Hoyer Reclaims St. Mary’s County

The polls are closed; the votes are counted; and the St. Mary’s County Board of Elections has posted unofficial results at its web site.

There was no change in the region’s Congressional delegation. Both Rep. Steny H. Hoyer and Sen. Benjamin Cardin easily shunted their Republican challengers to hang onto their seats.

With 68 percent of precincts reporting, Rep. Hoyer clinched 64 percent of the 5th Congressional District’s vote to the 34 percent won by Calvert Del. Tony O’Donnell. Hoyer also beat O’Donnell in St. Mary’s County with 22,761 votes (53 percent) of the vote after losing the county to Republican Charles Lollar in 2010.

With 68 percent of precincts reporting, Sen. Cardin won the state with 57 percent of the vote, but lost St. Mary’s County to Daniel Bongino of Anne Arundel County, who won 53  percent of the county vote.

In the hotly contested St. Mary’s Circuit Court race, Judge David Densford fended off a challenge by Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Stanalonis, getting 21,388 votes (51 percent) to Stanalonis’ 19,859 (49 percent).

In the race for St. Mary’s County’s Board of Education, all three sitting members prevailed. Marilyn Crosby defeated James Tomasic with 64 percent of the vote. Cathy Allen defeated James Davis with 68 percent of the vote. And Mary Washington triumphed over Joel Rose with 72 percent of the vote.

The nation still awaits a final result in the close race between President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. As expected, Obama easily won Maryland’s electoral votes with 49 percent of the state’s popular vote to Romney’s 37 percent. However, Romney prevailed in St. Mary’s County, taking 58 percent of the vote.

The call on the state’s controversial ballot questions is still too close. However, the controversial vote on the Civil Marriage Protection act – Question 6 – was rejected by 56 percent of voters in St. Mary’s County.

Question 7 on the ballot asked voters to decide whether to allow gambling in the state to expand in Prince George’s County and allow table games.  Fifty-eight percent of St. Mary’s County voters embraced it.

Another controversial ballot question – Question 4 – asked voters to weigh the fate of the Dream Act, a measure that would allow children of undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition at community colleges and four-year public colleges in the state. Fifty-three percent of St. Mary’s County voters rejected the act.

These totals do not include provisional and absentee ballots.

The St. Mary’s County Board of Elections will canvass absentee and provisional ballots on the following dates:

• November 8, 2012 10:00 a.m. Absentee 1 Canvass
• November 14, 2012 10:00 a.m. Provisional Ballot Canvass
• November 16, 2012 10:00 a.m. Absentee 2 Canvass

All canvassing will be held at the St. Mary’s County Election Board warehouse, located at 47382 Lincoln Avenue, Lexington Park, MD 20653. The Election Office warehouse is the old Carver Elementary School.

If you have any questions, Please contact Wendy Adkins at 301-475-7844, ext. 1613.