Martin O'Malley

From dKosopedia

Category: Maryland Democrats

Martin O'Malley (D) is the Governor of Maryland. He was elected by defeating the incumbent Robert Ehrlich, see Maryland gubernatorial election, 2006. He is also the former mayor of Baltimore, Maryland.

O'Malley was elected mayor in 1999, after serving on city council and doggedly pursuing the police chief about a wide variety of issues.

The O'Malley administration saw some major successes. For example, Baltimore has dropped from number one to out of the top ten in per capita syphilis cases in major cities over the course of a couple years. During his tenure, the city has also begun using Geographic Information Systems (known as Citistat in Baltimore) in city administration, extending the concept made popular by police departments for crime prevention to all city services.

Still, O'Malley's time in office has been marred by extortion of millions from the city's floundering public school system and an escalating drug war. While crime in Baltimore has decreased in some areas (particularly assault and carjacking) during the O'Malley years, an increasing crime rate overall has boosted Baltimore from third to second in the nation in overall crime for cities with 500,000 residents or more (behind Detroit, Michigan).

Martin O'Malley was formerly a member of the Celtic Rock band "O'Malley's March". The group disbanded in late 2005 after O'Malley decided to focus more of his energy on his mayorship and his gubernatorial bid.