On November 4th, Maryland and the rest of the nation held midterm elections that sent a message to the nation – especially the Democratic Party – that drastic change may take hold in the federal government.

It was predicted that the Republican Party could win the Senate, giving them control of both chambers of Congress. To the detriment of the Democratic Party, this prediction came true. The Republicans came out of this election with 52% of the seats in the Senate, giving them control of both chambers.

Experts predict that the nation will definitely see President Obama using his veto power over the next two years as he faces a Republican Congress that will no doubt make it nearly impossible for him to push his agenda.

Meanwhile, Maryland had its own battle for the governor’s seat. Current Democratic governor Martin O’Malley’s final term is over and both the Democratic nominee, current Lieutenant Governor Anthony G. Brown, and the Republican nominee, Lawrence J. Hogan, pushed hard to win the position.

Brown took office as Lt. Governor back in 2007 under Governor O’Malley. Prior to this office, Brown represented Prince George’s County in Maryland’s House of Delegates. Brown is a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and served in the Army for almost 30 years. He is also one of the two highest-ranking elected officials in the country to have served in Iraq.

Hogan is a real-estate businessman and served in the appointed position of Secretary of Appointments in former Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich’s administration. After Ehrlich’s tenure as governor ended, Hogan formed the advocacy group Change Maryland, which aimed to maintain conservative interests in Maryland. Hogan also ran a failed campaign in 1992 against U.S. Representative Steny Hoyer. While he has never held an elected office before this win, he has worked in politics – under Ehrlich – and his father, Lawrence J. Hogan, Sr., was a three-term congressman and also served as PG County Executive. Interestingly, Hogan’s father ran for governor and lost.

Hogan won the election with approximately 53% of the vote, and Brown, who many believed was a shoe-in for the office, locked up only 46% of the vote. For the first time in 8 years, the heavily Democratic state of Maryland has a Republican governor. Hogan’s victory is a result of how well he did in Baltimore County, where he won about 61% of the vote and in Anne Arundel County where he won about 67% of the vote. Brown, to no one’s surprise, won Montgomery County, which is the largest jurisdiction in the state, but it wasn’t enough to give him the victory.

However, while the gubernatorial election was the big ticket item on the ballot, the Democratic Party still managed to win several other key races including the Attorney General’s seat with Brian Frosh winning handily, and the Comptroller’s seat with incumbent Peter Franchott earning the win. The Democrats also held on to the Montgomery County Executive seat with incumbent Isaiah Legget easily defeating Republican challenger Jim Shalleck.

On the local level, Montgomery County continued to be a safe haven for the Democrats. County Council incumbents Hans Riemer, Marc Elrich, Nancy Floreen and George Leventhal easily defeated their Republican opponents. The only close election on the local level was in District 6 where Democratic Congressman John Delaney defeated Dan Bongino by a mere 2,000 votes.

Jill Ortman-Fouse filled an open seat in the Board of Education by winning close race against Shebra Evans by only a 3% margin. Judith Docca, Michael Durso and Patricia O’Neill all were reelected to the Board with Docca defeating former Montgomery County PTA President Kristin Trible with 55% of the vote.

Washington, D.C.’s elections also made some big headlines. For one, Democrat Muriel E. Bowser defeated independent candidates David A. Catania and Carol Schwartz to become the city’s new mayor. Bowser’s victory gives the District another female mayor after a dry spell of over 20 years.

The bigger story, however, is the legalization of marijuana in the District, as D.C. voters overwhelmingly voted to legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana by a 69%-31% margin. In addition to being able to possess small amounts of marijuana, it is also legal to grow up to six plants in one’s home. This is a big victory for anti-prohibitionists across the country, as they can now boast that even the nation’s capital has gone green.