More than twice as many Democrats as Republicans vote early in Maryland
More than twice as many Democrats as Republicans took advantage of early voting in Marylands general election, while overall turnout was up 40 percent from four years ago, the last time a governors race was on the ballot.
The numbers, released after the last of eight days of early voting on Thursday, provided some glimmers of hope for both the Democratic candidate, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, and the Republican, Anne Arundel County businessman Larry Hogan.
Overall, 307,646 Marylanders cast their ballots in advance of Tuesdays election, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections. Thats about 8.3 percent of eligible voters statewide, up from about 6.3 percent in 2010.
Democrats voting early this year outnumbered Republicans, 189,175 to 87,035. The ratio was slightly larger than the advantage that Democrats hold in party registration in the heavily Democratic state. But Republicans were slightly better represented compared to four years ago. This year, 28,328 unaffiliated voters also voted early.
The numbers, of course, do not indicate how ballots were cast. To win, Hogan would need to peel off a sizable number of Democrats and woo a substantial majority of independents.
By raw numbers, early voting turnout was highest in Baltimore County (51,814), followed by Prince Georges (46,236), Anne Arundel (38,656), Montgomery (35,444) and Baltimore City (25,924).
Hogan is banking on a strong showing in Baltimore County, which provided much of the winning margin for former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. when he prevailed in 2002, becoming the first Republican in a generation to win a gubernatorial race in Maryland.
Within Baltimore County, however, 33,819 Democrats turned out during early voting, compared to 13,328 Republicans. Baltimore County is home to many conservative Democrats willing to vote Republican, but those numbers do not appear bad for Brown.
Meanwhile, the Hogan campaign can point to the counties where the greatest percentage of eligible voters choose to cast ballots as a sign of enthusiasm for his campaign.
The top five counties by that measure were Talbot (19.0 percent), Queen Annes (15.6 percent), Kent (15.5 percent), Anne Arundel (11.1 percent) and Howard (11.0 percent).
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More than twice as many Democrats as Republicans vote early in Maryland