Born on Jan. 18, 1963 in Washington, DC, Governor Martin O’Malley has been a lifelong Democrat. He was raised in Rockville, Maryland and his parents instilled the values of hard work and the need to take initiative while he was growing up. Thomas O’Malley, father of Martin O’Malley, served as an Air Force bombardier during World War II and deployed to the Pacific Theatre. After the war, he attended law school and became Assistant United States Attorney. His mother, Barbara O’Malley, continues to work in Congress as an aide to Maryland’s first female United States Senator, Barbara Mikulski. Governor O’Malley stated that his parents “taught him the importance of public service [and hard work.]”
Graduating from Gonzaga High School in 1981, O’Malley brought his love for government and politics to the Catholic University of America where he graduated from in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. While a student at Catholic University of America, O’Malley joined the Presidential campaign for Gary Hart where he worked as a district organizer for the Hart for President campaign. After graduating from the Catholic University of America, O’Malley became an aide for Senator Barbara Mikulski on her 1986 campaign to office, which she has remained in since then. His political operative career was in full swing at this point, and by 1988 he had become the National Field Director on the ‘Gary Hart for President 1988’ presidential campaign.
In 1999 O’Malley ran for the Mayor of Baltimore and was largely considered an underdog candidate. But with that said, he won 90% of the vote, winning him the position as Mayor of Baltimore. He campaigned on “the promise of reducing crime, improving schools, and rebuilding broken communities” and when he got into office, he installed a program called CitiStat. This program tracked how well Baltimore’s citizens were serving each other. As mayor of Baltimore, he completely changed perceptions of Baltimore, so much that “TIME Magazine named O’Malley ‘one of America’s top five big city mayors.’”
After his stint as Baltimore mayor, O’Malley ran for Governor of Maryland and was sworn in as Governor in 2007. As Governor he “took action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, invest in renewable energy, and grow green jobs” along with “signing marriage equality into law, abolishing the death penalty, and passing the DREAM Act to expand the opportunity of a college education to more local students.”
On May 30, 2015 Governor O’Malley officially announced his campaign for the Presidency. According to IBD/TIPP poll published on Dec. 4, 2015, O’Malley is polling at an average of 1% with a margin of error of +/- 5.4 points.
O’Malley on Abortion
- A decision to abort is between a woman and her doctor. (Sep. 2015)
O’Malley on Budget and Economy
- Our economy was wrecked by the big banks of Wall Street. (Nov. 2015)
O’Malley on Civil Rights
- All are created equal, including gay, lesbian and transgender. (May. 2015)
- Settled lawsuit with ACLU about race-based arrests. (Oct. 2015)
O’Malley on Drugs
- Executive order to address heroin epidemic (Feb. 2015)
- Proportionality in marijuana arrests, but not legalization (Jan. 2014)
O’Malley on Education
- Goal of affordable and debt free college (Nov. 2015)
- Don’t burden our kids with massive college debt (Oct. 2015)
O’Malley on Environment
- Green revolution: 100% clean electric grid by 2050 (Oct. 2015)
O’Malley on Foreign Policy
- We should accept 65,000 Syrian refugees who are fleeing ISIL (Nov. 2015)
- New foreign policy of engagement and collaboration (May 2015)
O’Malley on Gun Control
- Baltimore was safer with my comprehensive gun safety law. (Nov. 2015)
- A critic of the National Rifle Association (Jun. 2015)
O’Malley on Health Care
- All payer system: state caps medical cost and hospital fees (May 2015)
- ObamaCare will get past the scare tactics and will work (Feb. 2014)
O’Malley on Homeland Security
- Nature of warfare has changed: focus on intel, not armies (Nov. 2015)
O’Malley on Immigration
- Our symbol is the Statue of Liberty, not a barbed wire fence. (Nov. 2015)
O’Malley on Social Security
- Make it easier for workers to invest in their own retirement (Aug. 2015)
O’Malley on War and Peace
- ISIS is an evil in this world; deal with as evil (Nov. 2015)
Sources
https://bio.martinomalley.com/
http://www.ontheissues.org/Martin_O%60Malley.htm
Candidate’s Website
