O'Malley's Battle With Change Maryland Boosts Membership To Over 20,000

Change Maryland announced today that it surpassed 20,000 members as it emerges as the leading organization raising questions about Governor Martin O'Malley's record. The spike in growth coincided with Change Maryland's research into the metrics by which state economies are judged - tax payer migration, employment statistics and retaining small businesses.

Since Governor Martin O'Malley's term began in 2007, Maryland has dramatically lagged the region in all three indicators according to federal government data from the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. These findings follow a report in which Change Maryland quantified the number of tax and fee increases since 2007 which total 24 separate revenue-raising measures that remove an additional $2.4 billion out of the economy annually. Such reports have caused the O'Malley Administration to lash out at the organization with ill-conceived attacks that have only assisted in gaining new followers.

"We've pulled back the curtain on the dismal results of this Administration, and Governor O'Malley doesn't like it," said Change Maryland Chairman Larry Hogan. "Losing 40,000 jobs, 31,000 residents of tax paying households and 6500 businesses coincides with the largest tax hikes in Maryland's history."

It is widely speculated that O'Malley is preparing a run for the White House in 2016. The governor's extreme partisanship is on public display on the Sunday morning talk show circuit, out-of-state political fundraisers and involvement in high profile theatrics including the failed recall effort earlier this year of Wisconsin
Governor Scott Walker. Attacking several governors this year alone, O'Malley is also a frequent critic of Presidential candidate Mitt Romney and the GOP-led U.S. House. Accustomed to delicate treatment in a large swath of the media, O'Malley has personally attacked Hogan in stark partisan terms after Change Maryland's findings made national news several times this year.

"O'Malley is the most partisan governor in the country," said Hogan. "His partisan political ambitions, however, are no excuse to run away from his record here at home."

Change Maryland has more than twice as many Facebook followers as the state Democratic and Republican parties combined. It is the largest and fastest growing, non-partisan, grassroots organization advocating for government accountability and fiscal responsibility.