campaign for the 1984 election
. In late 1983, he volunteered to go to Iowa
. He phone-banked, organized volunteers, and played guitar
and sang at small fundraiser
s and other events.
In 1986, while in law school, O'Malley was named by then-Congresswoman Barbara Mikulski
as her state field director for her successful primary and general election campaigns for the U.S. Senate. Later he served as a legislative fellow in Senator Mikulski's office from 1987-1988.
In 1988, he began dating his future wife, Catherine Curran, the daughter of the State's Attorney General. Later that year, O’Malley was hired as an Assistant State's Attorney
for the City of Baltimore
. He would hold that position until 1990.
In 1990, O'Malley, ran for the Maryland State Senate
in District 43. He lost the Democratic Primary to John A. Pica Jr. by 44 votes. A year later he ran for a vacant Baltimore City Council
seat to represent the 3rd District. He served from 1991 to 1999. As Councilman, he served as Chairman of the Legislative Investigations Committee and Chairman of the Taxation and Finance Committee.
In O'Malley's first year in office, he adopted a statistics-based tracking system modeled after Compstat
, a crime management program first employed in the mid-1990s by William J. Bratton
and former New York
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to assist the New York City Police Department
. The program aimed to initiate a performance-based system using computerized databases to track targets and results. There is a weekly meeting in which city department managers meet with the Mayor's office and discuss their office's results. According to the office of then Mayor O'Malley, CitiStat has saved Baltimore residents more than $350 million. In 2004, O'Malley's CitiStat accountability tool won Harvard University's Innovations in American Government award. Its success has garnered the attention of delegations from places like England, India, Texas, and others.
During the first Mayoral campaign, O’Malley's made improving public safety a priority. In 2005, Baltimore was ranked the sixth most dangerous city in the United States; in 2006, it was ranked the twelfth most dangerous city.
In 2005, Baltimore's reported homicide rate was five times that of New York City, which had one of the lowest crime rates of America's largest cities. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Unified Crime Reports for 2000 and 2003, violent crimes (homicide, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) in Baltimore declined from 16,003 in 2000 (O'Malley's first year in office) to 13,789 in 2003. In terms of homicides, there were 261 in 2000; 256 in 2001; 253 in 2002; and 270 in 2003. More recently, there were 276 homicides in 2004 and 269 in 2005.
The latest police statistics for 2008, according to the Baltimore Sun, show that "shootings are down by 26 percent over last year, from 361 to 266... Meanwhile, rates of other violent crimes, including assaults, rapes and robberies, has not changed much since 2007..."
O'Malley stated that his administration had greatly improved the Baltimore City Public School System, and that they "are on the mend for the first time in decades." As one of his five most prominent achievements, O'Malley says that his administration "improved student test scores across the board" while noting that much work remains. A national study on the graduation rates in the nation's 50 biggest cities found Baltimore to be second to last with respect to dropout rates (with Detroit in last place). As the city school system is independently controlled by a board jointly appointed by the mayor and the governor of Maryland, some argue that it is difficult to hold specific elected officials responsible for either the successes or failures of the city school system.
Major land developer Edward St. John was fined $55,000 by the Maryland Office of the State Prosecutor for making illegal contributions to the O'Malley campaign. The Washington Times reported later that the Governor's administration had issued a press release touting a new $28 million highway interchange leading to one of St. John's properties. Governor O'Malley's spokesman said there was no "quid pro quo" and a spokesman for the County Executive noted that the project had been a county transportation priority since before both O'Malley and the Executive were elected.
In August 2005, Business Week Magazine Online named O'Malley as one of five "New Faces" in the Democratic Party. Business Week said that O'Malley "has become the Party's go-to guy on protecting the homeland. The telegenic mayor has developed a detailed plan for rail and port safety and has been an outspoken critic of White House
security priorities."
During the 2004 presidential campaign, Sen. John Kerry
invited O'Malley to speak on the topic in Wisconsin. In 2004, O'Malley was one of the featured speakers at the Democratic National Convention
in the FleetCenter in Boston
, Massachusetts
. In his speech, he focused on Homeland Security stating "Sadly and unforgivably almost three years after that fateful day when thousands of moms and dads, sons and daughters didn’t come home from work on September 11, America's cities and towns, America's ports and borders and America's heartland remain needlessly vulnerable".
in the November 2006 election. O'Malley featured the news article "Running early, running hard" on his new web site, launched June 2005. It stated, "O'Malley has yet to officially announce his run for governor, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been busy on the campaign trail."
O'Malley selected Anthony G. Brown
, Delegate from Prince George's County, lawyer
, and a 27-year Army veteran, including a tour in the Iraq War, as his running mate. O'Malley was expected to face Montgomery County
Executive Doug Duncan
in the Democratic primary. Duncan dropped out of the race on June 22, 2006.
In 2004, friends of O'Malley speculated that he might be a presidential candidate in 2012.
O'Malley defeated incumbent Gov. Ehrlich in the November 7, 2006, gubernatorial election by a 6.5% margin.
O'Malley was sworn in as Governor on January 17, 2007. Soon after coming to office, O'Malley closed the Maryland House of Correction
in Jessup, Maryland
, a notoriously violent maximum-security prison facility
.
As fill-in for Hillary Rodham Clinton
during a Democratic convention on June 2, 2007 in New Hampshire
, O'Malley expanded "his exposure among the party elite and activists."
Governor O'Malley called a Special Session in November 2007 to close a structural budget deficit of $1.7 billion. A structural deficit differs from an actual deficit in that it is based on out-year projected data. In response to this projected deficit for 2008–2009, O'Malley and some Democratic Maryland lawmakers passed and signed the largest tax increases in Maryland history. The plan would raise total state tax collections 14%. A Maryland Senate panel modified the tax proposal, removing "tax breaks for middle- and working-class families."
In years past, slot machine
gambling has been a heated topic in both houses of the General Assembly
. Proponents claim slots could help ease the burden of Maryland's structural deficit. O'Malley's predecessor, Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. made slot machine gambling a priority from the beginning of his four-year term. However, associated legislation was not passed by the Democrat-controlled legislative branch. O'Malley has said that he supports the implementation of a limited number of slot machines only at horse racing tracks to help sustain the horse racing industry. In November 2008, voters state-wide approved the introduction of slots in Maryland.
In April 2009, O'Malley signed a traffic speed camera enforcement law (Senate Bill 277), a bill which he supported and fought for in order to help raise revenue to try to balance the record deficit facing Maryland. Through strong lobbying by O'Malley, the bill was revived after first having been defeated. After a second vote, the measure barely passed by a few votes. The bill continues to face harsh bi-partisan criticism and has been called a tax on drivers by opponents of the bill. The bill has also sparked a ballot referendum effort sponsored by the not-for-profit group Maryland For Responsible Enforcement
.
In September 2009, O'Malley and Elijah Cummings
announced the 'Healthy Smiles' dental tour “Together, we have resolved to do everything within our power to prevent avoidable tragedies like the loss of Deamonte Driver, who passed away with an untreated toothache last year,” said Governor O’Malley. “That’s why today, we’re announcing the kick off of the ‘Healthy Smiles’ dental tour to promote awareness and highlight the importance of children’s dental health. With partners like the Deamonte Driver Dental Project and Kool Smiles, we can make oral health services available to Medicaid-eligible and uninsured children in Prince George’s County and throughout the region; and reach out to kids just like Deamonte, ensuring that they will not be turned away from routine but potentially life-saving care.”
In response to the untimely death of Deamonte Driver in February 2007, Governor O’Malley, Secretary Colmers and the General Assembly convened a Dental Action Committee in June 2007 to provide recommendations for Maryland to improve its oral health services. Based upon the Committee’s recommendations, Governor O’Malley put $14 million in the FY09 budget, in state and federal funds, to raise reimbursement rates for dentists treating Medicaid children. The funds target all preventative care and most diagnostic care rates. In addition, Governor O’Malley placed $2 million in his FY09 budget to the Office of Oral Health to initiate and expand dental services in underserved areas in the State.
O'Malley was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Democratic Governors Association
for 2009–2010 while Delaware Governor Jack Markell was chair, and on December 1, 2010, he was elected Chairman for 2010-2011.
Since taking office O'Malley has adapted the CitiStat program he devised for Baltimore and applied it to the state of Maryland. This new program is called StateStat. O'Malley has said that President Obama has looked at StateStat as a potential model for tracking stimulus funding.
In a debate during the 2010 campaign, O'Malley referred to illegal immigrants as "new Americans". In May 2011, O'Malley signed a law that would give in-state tuition breaks to illegal immigrants at the state’s colleges and universities. In response, Delegate Neil Parrott
created an online petition to suspend the law and have it become a referendum
in 2012. The petition drive easily met the first deadline on June 1 with 47,379 signatures accepted by election officials. One month later, the Maryland State Board of Elections verified enough signatures to suspend the law and force a referendum. It was the first time in 20 years that a petition drive has forced a vote on a Maryland law.
O'Malley voiced his support for a bill considered by the General Assembly to legalize same-sex marriage in the state
. O'Malley, a Catholic, was urged by Archbishop of Baltimore Edwin O'Brien not to support the bill in a private letter sent two days before O'Malley voiced his support. "I am well aware that the recent events in New York have intensified pressure on you to lend your active support to legislation to redefine marriage," O’Brien wrote. "As advocates for the truths we are compelled to uphold, we speak with equal intensity and urgency in opposition to your promoting a goal that so deeply conflicts with your faith, not to mention the best interests of our society." O'Malley responded, "I do not presume, nor would I ever presume as governor, to question or infringe upon your freedom to define, to preach about and to administer the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. But on the public issue of granting equal civil marital rights to same-sex couples, you and I disagree."
O'Malley continues to ensure his Alma Matter, the state's university, the University of Maryland, College Park is funded in its endeavors. In early September 2011, Governor O'Malley guaranteed to make almost $48 million dollars of the total $63 million needed, apart of his projected budget that would be used to help fund the Edward St. John Teaching and Learning Center.
O'Malley is married to state district judge Catherine Curran O'Malley
(Katie). Martin and Katie first met in 1986 while he was working on Barbara Mikulski
's primary and general election campaign for U.S. Senator from Maryland; while Katie was working on her father J. Joseph Curran, Jr.
's campaign for Attorney General
of Maryland
. They began to date in 1988 and were married in 1990 during his first campaign for political office.
They now live in the governor's mansion in Annapolis with their four children, Grace, Tara, Will and Jack. The O'Malleys' two daughters, Grace and Tara, currently attend college.
O'Malley's father-in-law, J. Joseph Curran, Jr.
, served as Attorney General of Maryland
from 1987-2007. Citing his age and his long career, Curran decided not to seek reelection on May 7, 2006, preventing any conflict of interest that might arise in having two close family members at the position of Governor and Attorney General.
, the creator of the HBO drama The Wire
, the fictional Mayor of Baltimore Tommy Carcetti
is "not O'Malley", but O'Malley was one of several inspirations.
O'Malley appeared in the film Ladder 49
as himself, then-mayor of Baltimore. The History Channel
's documentary First Invasion: The War of 1812
featured O'Malley in a segment regarding the British attack on Baltimore in 1814.
O'Malley is a musician. He was active in several bands and solo in the DC and Baltimore areas starting in the early 1980s. He was the vocalist/guitarist/songwriter of Celtic rock
band "O'Malley's March" from 1988 to 2005.
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Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
politician
Politics of the United States
The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States , Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.The executive branch is headed by the President...
who is currently serving as the 61st Governor
Governor of Maryland
The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of Maryland, and he is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and he has a broad range of appointive powers in both the State and local governments,...
of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. Previously, he served as the mayor of Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
from 1999 to 2007. He is currently the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association
Democratic Governors Association
The Democratic Governors Association is a Washington, D.C. based 527 organization founded in 1983, consisting of U.S. state and territorial governors affiliated with the Democratic Party. The mission of the organization is to provide party support to the election and re-election of Democratic...
.
Early life, education and career
O'Malley grew up in the Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
suburb of Potomac, Maryland
Potomac, Maryland
Potomac is a census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, named for the nearby Potomac River. The population was 44,822 at the 2000 census. The Potomac area is known for its very affluent and highly-educated residents. In 2009 CNNMoney.com listed Potomac as the fourth...
, the child of an attorney.
O'Malley attended the Our Lady of Lourdes School in Bethesda and Gonzaga College High School
Gonzaga College High School
Gonzaga College High School is a Jesuit high school for boys located in Washington, D.C. The school is named in honor of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian saint from the 16th century...
, the same school of such political notables as Patrick Buchanan. He went to college at The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...
, graduating in 1985. Later that year he enrolled at the University of Maryland School of Law
University of Maryland School of Law
The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law is the second-oldest law school in the United States by date of establishment and third-oldest by date of first classes. The school is located on the campus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore in Downtown Baltimore's West Side...
in Baltimore, earning his J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
in 1988 and passing the bar
Admission to the bar in the United States
In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...
that same year.
Early political career
In December 1982, while still in college, O'Malley signed on with the Gary HartGary Hart
Gary Hart is an American politician, lawyer, author, professor and commentator. He served as a Democratic Senator representing Colorado , and ran in the U.S...
presidential campaign for the 1984 election
United States presidential election, 1984
The United States presidential election of 1984 was a contest between the incumbent President Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate, and former Vice President Walter Mondale, the Democratic candidate. Reagan was helped by a strong economic recovery from the deep recession of 1981–1982...
. In late 1983, he volunteered to go to Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. He phone-banked, organized volunteers, and played guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and sang at small fundraiser
Fundraiser
A fundraiser is an event or campaign whose primary purpose is to raise money for a cause. See also: fundraising. A fundraiser can also be an individual or company whose primary job is to raise money for a specific charity or non-profit organization...
s and other events.
In 1986, while in law school, O'Malley was named by then-Congresswoman Barbara Mikulski
Barbara Mikulski
Barbara Ann Mikulski is the senior United States Senator from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. Mikulski, a former U.S. Representative, is the longest-serving female senator in U.S...
as her state field director for her successful primary and general election campaigns for the U.S. Senate. Later he served as a legislative fellow in Senator Mikulski's office from 1987-1988.
In 1988, he began dating his future wife, Catherine Curran, the daughter of the State's Attorney General. Later that year, O’Malley was hired as an Assistant State's Attorney
State's Attorney
In the United States, the State's Attorney is, most commonly, an elected official who represents the State in criminal prosecutions and is often the chief law enforcement officer of their respective county, circuit...
for the City of Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
. He would hold that position until 1990.
In 1990, O'Malley, ran for the Maryland State Senate
Maryland State Senate
The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland...
in District 43. He lost the Democratic Primary to John A. Pica Jr. by 44 votes. A year later he ran for a vacant Baltimore City Council
Baltimore City Council
The Baltimore City Council is the legislative branch that governs the City of Baltimore and its nearly 700,000 citizens. Baltimore has fourteen single-member City Council districts and representatives are elected for a four-year term. To qualify for a position on the Council, a person must be...
seat to represent the 3rd District. He served from 1991 to 1999. As Councilman, he served as Chairman of the Legislative Investigations Committee and Chairman of the Taxation and Finance Committee.
Mayor of Baltimore
O'Malley announced his campaign for Mayor of Baltimore in 1999. He won the Democratic Primary with over 50% of the vote. He was then elected Mayor of Baltimore in the General election with over 90% of the vote in what was seen as a heavily Democratic city. In 2004, O'Malley was re-elected in the general election with 88% of the vote.In O'Malley's first year in office, he adopted a statistics-based tracking system modeled after Compstat
CompStat
CompStat—or COMPSTAT— is the name given to the New York City Police Department's accountability process and has since been replicated in many other departments...
, a crime management program first employed in the mid-1990s by William J. Bratton
William J. Bratton
William Joseph "Bill" Bratton CBE is an American law enforcement officer who served as the chief of police of the Los Angeles Police Department , New York City Police Commissioner, and Boston Police Commissioner....
and former New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to assist the New York City Police Department
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
. The program aimed to initiate a performance-based system using computerized databases to track targets and results. There is a weekly meeting in which city department managers meet with the Mayor's office and discuss their office's results. According to the office of then Mayor O'Malley, CitiStat has saved Baltimore residents more than $350 million. In 2004, O'Malley's CitiStat accountability tool won Harvard University's Innovations in American Government award. Its success has garnered the attention of delegations from places like England, India, Texas, and others.
In 2005, Baltimore's reported homicide rate was five times that of New York City, which had one of the lowest crime rates of America's largest cities. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Unified Crime Reports for 2000 and 2003, violent crimes (homicide, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) in Baltimore declined from 16,003 in 2000 (O'Malley's first year in office) to 13,789 in 2003. In terms of homicides, there were 261 in 2000; 256 in 2001; 253 in 2002; and 270 in 2003. More recently, there were 276 homicides in 2004 and 269 in 2005.
The latest police statistics for 2008, according to the Baltimore Sun, show that "shootings are down by 26 percent over last year, from 361 to 266... Meanwhile, rates of other violent crimes, including assaults, rapes and robberies, has not changed much since 2007..."
Controversy
The Washington Post wrote that "[t]o date, no evidence has surfaced of a systemic manipulation of crime statistics" by the government under O'Malley.O'Malley stated that his administration had greatly improved the Baltimore City Public School System, and that they "are on the mend for the first time in decades." As one of his five most prominent achievements, O'Malley says that his administration "improved student test scores across the board" while noting that much work remains. A national study on the graduation rates in the nation's 50 biggest cities found Baltimore to be second to last with respect to dropout rates (with Detroit in last place). As the city school system is independently controlled by a board jointly appointed by the mayor and the governor of Maryland, some argue that it is difficult to hold specific elected officials responsible for either the successes or failures of the city school system.
Major land developer Edward St. John was fined $55,000 by the Maryland Office of the State Prosecutor for making illegal contributions to the O'Malley campaign. The Washington Times reported later that the Governor's administration had issued a press release touting a new $28 million highway interchange leading to one of St. John's properties. Governor O'Malley's spokesman said there was no "quid pro quo" and a spokesman for the County Executive noted that the project had been a county transportation priority since before both O'Malley and the Executive were elected.
The "MD4Bush" incident
In early 2005 Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich fired an aide, Joseph Steffen, for spreading rumors of marital infidelity about O'Malley on the Internet. O'Malley and his wife had previously held a highly publicized press conference to deny the rumors and accuse Republicans of partisan politics. The discussions in which Steffen posted the rumors were initiated by an anonymous user going by the name "MD4Bush", later revealed to be Maryland Democratic Party official Ryan O'Doherty.Media attention
In 2002, Esquire magazine named O’Malley "The Best Young Mayor in the Country," and in 2005, TIME magazine named him one of America's "Top 5 Big City Mayors".In August 2005, Business Week Magazine Online named O'Malley as one of five "New Faces" in the Democratic Party. Business Week said that O'Malley "has become the Party's go-to guy on protecting the homeland. The telegenic mayor has developed a detailed plan for rail and port safety and has been an outspoken critic of White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
security priorities."
Homeland security
In 2003, national Democratic leaders asked him to give the Democratic Response to the President's weekly radio address in which he spoke about Homeland Security.During the 2004 presidential campaign, Sen. John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
invited O'Malley to speak on the topic in Wisconsin. In 2004, O'Malley was one of the featured speakers at the Democratic National Convention
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
in the FleetCenter in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. In his speech, he focused on Homeland Security stating "Sadly and unforgivably almost three years after that fateful day when thousands of moms and dads, sons and daughters didn’t come home from work on September 11, America's cities and towns, America's ports and borders and America's heartland remain needlessly vulnerable".
2006 gubernatorial elections
O'Malley was nominated by the Democratic Party to challenge incumbent Maryland Governor Robert EhrlichRobert Ehrlich
Robert Leroy "Bob" Ehrlich, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 60th Governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007. A Republican, he became governor after defeating Democratic opponent Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a member of the Kennedy family, 51% to 48% in the 2002 elections...
in the November 2006 election. O'Malley featured the news article "Running early, running hard" on his new web site, launched June 2005. It stated, "O'Malley has yet to officially announce his run for governor, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been busy on the campaign trail."
O'Malley selected Anthony G. Brown
Anthony G. Brown
Anthony G. Brown is a Democratic Party politician from the State of Maryland and is the current Lieutenant Governor of Maryland. He was elected as Maryland’s eighth Lieutenant Governor in 2006 on a ticket with Governor Martin O'Malley. Both were reelected in 2010. He is the second African...
, Delegate from Prince George's County, lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, and a 27-year Army veteran, including a tour in the Iraq War, as his running mate. O'Malley was expected to face Montgomery County
Montgomery County, Maryland
Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Maryland, situated just to the north of Washington, D.C., and southwest of the city of Baltimore. It is one of the most affluent counties in the United States, and has the highest percentage of residents over 25 years of age who hold post-graduate...
Executive Doug Duncan
Doug Duncan
Douglas M. Duncan is a Democratic politician from Maryland who served as County Executive of Montgomery County from 1994 to 2006. At three terms, Duncan held the office longer than any other County Executive in Montgomery County's history...
in the Democratic primary. Duncan dropped out of the race on June 22, 2006.
In 2004, friends of O'Malley speculated that he might be a presidential candidate in 2012.
O'Malley defeated incumbent Gov. Ehrlich in the November 7, 2006, gubernatorial election by a 6.5% margin.
Term as Governor
Maryland House of Correction
The Maryland House of Correction, nicknamed "The Cut" or "The House", was a Maryland Department of Corrections state maximum security prison in an unincorporated area in Maryland. Most of its territory was in Anne Arundel County, while portions were in Howard County. The prison opened in 1879 and...
in Jessup, Maryland
Jessup, Maryland
Jessup is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland and Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The population was 7,865 at the 2000 census. The center of population of Maryland is located in Jessup. It was the location of Maryland House of Correction, which was one of...
, a notoriously violent maximum-security prison facility
Prisons in the United States
Incarceration in the United States is one of the main forms of punishment and/or rehabilitation for the commission of felony and other offenses. The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world. At year-end 2009 it was 743 adults incarcerated per 100,000...
.
As fill-in for Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
during a Democratic convention on June 2, 2007 in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, O'Malley expanded "his exposure among the party elite and activists."
Governor O'Malley called a Special Session in November 2007 to close a structural budget deficit of $1.7 billion. A structural deficit differs from an actual deficit in that it is based on out-year projected data. In response to this projected deficit for 2008–2009, O'Malley and some Democratic Maryland lawmakers passed and signed the largest tax increases in Maryland history. The plan would raise total state tax collections 14%. A Maryland Senate panel modified the tax proposal, removing "tax breaks for middle- and working-class families."
In years past, slot machine
Slot machine
A slot machine , informally fruit machine , the slots , poker machine or "pokies" or simply slot is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed...
gambling has been a heated topic in both houses of the General Assembly
Maryland General Assembly
The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is a bicameral body. The upper chamber, the Maryland State Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber, the Maryland House of Delegates, has 141 representatives...
. Proponents claim slots could help ease the burden of Maryland's structural deficit. O'Malley's predecessor, Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. made slot machine gambling a priority from the beginning of his four-year term. However, associated legislation was not passed by the Democrat-controlled legislative branch. O'Malley has said that he supports the implementation of a limited number of slot machines only at horse racing tracks to help sustain the horse racing industry. In November 2008, voters state-wide approved the introduction of slots in Maryland.
In April 2009, O'Malley signed a traffic speed camera enforcement law (Senate Bill 277), a bill which he supported and fought for in order to help raise revenue to try to balance the record deficit facing Maryland. Through strong lobbying by O'Malley, the bill was revived after first having been defeated. After a second vote, the measure barely passed by a few votes. The bill continues to face harsh bi-partisan criticism and has been called a tax on drivers by opponents of the bill. The bill has also sparked a ballot referendum effort sponsored by the not-for-profit group Maryland For Responsible Enforcement
Maryland For Responsible Enforcement
Maryland For Responsible Enforcement is a not-for-profit grassroots organization which is a bi-partisan collaboration of Marylanders opposed to the use of speed cameras...
.
In September 2009, O'Malley and Elijah Cummings
Elijah Cummings
Elijah Eugene Cummings is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1996. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes just over half of Baltimore City, as well as most of Howard County...
announced the 'Healthy Smiles' dental tour “Together, we have resolved to do everything within our power to prevent avoidable tragedies like the loss of Deamonte Driver, who passed away with an untreated toothache last year,” said Governor O’Malley. “That’s why today, we’re announcing the kick off of the ‘Healthy Smiles’ dental tour to promote awareness and highlight the importance of children’s dental health. With partners like the Deamonte Driver Dental Project and Kool Smiles, we can make oral health services available to Medicaid-eligible and uninsured children in Prince George’s County and throughout the region; and reach out to kids just like Deamonte, ensuring that they will not be turned away from routine but potentially life-saving care.”
In response to the untimely death of Deamonte Driver in February 2007, Governor O’Malley, Secretary Colmers and the General Assembly convened a Dental Action Committee in June 2007 to provide recommendations for Maryland to improve its oral health services. Based upon the Committee’s recommendations, Governor O’Malley put $14 million in the FY09 budget, in state and federal funds, to raise reimbursement rates for dentists treating Medicaid children. The funds target all preventative care and most diagnostic care rates. In addition, Governor O’Malley placed $2 million in his FY09 budget to the Office of Oral Health to initiate and expand dental services in underserved areas in the State.
O'Malley was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Democratic Governors Association
Democratic Governors Association
The Democratic Governors Association is a Washington, D.C. based 527 organization founded in 1983, consisting of U.S. state and territorial governors affiliated with the Democratic Party. The mission of the organization is to provide party support to the election and re-election of Democratic...
for 2009–2010 while Delaware Governor Jack Markell was chair, and on December 1, 2010, he was elected Chairman for 2010-2011.
Since taking office O'Malley has adapted the CitiStat program he devised for Baltimore and applied it to the state of Maryland. This new program is called StateStat. O'Malley has said that President Obama has looked at StateStat as a potential model for tracking stimulus funding.
In a debate during the 2010 campaign, O'Malley referred to illegal immigrants as "new Americans". In May 2011, O'Malley signed a law that would give in-state tuition breaks to illegal immigrants at the state’s colleges and universities. In response, Delegate Neil Parrott
Neil Parrott
Neil Parrott is an American politician who represents district 2B in the Maryland House of Delegates.-In the legislature:Parrott was sworn in as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in January, 2011. He was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee....
created an online petition to suspend the law and have it become a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
in 2012. The petition drive easily met the first deadline on June 1 with 47,379 signatures accepted by election officials. One month later, the Maryland State Board of Elections verified enough signatures to suspend the law and force a referendum. It was the first time in 20 years that a petition drive has forced a vote on a Maryland law.
O'Malley voiced his support for a bill considered by the General Assembly to legalize same-sex marriage in the state
Same-sex marriage in Maryland
The U.S. state of Maryland does not currently perform same-sex marriage. In 2004, supporters of same-sex marriage filed a lawsuit, Deane & Polyak v. Conaway, which sought to allow these unions to occur in the state...
. O'Malley, a Catholic, was urged by Archbishop of Baltimore Edwin O'Brien not to support the bill in a private letter sent two days before O'Malley voiced his support. "I am well aware that the recent events in New York have intensified pressure on you to lend your active support to legislation to redefine marriage," O’Brien wrote. "As advocates for the truths we are compelled to uphold, we speak with equal intensity and urgency in opposition to your promoting a goal that so deeply conflicts with your faith, not to mention the best interests of our society." O'Malley responded, "I do not presume, nor would I ever presume as governor, to question or infringe upon your freedom to define, to preach about and to administer the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. But on the public issue of granting equal civil marital rights to same-sex couples, you and I disagree."
O'Malley continues to ensure his Alma Matter, the state's university, the University of Maryland, College Park is funded in its endeavors. In early September 2011, Governor O'Malley guaranteed to make almost $48 million dollars of the total $63 million needed, apart of his projected budget that would be used to help fund the Edward St. John Teaching and Learning Center.
2010 re-election campaign
On November 2, 2010, O'Malley defeated Ehrlich in an electoral rematch to win a second term. Despite major losses for Democrats nationwide, O'Malley defeated Ehrlich by a 14-point margin, more than doubling his 2006 margin of victory.Personal life
O'Malley is the son of Tom and Barbara O'Malley. The late Tom O'Malley served as a Montgomery County based criminal defense lawyer, and an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia from 1957 to 1962, among many other positions. The elder O'Malley, a bombardier in the Army Air Forces in the Pacific theater during the Second World War, claimed to have seen the nuclear mushroom cloud rise over Hiroshima.O'Malley is married to state district judge Catherine Curran O'Malley
Catherine Curran O'Malley
Catherine "Katie" Curran O'Malley is a Maryland state judge and wife of Martin O'Malley, the current Governor of Maryland, and former Mayor of Baltimore.She is also the daughter of former state Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr....
(Katie). Martin and Katie first met in 1986 while he was working on Barbara Mikulski
Barbara Mikulski
Barbara Ann Mikulski is the senior United States Senator from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. Mikulski, a former U.S. Representative, is the longest-serving female senator in U.S...
's primary and general election campaign for U.S. Senator from Maryland; while Katie was working on her father J. Joseph Curran, Jr.
J. Joseph Curran, Jr.
J. Joseph Curran, Jr. is an American politician and the longest serving elected Attorney General in Maryland history. His son-in-law, Martin J. O'Malley, is the Governor of Maryland.-Background:...
's campaign for Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. They began to date in 1988 and were married in 1990 during his first campaign for political office.
They now live in the governor's mansion in Annapolis with their four children, Grace, Tara, Will and Jack. The O'Malleys' two daughters, Grace and Tara, currently attend college.
O'Malley's father-in-law, J. Joseph Curran, Jr.
J. Joseph Curran, Jr.
J. Joseph Curran, Jr. is an American politician and the longest serving elected Attorney General in Maryland history. His son-in-law, Martin J. O'Malley, is the Governor of Maryland.-Background:...
, served as Attorney General of Maryland
Attorney General of Maryland
The Attorney General of Maryland is the chief legal officer of the State of Maryland in the United States and is elected by the people every four years with no term limits...
from 1987-2007. Citing his age and his long career, Curran decided not to seek reelection on May 7, 2006, preventing any conflict of interest that might arise in having two close family members at the position of Governor and Attorney General.
In other media
According to David SimonDavid Simon
David Simon is an American author, journalist, and a writer/producer of television series. He worked for the Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years. He wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood with Ed Burns...
, the creator of the HBO drama The Wire
The Wire (TV series)
The Wire is an American television drama series set and produced in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon, the series was broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States...
, the fictional Mayor of Baltimore Tommy Carcetti
Tommy Carcetti
Thomas J. "Tommy" Carcetti is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Irish actor Aidan Gillen. Carcetti is an ambitious Baltimore politician who rises from a seat on the city council to the office of the Mayor of Baltimore, and to the office of the Governor of Maryland by the...
is "not O'Malley", but O'Malley was one of several inspirations.
O'Malley appeared in the film Ladder 49
Ladder 49
Ladder 49 is a 2004 film about the heroics of a Baltimore fireman Jack Morrison, who is trapped inside a warehouse fire and his recollection of the events that got him to that point. The movie is a celebration of the firefighting profession and the life that comes with it...
as himself, then-mayor of Baltimore. The History Channel
The History Channel
History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...
's documentary First Invasion: The War of 1812
First Invasion: The War of 1812
First Invasion: The War of 1812 was a documentary produced by the History Channel which aired on September 11, 2004. As the name suggests the documentary was about the American War of 1812 when the American's fought the British for the first time since the American Revolutionary War.- Response and...
featured O'Malley in a segment regarding the British attack on Baltimore in 1814.
O'Malley is a musician. He was active in several bands and solo in the DC and Baltimore areas starting in the early 1980s. He was the vocalist/guitarist/songwriter of Celtic rock
Celtic rock
Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock and a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context...
band "O'Malley's March" from 1988 to 2005.
Electoral history
External links
- Maryland Office of the Governor Martin O'Malley official state site
- O'Malley & Brown official campaign site
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