I recently saw the map above of the US that labeled the most conservative and liberal towns in each State based on their voting histories.
Accident, Maryland (pop. 325) in Western Maryland is the most conservative town in Maryland and Takoma Park (pop. 16,715) in Montgomery County is the most liberal. I don't know much about Accident (so named because of a surveying accident) but I know Takoma PArk well having lived near there for a few years. It has declared itself a "nuclear free zone," has allowed 16 and 17 year old and non US citizen residents to vote in their municipal elections. It has been called the "Berkeley of the East." The last time I was there, a few months ago, the favorite car seen was the Toyota Prius.
With today's election for Governor the contest will be one between the conservative Western Maryland and Eastern Shore counties and the liberal Baltimore City and Washington suburbs. We here in Howard County used to be closer to the conservative counties before the development of Columbia but now are closer on the political spectrum to the Washington suburbs. I know we often feel slighted as a county because Howard County hasn't provided a large enough political base to run for statewide office. You would have to go back to the 19th century to find a Maryland governor from our County. Unfortunately that was when we were still part of Ann Arundel County. Hopefully that will change in the near future as officials from Howard County become viable statewide candidates. Also hopefully we will not just be seen by Baltimore candidates as an area to carve up to pick up some liberal constituents. Maybe someday we can have someone from Howard County in Congress.
#hocoblogs
2 comments:
Great map! The map's plot of the two jurisdictions in Tennessee are actually pretty hilarious!
It was interesting to see how far apart the two locations were in each state. Tennessee's map definitely has the towns on geographical opposite ends.
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