In November's general election, Larry Hogan received 77 percent of the votes cast for governor in Harford County.
He was a mighty popular fellow then and it showed again Wednesday afternoon, as Hogan took office as Maryland's 62nd governor on a snowy afternoon in Annapolis.
More than a few Harford residents were looking on and some others were participating in the inaugural pomp and circumstance, not to mention several more who are part of Hogan's new administration.
As reflected in Hogan's own inaugural address, the words "change" and a "new era" rolled off the tongues of the locals who were there.
Harford's new county executive, Barry Glassman, was among the honored guests at the inauguration, among them New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who introduced Hogan to a throng gathered on Lawyers Mall outside the State House to watch the public swearing in.
"It was a great day," Glassman said. "I got to meet Gov. Christie and spend some time with Gov. Hogan on the second floor of State House."
As Hogan delivered his speech, Glassman couldn't resist taking a photo with his phone as he sat in the area reserved for guests behind the governor.
"After all these years it was a honor to actually have a seat on the platform behind the governor looking out on Lawyer's Mall," said the county executive, a 16-year member of the Maryland General Assembly before becoming county executive in December.
Harford State Sen. Robert Cassilly stood hatless in the falling snow, watching the ceremony from the mall.
"It was an exciting day and I'm looking forward to working with the Hogan team to return Maryland to a more balanced approach to governing," Cassilly said.
Another Harford senator, Wayne Norman, was so excited he brought a more visible sign of Republican triumph.
"I had a banner that says 'Changed' and we hung it on the governor's mansion bright and early," Norman said, adding people were honking their car horns in response.
"It lasted half an hour, until police said: 'Take it down.' Then we hung it at the Hilton [hotel], and they let us hang it in the lobby," Norman said.
Speaking from Annapolis on Thursday, Norman added: "I am hoarse from screaming and cheering yesterday."
Norman said the governor's speech "was all about unity" and highlighted what he hopes will be a change of tone in Annapolis.
"People in Maryland are tired of fighting and they are tired of arguing and squabbling," he said. "We need to work together."
"It was a very historic and neat couple of hours yesterday," he added. "The snow added something to it. Just before the governor started speaking, it started snowing pretty hard."
Despite a winter weather advisory in play for most of the Baltimore-Washington area throughout Wednesday, local attendees said the snowfall did not hamper the inauguration and made it more special.
"The snow really made a nice setting," Harford Del. Rick Impallaria said.
"It was beautiful to have the snowfall and the weather was really not bad," Impallaria said. "The governor did a great job speaking about how he wants to work with both sides [of the aisle]."
Impallaria added it was nice to have former governors there and see the various military organizations. He said the inauguration seemed "more traditional" than some previous ones, which tended to be slightly more informal.
"It was really a nice event," he said. "If I had to say the thing that I missed the most, was having former Gov. [William] Schaefer there, because he was always very entertaining and very welcoming to everyone."
Gov. Schaefer died in April 2011, about three months after Gov. Martin O'Malley's second inaugural.
"I believe that the time has come to cast aside the status quo, and to come together to build a better future for our state and all our citizens," Hogan said in his speech."We must set the bar higher, and create a bolder vision of the future."
Harford County Councilmen Curtis Beulah and Joe Woods attended, but Beulah said he also saw other Harford residents not involved in politics.
"There were far more citizens than politicians," he said. "There were citizens, a lot, just as many, if not more, [of them] citizens of Harford County."
Beulah called the inauguration "a beautiful event."
"It was just outstanding, it was very well organized," Beulah said. "The excitement just filled the air. The band was great. Gov. Hogan, Lt. Gov. [Boyd] Rutherford, gave outstanding speeches."