Governor Martin O'Malley

Though hailing from Washington's Maryland suburbs, Martin O’Malley was the mayor of Baltimore before being elected governor in November 2006. City Council President Sheila Dixon became mayor when O'Malley was inaugurated governor.

For years OMalley balanced his mayoral duties with his role as front man in the Celtic rock band O'Malley's March. However, in 2005 he announced he would no longer play with the band in order to focus on the governor's race.

During college and law school O'Malley worked on the political campaigns of presidential contender Gary Hart and Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski. Later O'Malley signed on as an assistant state's attorney for Baltimore City.

In 1991 he won a seat on the Baltimore City Council, where he served until elected mayor in 2000. After just two years as mayor, he toyed with, but eventually rejected, the idea of taking on Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in the Democratic primary for governor.

After running on a promise to reduce crime, one of O'Malley's first projects was to institute CitiStat, a crime and city services tracking system. While crime statistics have improved during O'Malley's tenure, they has not come down as much as promised. The murder rate remains stubbornly high at 269 in 2005, nowhere near O'Malley's 1999 campaign promise of 175.

Other accomplishments O'Malley often points to are the rising test scores of city schoolchildren and a cut in property taxes. Waterfront areas have undergone a continuing renaissance during the O'Malley administration bringing in increased tax revenue.

As mayor of a large port city, O'Malley has been an outspoken critic of George W. Bush's Homeland Security policies, particularly in reference to port safety. He spoke on the topic at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He was also in the national spotlight in 2002 when he was called "The Best Young Mayor in the Country" by Esquire magazine and in 2005 when Time named him one of America's "Top 5 Big City Mayors."