Larry Hogan's win over Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown for Maryland governor was considered a surprise by many, and part of a Republican sweep across the country during the midterm election. Here's what's being said around the web about how the victory fits into the larger national political landscape.
Political prognosticator Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight website, which predicted an easy win by Brown, explains why it called the race wrong:
"What happened? First, 94 percent favorites are supposed to lose sometimes (6 percent of the time, to be exact). Hogan's chance of winning was roughly equivalent to the chance No. 14 seed Mercer had of beating No. 3 seed Duke in the NCAA men's basketball tournament this past March. Underdogs can win.
But there was also a problem more specific to Maryland: Our gubernatorial model relies on polls, and polls alone, and the most reliable public pollsters stopped surveying the race a month before Election Day."
"Prior to becoming governor-elect this week, Hogan was just 'Larry' to his Edgewater neighbors, who also called him 'excellent,' 'honest' and 'down to earth.'
He had built his business, the Hogan Cos., into a real estate development firm that has completed $2 billion in transactions, including a deal with National Harbor in Prince George's County.
One of Hogan's favorite stops is Chad's BBQ in Edgewater, a short drive from his house. He loves all the food, but his favorite may be the smoked chicken wings, said Terry White, the restaurant's hostess."
"So why wasn't I surprised by the result? Because I'm not a political pundit but I do live (and pay lots of taxes) in Maryland and I found his ads, with their unrelenting focus on the tax and fee hikes that have taken place during the last eight years of one party Democratic rule in the state, extraordinarily effective."
"Larry Hogan, Maryland's governor-elect, is no stranger to long-shot candidacies. In 1992, the commercial-real-estate broker tried to oust Steny Hoyer, then chairman of the House Democratic caucus and one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress."
"I was surprised by the margin of victory," said attorney general Doug Gansler, who ran against Brown in the primary. But he noted "a lot of dissatisfaction in Maryland," he said during an interview on WBAL Wednesday morning. While he said the state has seen a lot of progress over the last eight years, he felt the economy was a major issue and that Hogan's victory showed that "all the taxes is too much to bear."
He said Brown had a difficulty distinguishing himself from the O'Malley administration. "I think that's one of the pitfalls of being lieutenant governor." But he also said Brown's campaign message didn't go far enough beyond becoming the first African-American governor. He said voters want to see what are you going to do for them. "You need a second sentence. Why is that important?"
Brown said now Maryland's democratic party has to become reflective. Hogan's victory "should be a big bucket of water over people's heads," adding that Hogan will be the second republic to take office since Spiro Agnew.
"Christie says that despite traveling across the country in support of Republican governors, the credit for the GOP's midterm gains shouldn't fall to him. 'The candidates deserve the credit.,' Christie told TODAY's Matt Lauer on Wednesday. 'They did a great job.'"