12 | E X P R E S S | 0 6 . 1 7. 2 0 1 4 | T U E S D AY
Cover Story
Oh Right, the Election
From the Comments
A week away, most Maryland voters don’t care about the gubernatorial race
“The Democratic candidates for MD governor are uninspiring and the GOP candidates have apparently decided not to campaign in or near my county. Thanks for letting me know who they are.”
Match the Candidate Have you been following the race closely enough to even identify the candidates (we gave you the easy one)? If not, be on the lookout for candidate profiles in the coming days. The answers are on the bottom right of the page.
Annapolis
a
c
b
d
e
f
g
— DRITCHIE57
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Anthony Brown
Doug Gansler
Heather Mizeur
David Craig
Ronald George
Larry Hogan
Charles Lollar
A National Issue Low voter turnout is not just a Maryland thing. Michael McDonald, an associate professor at George Mason University, said one of the more successful recent primaries was May 20 in Oregon, with 35.5 percent turnout. Perhaps that was because every registered voter receives a ballot in the mail, he said. (THE WASHINGTON POST )
24%
10%
1 in 6
Fewer than 24 percent of registered voters in California voted in the June 3 primary, a new low for a state where at least a third usually show up.
In Texas in March, fewer than 10 percent of registered Republicans and about 4 percent of Democrats voted in the primary.
Fewer than 1 in 6 registered voters cast a ballot in primaries in Indiana, North Carolina and South Carolina.
ficulty pinpointing exactly why interest is low. Maybe it’s because the primary was bumped up and some people care more about graduations and vacations than democracy. Maybe it’s because Marylanders generally are satisfied with their government, or burned out on partisan politics. Maybe they feel like it’s a done deal, since Brown has been leading in the polls for months. Primaries also require voters to do more work, as the differences between politicians from the same party often are more nuanced than the differenc-
es between Democrats and Republicans, said the University of Maryland’s Michael Hanmer. “It’s detrimental to democracy to have low levels of voter participation,” Hanmer said. “Whoever wins the Democratic primary should coast through the general election. So this is important.” Compared with Maryland’s primary race four years ago, The Post’s poll shows, interest has declined across a broad swath of voters. Conservative voters, once more passionate, now have about the same enthusiasm as
liberal and moderate voters. “I’m just not excited about any of the candidates,” said Joseph Todt, 54, a Republican from Greenbelt, who says he is more conservative than anyone in the field. He says he will probably vote, even if he does so grudgingly. “It just comes back to this: Is there an interesting election?” said Michael McDonald, an associate professor at George Mason University. “Is it a competitive election? Do people think their vote will actually matter?” There is no major issue or divide defining either the Democratic or Republican race. The four Republican gubernatorial hopefuls largely have focused on cutting taxes. The Democratic candidates all have presented plans for expanding pre-kindergarten classes, holding taxes steady or reducing them and increasing jobs. Most candidates have launched extensive get-out-the-vote efforts and several television ads have prominently featured the primary date. But still, candidates say, they frequently encounter voters who don’t know that Election Day is coming right up. JENNA JOHNSON (THE WASHINGTON POST )
“When you have one party rule in a state, enabled by low information voters, and you KNOW that one candidate, Brown, is going to be rewarded for his incompetence, then what difference, at this point, does it make?” — YOU_ HAVE _TO_ BE _
YOU2
“Summer primaries are a bad idea, more people are thinking vacation than politics. Also in the Governors race it is a pretty poor lot to choose from.” — BIGTR AIN
“I’d vote if I could figure out which candidate I hate the least.” — NUN YO555
Quiz Answers: a. 7., b. 4., c. 2., d. 6., e. 1., f. 3., g. 5.
The election is only a week away — and voters don’t seem to care. Turnout for the June 24 gubernatorial primary contest in Maryland is expected to be low, perhaps historically low. More than half of registered voters admit they aren’t paying attention to the race, according to a recent Washington Post poll. “It’s not even on the back burner for me right now,” said Don Frisby, 61, who lives in Frederick County and had difficulty naming the candidates, let alone knowing which one he likes best. (For the record, the hopefuls are Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Attorney General Doug Gansler and Del. Heather Mizeur, all Democrats. The Republicans are Harford County Executive David Craig, Del. Ronald George, Larry Hogan and Charles Lollar.) The situation leaves many of the state’s political junkies aghast. Unlike the past few Democratic primaries, this one is competitive. And registered Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 2 to 1, so the Democratic primary winner typically becomes the state’s next governor. Yet interest is much lower than it was during the 2010 gubernatorial race, when Gov. Martin O’Malley easily won the primary and defeated former Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. in the general election. Months before that primary, 61 percent of registered voters were paying attention. Two weeks ahead of this primary, the number is 47 percent. Lawmakers passed legislation in 2011 to move gubernatorial primaries to the last Tuesday in June rather than the middle of September to give more time to get general election ballots to troops serving overseas. Political science professors have dif-
Washington Post readers weigh in on the apathy around Maryland’s gubernatorial primary.