Dems Gain in the State Legislature

Democrats already held two-thirds of the seats in the state legislature going into this election. Republicans bragged that they would take down Democratic Speaker Michael Busch as well as a slew of other Democratic legislators as they made inroads and built a veto-sustaining minority for Governor Ehrlich.

Ehrlich refuses to concede but with a deficit of some 80,000 votes, our governor (who oddly uses the royal "we") will have to sing his concession speech soon enough. There won't be any Republican vetoes in need of sustaining. Busch will return to lead the House after triumphantly winning first place in his district.

Moreover, Democrats actually made gains in the General Assembly despite already holding mammoth majorities in both chambers. According to preliminary results from the Baltimore Sun (and remember there are still ballots to be counted), the GOP will lose at least two seats in the Senate and six to nine seats in the House of Delegates. One House gain appears likely to come from Montgomery as Craig Rice has extended his lead over Jean Cryor though a few precincts still need to be counted in District 15.